This Guy Will Spend His Life In A Cage For Marijuana
At reason Aaron Malin writes about Jeff Mizanskey, swept up by Missouri's three strikes law and now serving life without parole:
Jeff racked up all three strikes without ever committing an act of violence. He was a working class guy with a small side gig as a low-level pot dealer. He never hurt anyone, never brandished a weapon, and never sold to children.Jeff calmly told me his story from across the table in the visiting room. The guard stared at the floor as he half-listened from thirty feet across the room.
Strike one came in 1984 when Jeff sold an ounce of marijuana to a close relative, who at some point gave or sold it to an undercover police officer. The relative told police where he got it in exchange for leniency, and his testimony was enough to get a search warrant of Jeff's home. The half-pound of pot found during the search landed him with his first felony conviction and five years probation.
Strike two came in 1991. Police again received information from an informant that was sufficient to obtain a search warrant of Jeff's home. This time, they found less than three ounces of cannabis, but it was still more than the one and a quarter ounces needed to trigger a felony charge. Unable to afford the legal fees necessary to fight the charge in court, he pleaded guilty for the second time.
Just two years later, Jeff gave a friend a ride to a motel. The friend was there to buy a few pounds of pot from a supplier, who was once again working with the police and had helped them set up a sting operation. Jeff accompanied his friend into the motel room and allegedly handled a package of marijuana during the transaction. He was arrested with what would end up being his third strike as they left the parking lot. Jeff has been in a cell at the maximum security Jefferson City Correctional Center (JCCC) ever since, nearly 21 years and counting.
Malin notes:
Jeff has watched dozens of convicted rapists and murders, housed in his cellblock, walk out the doors as free men over the past 21 years. Many have re-offended and were sent right back to prison. Meanwhile, Jeff has completed over a dozen rehabilitation programs while incarcerated, and now mentors other inmates to convince them to learn from his past. He doesn't hesitate to acknowledge the mistakes he has made, but feels strongly that his punishment was disproportionate to his crime.
He's exhausted his appeals and his only hope is clemency from the governor. Or he will die in jail for what Malin rightly calls "a victimless crime."
This not justice and it serves neither the state nor the man.
I don't feel sorry for him. He clearly isn't bright enough to learn from his mistakes. Regardless of what the crime is, you don't keep doing it over and over again, especially after being convicted for it. He knows it's illegal to begin with, gets caught and convicted, completes his punishment, and is right back out there committing the same crime.
BunnyGirl at August 31, 2014 11:31 PM
Of course this came about because people are sick of the "revolving door"...
How many strikes do you need before you notice something is not legal?
Radwaste at August 31, 2014 11:32 PM
The laws against marijuana are crap. But this guy does seem to fall into the idiot category. Still just another imprisonment that in no way serves the public good and drains public resources. Your government at work, destroying liberty and pissing resources down the drain.
Matt at September 1, 2014 12:46 AM
Being dumb shouldn't be a reason to be caged for life.
Amy Alkon at September 1, 2014 6:22 AM
This guy is stupid, without a doubt. Breaking the same law again, and again, and yet a third time does put him in that category. (Keep in mind that he was caught three times - he most certainly broke the law more than those three times)
And boo-hoo, he has watched "murders and rapists" go free. That is no excuse to cry for him. Perhaps those thugs shouldn't go free either!
They were given a second chance, and many of them blew that chance. He was also given a second chance (even more than once) and he blew it too!
And his "stories"? Please! "just giving a ride to a friend" - what bullshit! Every criminal claims the same kind of nonsense. (Kind of reminds me of my one neighbor - her son is in prison for breaking and entering, has 2 kids with 2 different women and her excuse for him is that he "fell in with the wrong crowd." Every time I hear her say that I want to scream - no lady he didn't fall in with the wrong crowd, he is the wrong crowd!)
And, no, Amy, he isn't in a "cage" for pot. He is in prison for selling pot more than once. He isn't in a "cage" either. He is in a prison with healthcare, three meals a day, access to a prison library, a public defender if he cannot afford his own, etc.
