A request by Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby to dismiss nearly 5,000 past cases of marijuana possession was denied by judges on Friday, according to online court records. On Monday, a spokeswoman for the State’s Attorney’s Office confirmed that the petition had been rejected by the judges.
Prosecutors had filed paperwork to dismiss cases going back to 2011, covering approximately 1,000 convictions in Circuit Court and almost 3,800 more in District Court. The judges’ reasoning for rejecting the requests is not yet clear.
Prosecutorial Policy Changed
In January, Mosby announced that her office would end the prosecution of marijuana possession cases in Baltimore and would seek the dismissal of up to 5,000 convictions already on the books. Mosby cited the racial disparity in the enforcement of cannabis prohibition laws as her reason for the change in policy.
“The statistics are damning when it comes to the disproportionate impact that the ‘War on Drugs’ has had on communities of color,” Mosby said. “As your state’s attorney, I pledged to institute change and I refuse to stand by and be a facilitator of injustice and inequity when it is clear that we can be so much smarter and do so much more on behalf of the people we serve.”
More than 90 percent of the citations for minor marijuana possession were issued to black people in Baltimore between 2015 and 2017.
“Even though white and black residents use marijuana at the same rate, the laws disproportionately impact communities of color,” Mosby added.
Collateral Damage of Pot Convictions
Olivia Naugle, a legislative coordinator for the Marijuana Policy Project, applauded Mosby’s decision to in a press release.
“Decades of arresting and