[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Draft ordinance in Urbana first step to decriminalization

[Bob Illyes]

Wayne Johnson writes regarding marijuana use: "Do you think that making it 
a ticketable offense will decrease or increase the rate of Police 
Intervention? It seems to me that it might increase the rate of 
intervention since if it becomes a ticketable offense and hence a new 
source of easily captured revenue for the never satisfied maw of the 
City.  They will be able to write a ticket which is more easily processed 
than the criminal offense of common use that is presently oft ignored, 
hence they may intervene more often.

Why is it important that policy be standardized rather than left to the 
officer who might decide to show mercy?"

By your line of argument, Wayne, we should generally allow charges way out 
of proportion to the crime (which we unfortunately do) just to allow police 
officers to show mercy. Maybe we should legalize summary execution, so the 
police could be congratulated for not killing people??? Excessive penalties 
for crimes is a basic ingredient of the police state. Given your 
libertarian stance on issues, I have to suspect that your "mercy" argument 
is not serious.

The city might make more money with the tickets for marijuana use, but the 
damage done by the current system is inestimably greater, not the least of 
which is its susceptibility to charging based on profiling of all sorts, 
i.e., if the officer doesn't like your looks or attitude, God help you. It 
can amount to rudeness becoming a felony (which I confess I sometimes feel 
it should be, but never THINK it should be).

Bob