In response to Grewal’s memo, Prosecutor McCoy said Tuesday she postponed the prosecution of a case in Madison last week. “All the court is doing is doing is accepting ‘not guilty’ pleas.
“My perspective is any possession cases that come into court will be adjourned until Sept. 4,” she said. “We’ll put off any penalties until Sept. 4.” But once that date arrives, she noted, “The penalties won’t be different. Nothing has changed; simple possession will come back to court sometime after Sept. 4.”
I attended Cannagather with much trepidation. Held at Jersey City’s Zeppelin Hall—site of numerous fundraisers for Steve Fulop, in the midst of one of JC’s fanciest neighborhoods (the Pyongyang of Jersey City, if you will)—I expected the event to be packed full of venture capital-types half my age whom I would reflexively hate. The VC guys were there, but the crowd was much different than I expected.
Every city in America knows that it’s a bad idea to prosecute low-level, nonviolent marijuana offenses. It wastes scarce municipal resources and does nothing to enhance public safety. What’s more, even though whites and blacks use marijuana at similar rates, blacks are more harshly punished for it.
That’s why, on July 19, marijuana offenses were effectively decriminalized in Jersey City, New Jersey’s second most populous city.
On the same day New Jersey's attorney general announced an immediate adjournment of marijuana-related cases in municipal courts, people in the state's second-largest city appeared to welcome the news.
In Jersey City's Journal Square neighborhood Tuesday, a number of passersby shared their thoughts on the future of marijuana in the state just hours after New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal advised all local and county prosecutors to put a hold on marijuana-related offenses until Sept. 4.
Grewal said he plans to convene a working group of criminal justice stakeholders to study the issue and advise him on possible solutions. He intends to issue a statewide directive by the end of next month concerning the scope and “appropriate use of prosecutorial discretion” in marijuana-related offenses in municipal court.
Grewal’s letter did not say if arrests for marijuana possession would also be put on hold, and authorities declined comment on that issue Tuesday.
As some officials in New Jersey are pushing to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, the state’s attorney general directed prosecutors on Tuesday to seek to pause any cases stemming from marijuana-related offenses for at least a month, in a move regarded as a possible step toward decriminalizing such offenses.
Last week, Jersey City became the first New Jersey municipality to decriminalize low-level cannabis possession, but state officials immediately interceded to shut this new policy down. Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and municipal prosecutor Jake Hudnut held a press conference last Thursday to announce that they were decriminalizing minor marijuana possession and use, effective immediately. The next day, NJ Attorney General Gurbir Grewal stepped in and announced that the new policy was void, as Hudnut did not have the legal authority to supercede state drug laws.
Jersey City is the first in our state to seek to decriminalize marijuana, by letting people have a small amount and treating it like a traffic ticket, instead of arresting them.
But now it's in a legal tussle with the state Attorney General, who says the city doesn't have the authority to do this on its own. However that gets resolved, we're rooting for Jersey City.
Jersey City doesn't have the power to decriminalize weed, despite city officials' attempts to roll up a new policy earlier this week, according to a memo from the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.
Friday's memo from Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to the city's new prosecutor, Jake Hudnut, contained some crushing news for local cannabis activists and users. According to Grewal's letter, Jersey City does not have the legal authority to decriminalize marijuana or refuse to criminally prosecute all marijuana-related offenses.
Starting today, Jersey City will be the first municipality in the state to decriminalize marijuana.
Chief Prosecutor Jacob Hudnut, in a July 19 memo to the city’s assistant prosecutors, instructed them to downgrade some marijuana offenses to non-criminal offenses, encourage prosecutors to dismiss low-level cannabis offenses and recommend community court for individuals with a criminal history or signs of addiction.
“New Jerseyans of color are three times more likely to be arrested for marijuana,” Hudnut wrote.