USA - California county won't prosecute possession

[trptamene]

This is absolute craziness:
http://www.dosenation.com/listing.php?smlid=6182

California county won't prosecute possession


Misdemeanors such as assaults, thefts and burglaries will no longer be prosecuted in Contra Costa County because of budget cuts, the county's top prosecutor said Tuesday.

District Attorney Robert Kochly also said that beginning May 4, his office will no longer prosecute felony drug cases involving smaller amounts of narcotics. That means anyone caught with less than a gram of methamphetamine or cocaine, less than 0.5 grams of heroin and fewer than five pills of ecstasy, OxyContin or Vicodin won't be charged.

People who are suspected of misdemeanor drug crimes, break minor traffic laws, shoplift, trespass or commit misdemeanor vandalism will also be in the clear. Those crimes won't be prosecuted, either.

trptamene added 5 Minutes and 45 Seconds later...

Many Contra Costa crooks won't be prosecuted

Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

(04-21) 16:41 PDT MARTINEZ -- Misdemeanors such as assaults, thefts and burglaries will no longer be prosecuted in Contra Costa County because of budget cuts, the county's top prosecutor said Tuesday.

District Attorney Robert Kochly also said that beginning May 4, his office will no longer prosecute felony drug cases involving smaller amounts of narcotics. That means anyone caught with less than a gram of methamphetamine or cocaine, less than 0.5 grams of heroin and fewer than five pills of ecstasy, OxyContin or Vicodin won't be charged.

People who are suspected of misdemeanor drug crimes, break minor traffic laws, shoplift, trespass or commit misdemeanor vandalism will also be in the clear. Those crimes won't be prosecuted, either.

"We had to make very, very difficult choices, and we had to try to prioritize things. There are no good choices to be made here," said Kochly, a 35-year veteran prosecutor. "It's trying to choose the lesser of certain evils in deciding what we can and cannot do."

Barry Grove, a deputy district attorney who is president of the Contra Costa County District Attorneys Association, said, "There's no question that these kinds of crimes are going to drastically affect the quality of life for all the citizens of Contra Costa County."

The decision not to go after any perpetrators of certain offenses, Grove said, amounts to "holding up a sign and advertising to the criminal element to come to Contra Costa County, because we're no longer going to prosecute you."

Don't even bother submitting the cases, Kochly said Monday in a memo to the Contra Costa County Police Chiefs Association. "If they are submitted, they will be screened out by category by support staff and returned to your department without review by a deputy district attorney," he wrote.

Kochly wrote that he had long taken pride in saying that his office could do "more with less."

"Unfortunately, we have now reached a point where we cannot maintain the status quo," he said. "We will definitely be doing 'less with less' as a prosecution agency."

The changes are needed to help eliminate a $1.9 million budget deficit in the district attorney's office for this fiscal year. By month's end, six deputy district attorneys will be laid off, and 11 more will have to be let go by the end of the year, Kochly said.

The county Board of Supervisors originally proposed cutting the office's budget by $4.1 million. But after Kochly argued that such a reduction would hurt his ability to prosecute petty thefts, the board used sales-tax revenue to close the gap.

Supervisor John Gioia, who represents Richmond, said the list of crimes that Kochly says he won't prosecute is far longer now than what he told the board during its budget deliberations.

"I don't think it's a good idea for the chief prosecutor in the county to inform the public at large what cases they're not going to prosecute," Gioia said.

The district attorney's decision was upsetting news to Janet Kelleghan, an employee at Donna's Gifts in Concord, which has been victimized by thieves in the past.

"If they know they're not going to be prosecuted, there's going to be a lot more shoplifting," Kelleghan said. "I'd ask them to reconsider," she said of the district attorney's office.

Kochly said prosecutors will still consider charging suspects with certain misdemeanors, including domestic violence, driving under the influence, firearms offenses, vehicular manslaughter, sex crimes and assault with a deadly weapon.

This article appeared on page B - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...6EGO.DTL&tsp=1

[fnord]

Well the fact that there not prosecuting drug charges is awsome,but the fact that there not going to do anyhting about violent/property crime? thats just fucked up...

Once again the legal system proves it does not operate on common sense.

[Valseedian]

Originally Posted by fnord

Well the fact that there not prosecuting drug charges is awsome,but the fact that there not going to do anyhting about violent/property crime? thats just fucked up...

Once again the legal system proves it does not operate on common sense.

completely agreed.. why eliminate misdeamenors alltogether.. why not just say you won't prosecute 'victimless crimes'... that would atleast cut the spending without leaving [as much] room for blatant unfairness.

a punishment too lax and the rules will not be followed, a punishment too heavy will rarely be upheld.

[chukbzle]

swim sure wishes florida would do that and tax it so it would b legal and lungs wouldnt b so bad from smokin 3grams to get high lool even if it was legal to have an 1/8 or even only sell 1/8s with a liscence ,theres drunk drivers everywhere gettin away cuz alcohol is ok it only murders 1000s of ppl a yr for no reason!!! cept bad driving from drinking plus way more from all other bad things that can follow

[trptamene]

Originally Posted by Valseedian

why not just say you won't prosecute 'victimless crimes'... that would atleast cut the spending without leaving [as much] room for blatant unfairness.

The problem tho is, all small crimes are not being punished, whether it is victimless or not, this means assaults, vandalisim, hit and runs, and other "victim-full" crimes which should clearly receive priority over drug violation will not be prosecuted either.

It is just stupid and am not sure this isn't just a political tactic to get more money or at least create a public awareness of low funding for LE (mostly due to the fact they spend it all on drug enforcement!!).

[chukbzle]

agreed and also it should be prosecuted as to how much harm the crime affects others.lotta ppl think doin H doesnt hurt other ppl but wen u become useless and dont show to jobs we need done ,u cant blame em there. Also ppl who cant handle pot need to be evaluated cuz it can be dangerous even tho swim would love access to potent breeds needed less smoke or hash or even pills but if itll make a lotta ppl suffer swim wud rather it illegal.swim likes a lotta substances and is mostly glad some ppl dont have access but weed could work with rules not just drug anarchy like all those 420 bumper stickers say. lol its just a number(420) a number most ppl use to sound cool but for the ppl over seventeen i like to keep my biz my my biz