Life sentence for weed possession? The Mississippi Supreme Court says yes if you have that

Hattiesburg Police Department officers searched Russell’s home and found five bags of cannabis weighing 79.5 grams. Russell was charged in one count with possession of more than 30 grams but less than 250 grams of cannabis and being a violent habitual offender under Section 99 of the Mississippi Code-19-83. He was convicted of possession.

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Prosecutors showed evidence of his previous felony convictions – two for burglary and one for possession of a firearm while he was a convicted felon.

Russell was uncooperative with police, and “chemical gas had to be used to obtain Russell’s surrender,” the chief justice said.

Chief Justice Michael Randolph stated that the search warrant came as Russell was being investigated as a murder suspect when a medical paper bearing Russell’s name was discovered at the scene.

Russell tried to argue that the life sentence without the possibility of parole was a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. He also argued that his constitutional right not to be subject to the law retrospectively had been violated as his actions would be punished retrospectively.

The Court of Appeals voted 5-5 on his appeal in 2019 and upheld the verdict. Then, on June 16, the Mississippi Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold the sentence under the Mississippi Common Offenders Code provisions.

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“Because the trial judge followed the law to the letter, we affirm,” said Justice Robert P. Chamberlin’s majority opinion. “The trial judge had no discretion in this case.”

Chief Justice Randolph wrote, “Russell received a harsh sentence, not for possessing a small amount of marijuana, but for repeatedly refusing to comply with the laws that were enacted to protect all citizens of our state.”

Is everything so black and white?

On the other hand, Judge Josiah Coleman, along with two other judges, stated that Russell had not been treated fairly by the courts in this case. Coleman emphasized that “burglary per se was not considered a violent crime until” state law made it so in 2014. This means that when Russell pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary in 2004, burglary was only treated as a violent crime when it actually happened. The burglary involved violence, the outlet reported.

“We don’t know if Russell’s break-ins actually involved violence, but the fact that the sentencing court gave him an opportunity to participate in the regimental inmate disciplinary program suggests that he didn’t,” said Coleman, who said It was concluded that he would have been remanded in custody to attend a trial hearing to review the Eighth Amendment issue and re-sentencing.