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A California court of appeal decided this week that detainees can legally own marijuana in prison – they simply can not do anything about it.
The decision of the Court of Appeal of the 3rd District, according to a 20-page decision, indicates that state voters have legalized the possession of less than one ounce of cannabis for recreational purposes in 2016, without exception, even for the incarcerated. The decision on Tuesday overturned the convictions of five Sacramento County detainees found with marijuana in their cell.
"According to the plain language of … Proposition 64, possession of less than an ounce of cannabis in prison is no longer a crime," wrote a jury of three judges. "Smoking or ingesting cannabis in prison remains a crime."
Marijuana plants in a growing room using green lights during their night cycle in Gardena, California.
(AP)
The committee rejected the state's argument that guards would lose control of prisons if detainees were free to own small amounts of marijuana, stressing that possession can still be punished as a violation of the law. rules. Such penalties, according to The Mercury News, could include the revocation of credits for good behavior.
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The defender's assistant, David Lynch, told the Associated Press: "This decision will prevent inmates from having their sentences add up to several years in jail for simple possession, reduce overcrowding and allow to save from $ 50,000 to $ 75,000 a year in unnecessary costs.
But not everyone is happy with the decision.
"It's confusing," Dan Olsen, a defense lawyer, told FOX40. "If it's illegal to take it, it's illegal to use it, but now it's not illegal to have it. It's a bit like : what's the use of making it non-illegal? "
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The attorney general's office, Xavier Becerra, said he was reviewing the decision and did not say whether he would appeal.
Becerra's office argued that the court's reading of the law was absurd because it actually allowed controlled substances to enter prisons. The court noted, however, that it had previously ruled that it was not illegal for inmates to be properly medicated or treated for medical purposes, although this may be against the rules.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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