Pubdate: Tue, 05 Dec 2000
Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)
Copyright: 2000 Las Vegas Sun, Inc.
Contact:  P.O. Box 4275, Las Vegas, NV 89127
Fax: (702) 383-7264
Website: http://www.lasvegassun.com/
Forum: http://www.vegas.com/ubbcgi/Ultimate.cgi
Author: Kim Smith, Las Vegas Sun
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

JUDICIAL PANEL: MAKE MARIJUANA POSSESSION CHARGE A MISDEMEANOR

A judicial commission that is recommending a reduction in penalties in 
minor marijuana cases is not in favor of legalizing the drug, Justice of 
the Peace Nancy Oesterle said.

Instead, the Judicial Assessment Commission wants to bring Nevada in line 
with other states while saving taxpayers thousands, Oesterle said.

In 1993 the Nevada Supreme Court formed the commission to look at Nevada's 
justice system so it could make recommendations to the Legislature and 
create new rules under the Nevada Supreme Court.

As a result, the state's drug courts were expanded, a medicinal marijuana 
law was passed and funding for the expansion of the Clark County Detention 
Center was obtained.

Chief Justice Bob Rose reconvened the commission last year and its second 
list of recommendations was formally released Monday.

The commission is again recommending that people who are now being charged 
with felonies for possessing or using small amounts of marijuana be charged 
instead with a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor.

Oesterle said that the vast majority of people who are charged with those 
crimes end up pleading guilty to misdemeanors anyway as the result of plea 
agreements. By citing them with misdemeanors to start with, Nevada will 
save the cost of housing the defendants in jail pending trial, attorney 
time and court time.

"Nevada is the only state that treats these crimes as felonies," Oesterle 
said. "The committee specifically does not condone these two crimes, but it 
wants the law to be applicable to what's really happening in the court 
system. This is a realistic approach to these crimes."

The commission is also recommending that minor traffic offenses -- those 
that result in four demerits or less -- be re-categorized as civil offenses 
instead of criminal offenses, Oesterle said.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager