Thursday, April 14, 2005

Bill restructuring marijuana sentences clears House committee

That's more like it. I was starting to worry.

After sitting around for one day shy of a month after its hearing,
HB 254, which would restructure sentences for low-level marijuana possession, passed out of the Texas House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee today at a desk meeting. (See a fact sheet on the bill.) There's still plenty of time for it to move through the process.

I haven't seen the vote tally, yet, but muchas gracias to committeemembers who supported it.

HB 254 would restructure sentences for possession of less than an ounce of pot to become a stiff fine, boosting local revenue and freeing up space for more dangerous inmates. A similar law in Columbia, Missouri actually boosted enforcement. See previous
Grits coverage here and here.

2 comments:

Taylor said...

This is extremely good news. Let's follow through by acting like true constituents. Call and write your representatives and let them know you support HB 254!

Thanks to everyone that helped out and thanks for covering the topic so in depth Grits!

Taylor said...

checked on the Texas.gov website to see the official results. The bill passed unanimously giving it even more momentum.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-...ILLSUFFIX=00254

House Committee: Criminal Jurisprudence Status: Out of committee Vote: Ayes=6 Nays=0 Present Not Voting=0 Absent=3

http://www.mpp.org/TX/action.html Take Action now, email and call your representative to support HB 254!

http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/ale...6847791&type=ST