Ogg vows to end prosecution of misdemeanor marijuana cases
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Kim Ogg says she will end prosecution of small-time marijuana cases if elected Harris County District Attorney in November.
Ogg, the former head of the Houston Anti-Gang Task Force, says the move will save approximately $10 million dollars annually, which she will direct towards aggressive investigation and prosecution of violent crimes and burglaries.
The move would lower the population of the Harris County jail population by approximately 12,000 individuals per year, reduce prosecutorial caseloads, and prevent many from a permanent criminal record. Such records permanently damage a person’s employability, housing and education opportunities, even when the convictions are for crimes as minor as possession of a joint.
Ogg cites precedent for the policy inBrooklyn District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson’s move 18 months ago to stop filing misdemeanor marijuana cases. The reasons Thompson gave are identical with Houston’s situation: waste of limited prosecutorial resources and longtime disparity and racial bias in possession case arrest rates of young, minority males compared to other groups, a trend Ogg vows to end.
“We’ve thrown non-violent, young people charged with small-time possession of pot into the same cells as murderers for too long,” says Ogg. “As District Attorney I will use the discretion given to my office to focus our limited resources on violent criminals and burglars. Now is the time to get our public safety priorities straight. This is what 21stcentury justice is going to look like.”
Ogg is a former prosecutor and well-known victim right’s advocate. She has vowed to bring transparency and equal justice to the District Attorney’s Office and end the prosecutorial misconduct plaguing the current District Attorney.
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