[BwayDems] Restricting Local Immigration Enforcement and Pushing Back on Marijuana Arrests

[Joe Paradise]

Dear Council Member Mark-Viverito,
    These are two excellent bills and I commend you for both of them.
        The behavior of ICE and the Secure Communities policies are shameful
in their unfair treatment of immigrants in our city and nation.
    Your proposal for the state to close the loopholes in marijuana policy
makes excelllent sense. I have more than once been on the basketball courts
in our neighborhood where I have witnessed  young people, Black and
Hispanic, not disturbing anyone, handcuffed and harshly harassed by the
police over presumably smoking marijuana. these people should not be
unfairly arrested for a crime of dubious merit to begin with.
    Once again, I commend  you.:
Sincerely yours,
Joe Nunley
President
The Broadway Democrats


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> *News from Melissa Mark-Viverito

> Council Member, District 8 *

>

> August 17, 2011

>       *Restricting Local Immigration Enforcement & Pushing Back on

> Marijuana Arrests*

>

> *Dear Friend:*

>

>

>

> Today, I was proud to introduce a new piece of legislation as well as a

> resolution in the City Council that focus on critical issues in our city's

> criminal justice system: the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs

> Enforcement (ICE) in our city's jails and the rampant arrests for the

> possession of small amounts of marijuana.

>

>

>

> Changing policies that unnecessarily criminalize vulnerable groups such as

> immigrants and youth should be a cornerstone of what we strive for as a

> city.  Between 3,000 and 4,000 New Yorkers are detained and deported each

> year as a result of ICE's collaboration with the City Department of

> Corrections (DOC).  Nearly half of all immigrants who were detained by ICE

> at City jails last year had no previous convictions, and 38% of those

> individuals had a misdemeanor as their highest immediate charge.  In a city

> that is so welcoming to immigrants, it is unacceptable that our local

> resources be used to facilitate the separation of families, particularly

> when it comes to those immigrants that have no criminal records and have

> committed minor offenses.  The legislation I have sponsored along with

> Council Member Danny Dromm and Speaker Christine Quinn will, for the first

> time, place restrictions on the relationship between the City and ICE.

>

>

>

> Meanwhile, the Police Department engages in tens of thousands of arrests

> for small-time marijuana possession each year.  This has a staggering fiscal

> cost to the city -- an estimated $75 million -- not to mention the human

> costs of these overzealous enforcement policies.  The possession of small

> amounts of marijuana has already been de-criminalized, but a loophole in the

> current State law allows police to arrest individuals who possess marijuana

> in public view, even when police ask those individuals to take the marijuana

> out of their pockets.  The resolution I have introduced calls upon the State

> to pass legislation that would close that loophole.

>

>

> I hope you will take a moment to read the additional information below on

> each of these issues.

>

>

>

> Sincerely,

>

> *Melissa Mark-Viverito*

>

>

>    *Restricting the City's Collaboration with ICE*

>

>

> <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=qyj9msgab&et=1106887025854&s=119&e=001VFzl_vMaac533VJHqKfG3GK_7JND-kaV51TQbZF88SSHBv8yikf3u5CMYn1neQk4k59XgN1jO7MPSsOeSr9zuXG4sB32nMFSexl6YOzXEXWl344cR3r-7nW3tN9_VuV5BduvSWK9LAGSlmEHCMI4ZPlMcWME06CsxXnz3SNZYpTMJtfiyC0inUythqzLt1UkmfZIaYgh4XA=>

> *The historic piece of legislation introduced by Melissa today **will

> place limits on New York City's ability to collaborate with U.S. Immigration

> and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in our city's jails.*  Thousands of

> immigrants are deported each year after being sent to our local jails.  The

> Department of Corrections routinely shares databases of new inmates with

> ICE, which include information on country of origin.  Armed with this

> information, ICE places "detainers" on those inmates they suspect to be

> non-citizens.  After an interview and further investigation, if an immigrant

> is determined to be "deportable," he or she is sent to a detention center

> and is often removed from the country.  Over the last two years, only about

> half of the detainers issued were for immigrants that had no criminal

> convictions.

>

> This legislation would prohibit the use of City resources (including space,

> personnel and funds) to honor detainers on those immigrants that have no

> criminal records, outstanding warrants or previous orders of deportation, do

> not have a pending criminal case and have not been identified as a confirmed

> match in the terrorist screening database.  Under this legislation, City

> resources could not be used to hold an individual who meets this criteria

> beyond the time when he or she would otherwise be released, nor could the

> City notify ICE of his or her release from custody.

>

> We expect to have a hearing on this bill in the fall.

> *Calling for Changes to State Law on Marijuana Arrests

> *

>

> <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=qyj9msgab&et=1106887025854&s=119&e=001VFzl_vMaac7WQNcqij-EM_DCWLzKjkuZVOGPB1DzkQG4nT0ssRUaix9nMW7_GqctuoKh0somWBW60zN0WL9G4gkjj_HwYy__p1allzefNK78nUgKcdUi0SjxsGqHuYdAN3nux3xqLhaMD2Ru6D_Jpy7p0iJ3eVXdIqm552RfFs52NMhTquBuD9WNrZqWb1uS>

> *Tens of thousands of people, primarily from Black and Latino communities,

> are arrested each year for small-time marijuana possession, even though it

> was de-criminalized by the State in the 1970s.*  However, a loophole

> allows police to make arrests for marijuana possession if it is in public

> view.  Police often ask individuals to take out what would otherwise have

> been concealed marijuana, leading to an arrest.  For the 50,000 plus arrests

> last year, the estimated cost to taxpayers was over $75 million.  This year,

> the city is on target to reach nearly 60,000 arrests.

>

> Since the City Council does not have the power to legislate, Melissa has

> introduced a resolution calling on the State Legislature to enact a bill

> already introduced by Senator Grisanti and Assemblyman Jeffries that would

> close the loophole on marijuana arrest policy.      [image: Join Our

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-- 
 *Joe Paradise*
King Lear Enterprise LLC

*Whatever you work on - you need to fall in love with the process and
the outcome will come.*

jpfound at gmail.com
www.joeparadisestudio.com

☎ ny +1 212 316 2963

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