Does he have his freedom? No, but that was his choice to give it up.
Further, I would say that perhaps this isn't the anti-pot laws that are the problem. I would suggest that it is the "three strikes and you're out" that is the problem. This case just happens to be about pot.
There are plenty of other examples that I've read over the years where judges don't have enough leeway to impose a lesser sentence because three-strike laws tell them that they MUST impose a harsher sentence than they otherwise would have.
I would put the blame for these laws back where it belongs. First on the liberal judges who, in the first place, allowed criminals to go free because the judge felt that someone was worth trying to redeem. And, second, blame is also on the criminals for being given a second chance and still being a problem in society. The public got sick of that nonsense and forced politicians to impose three-strike laws.
Perhaps, the three-strike laws shouldn't be there. But, good luck selling that to the voting public.
Charles at September 1, 2014 8:28 AM
Bunny Girl/Radwaste: Sure, it's illegal. The question is about the life sentence. At $30,000/yr. for 40 years, do you feel $1.2 million safer because this guy is locked up? Over 4 lbs. of pot? It's a very poor investment against real crime and that blue-nosed snippiness is keeping the prison guards fat and happy.
Canvasback at September 1, 2014 8:34 AM
Gee Charles, maybe you should go to jail once you've had three speeding tickets.
It would actually make more sense than this nonsense over pot. If you are speeding, you pose a greater threat to other people than if you are selling pot.
(I mean duh, someone has to sell the pot, or how else are you going to buy it?)
Pirate Jo at September 1, 2014 9:07 AM
Three strikes laws are testament to the innumeracy of the lawyers and school teachers who populate state legislatures.
That having been said, the man is quite persistent and eventually you have to hit such people with a two-by-four.
Art Deco at September 1, 2014 9:43 AM
Stupid people have to really face the consequences of their stupidity, especially when they belong to the cursed gender of america.
Redrajesh at September 1, 2014 10:38 AM
Gee Charles, maybe you should go to jail once you've had three speeding tickets.
Pirate Jo:
If the law was once you got 2, the third meant life in prison?
Damn straight my butt would be 5-under from THEN ON.
But speeding by itself isn't a felony. Biggish-time drug-dealing is.
He never hurt anyone, never brandished a weapon, and never sold to children.
So. He. Says. (The repeat felon.)
Scuse me while I raise an eyebrow at the likelihood of a repeat felon, with years in jail, being totally honest.
The friend was there to buy a few pounds of pot from a supplier,
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. He knew what would happen if he got busted again, he didn't care. LiP seems harsh, but anybody want to give me odds he wouldn't be breaking the law immediately upon getting out?
Unix-Jedi at September 1, 2014 11:14 AM
So to those of you who support jailing non violent pot users/dealers.
Why are worried about niggers raping your daughters?
That was the argument used to outlaw it in the first place after all.
lujlp at September 1, 2014 11:54 AM
Puritan mantra:
"Your suffering at the hands of authorities is your own damned fault. Jaywalker! Tippler! Watcher of jiggly bits on television! Until it happens to me, of course, in which case it's an outrage."
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at September 1, 2014 1:48 PM
I have no sympathy for him. About the same as I feel for those idiots that went tourist hiking in an Iranian war zone and got caught up as spies. Or the ones in the news that went to North Korea as tourists and got detained.
I'm saving my outrage. I wouldn't want to use it all up on something stupid.
LauraGr at September 1, 2014 4:53 PM
I have to agree with LauraGr.
Equitable justice is stupid. What we need is retribution and punishment on a massive scale for all infractions of our many, many, many laws.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at September 1, 2014 5:05 PM
Stealing one slice of pizza results in life sentence>/a>:
Court Upholds 3-Strikes Term for Cookie Thief>/a>:
Are these really equable sentences?
Jim P. at September 1, 2014 7:28 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/09/01/this_guy_will_s.html#comment-5011475">comment from Jim P.Insane.
Amy Alkon at September 1, 2014 7:33 PM
I'm still waiting for all of you who support drug prohibition to answer my question.
There are no rational social, economic, or public safety reason to support the illegalization of pot, which just leaves the race baiting tropes originally used to outlaw it.
lujlp at September 2, 2014 4:32 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/09/01/this_guy_will_s.html#comment-5014118">comment from lujlpYou're right, luj. Come on, all of you who support the illegalization of pot -- where are the rational, social, economic, or public safety reasons for it? If alcohol is legal, why not pot?
Amy Alkon at September 2, 2014 5:18 AM
I'm sorry, lujlp. (I guess that's directed at me, among others.)
I didn't see a question posed? Unless you're meaning your obviously-over-the-top rhetorical leading question, which I thought answered itself quite nicely.
social, economic, or public safety reason to support the illegalization of pot
Actually, all wrong, but given your previous "question" and demand, obviously it's not worth discussing it.
However, I'll point out that this entire article is about a guy who is servince LIFE IN PRISON for being UNABLE TO NOT DEAL WITH HUGE AMOUNTS OF IT.
Yannow, if you're going to say there's NO REASON, you might want to ask the subject of the article and all why he was unable to not deal with (rather large) amounts of it, even when facing being locked up for the rest of his life.
Unix-Jedi at September 2, 2014 5:35 AM
s/servince/serving
Ack. I blame the weed(s). (Allegra hasn't kicked in yet.)
Unix-Jedi at September 2, 2014 5:36 AM
where are the rational, social, economic, or public safety reasons for it?
This is probably worth discussing, unless of course you have no answer.
Here, let me discuss.
Weed does not cause many people who use it to become violent (alcohol?).
It is pretty much impossible to overdose (alcohol? 'legal' drugs?).
Questions?
DrCos at September 2, 2014 7:58 AM
I didn't see a question posed? Unless you're meaning your obviously-over-the-top rhetorical leading question, which I thought answered itself quite nicely.
No that was the one.
Let me quote you some senators who back in the day pushed for outlawing of weed
“Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.”
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”
“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”
“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”
“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”
“Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing”
“You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.”
“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”
“Was it marijuana, the new Mexican drug, that nerved the murderous arm of Clara Phillips when she hammered out her victim’s life in Los Angeles?… THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CRIMES of violence in this country today are committed by DOPE SLAVES — that is a matter of cold record.”
As you can see most of the sentiment used to make weed illegal in the first place was race baiting.
And as you can not provide any other reason as to why it should be illegal, then by the process of elimination you must endorse the racist reasons for for its prohibition
lujlp at September 2, 2014 10:40 AM
And as you can not provide any other reason as to why it should be illegal, then by the process of elimination you must endorse the racist reasons for for its prohibition
Rather amazingly, you're wrong.
I can provide a lot.
When it's useful. Since you've already made up your mind, and also decided that anybody not 100% with you is evil, racist, and a Baltimore Ravens fan, there's no point in providing any of them to you. You're incapable of evaluating them.
Additionally, once you use the n-word, in any sort of rhetorical argument, you demonstrate your fundamental vileness.
In this day and age, it serves the same function today as anybody displaying the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia in anything other than a museum. It's an excellent marker.
Unix-Jedi at September 2, 2014 7:03 PM
I can provide a lot.
Put up or shut up sweet cheeks
there's no point in providing any of them to you.
That what cowards say to hide the fact the got nothing to show
Additionally, once you use the n-word, in any sort of rhetorical argument, you demonstrate your fundamental vileness.
It wasnt a rehtorical argument. IT WAS THE FUCKING ARGUMENT USED TO OUTLAW IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. ITS A GODDAMNED MOTHERFUCKING QUOTE.
As I said before, put up or shut up
lujlp at September 3, 2014 7:23 AM
Thats what I thought
lujlp at September 3, 2014 9:38 PM
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