Kim Ogg announced how she plans to handle misdemeanor marijuana cases if elected. By utilizing the Cite and Release law that was passed in 2007 but never implemented in Harris County. For any misdemeanor marijuana possession under 4 ounces. The offender is cited and released. No jail. No bail. Her office would then allow the offender to participate in the G.R.A.C.E. program and have the case dismissed after completing 2 days of community service cleaning up our bayous. From our Executive Director, Jason Miller Hearing this from Kim Ogg today was absolutely a breath of fresh air. We have a lot of problems in Harris County with our Criminal Justice System right now. We have serious crimes that are going un-investigated and resources that are being wasted. The root of some of these problems has to do with the enforcement of the unjust laws of marijuana prohibition. What we do at Houston NORML is advocate changing those laws. Cite and Release is a very good law that was passed in 2007 but has been ignored in Harris County. Given the circumstances of what the laws are currently and what the role of the DA is, this plan is the best we can possibly hope for right now. This will allow our District Attorneys office and our law enforcement community to operate at the highest level of efficiency and this is a real solution for our communities.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 18:22:20 +0000