Marijuana reform advocates in Wichita, KS put forward a ballot initiative this spring, arguing that first time offenders with small amounts of marijuana should receive a $50 fine and a misdemeanor rather than a felony conviction and the risk of impacting their long term record.
The measure was designed to prevent first time offenders from being saddled for life with a conviction that would hang above their head for future job opportunities, said Esau Freeman, one of the activists behind the cause. Supported by both conservatives and liberals in broader Wichita, the initiative passed, 54-46 Tuesday night. Now, Attorney General Derick Schmidt is moving to undo that effort.
http://www.sfgate.com/...
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' attorney general asked the state's top court Thursday to nullify a new voter-approved ordinance in the state's largest city that lessens criminal penalties for marijuana possession because it conflicts with state law.
Attorney General Derek Schmidt's filing with the Kansas Supreme Court came a day after the city of Wichita filed its own lawsuit with a lower court, also seeking a ruling on the ordinance's validity. Local voters approved the measure Tuesday, with 54 percent in favor.
The Wichita initiative, which is often wrongly refereed to as a decriminalization measure in does not decriminalize, lowers the penalty and prosecution phase to a $50 fine. This is opposed to the potential state sentence of $2,500 and 1 year in prison for a first offense.
In the court filing, AG Schmidt writes "The Kansas Constitution prohibits cities from adopting ordinances that conflict with uniform state law." However, in 2006, the city of Lawrence, Kansas adopted a measure reducing first time offenders to a $200 fine, and over the last few years communities like Topeka, Kansas have abdicated prosecuting domestic violence cases.
In a quick check of Kansas communities, many communities handle their own local proprietorial standards, which include a patchwork of amnesties offered, aversion standards for motor vehicle tickets as well as measures on smoking and public liquor rules.
Scott Poor, the attorney for the initiative in Wichita spoke out about this conflict.
http://www.kansas.com/...
"We passed a city ordinance," he said. "We didn't change state laws in the city of Wichita. We changed the ordinance as enforced by the city of Wichita."
In conversations with Scott Poor, I was informed "AG Schmidt is making this argument now because they lost. They don't like the outcome, so now they will go to court."
The question goes beyond the legal ramifications though. Esau Freeman noted during the campaign, "telling people [their vote doesn't matter].. there is a political price to that."
The Attorney General has asked the Kansas Supreme Court to nullify the vote and strike it from the record, but until a verdict is rendered he is asking for a temporary restraining order asking that the city not be allowed to publish or honor the election results.
Other Kansas municipalities are considering reduction in sentencing around the state, including state wide measures in light overpopulation of Kansas jails & prisons. The always conservative ALEC notes that Kansas overcrowding may be worse than the projections of 2013, noting that incarceration increases at 22% on current pace with overcrowding already a factor.
