A man sentenced to life in prison for marijuana possession had his appeal denied by the state’s highest court. On Thursday, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that Allen Russell’s life sentence did not violate the Eighth Amendment and was legal under state law.
Allen Russell was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole in 2019 after being found guilty of possessing 43.71 grams of marijuana. Russell was sentenced to life in prison under the state’s chronic offender guidelines, which would have resulted in a three-year sentence in most cases.
The defendant had previously been convicted of two counts of house burglary and one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Russell’s conviction, therefore, prompted the judge to sentence him to life in prison under Mississippi law.
Russell, on the other hand, claimed that the sentence violated his Eighth Amendment right to be free of “cruel and unusual punishment.” He took his case to the Mississippi Court of Appeals, which ruled 5-5 in a decision last year. As a result, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
In a divided decision, six justices upheld the trial court’s verdict, saying Russell received “the only penalty available.” “We affirm because the trial judge followed the law to the letter.”
According to the high court, Russell has a history of being a violent offender. Russell, however, claims that life sentences for repeat offenders have been overturned by courts, citing the case of Solem v. Helm as an example.
Jerry Helm, who had previously been convicted of six nonviolent offenses, committed check fraud in that case by writing a “no account” check. Under South Dakota law, the crime could have resulted in up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, in the state where it took place. Helm, however, was sentenced to life in prison because he was a repeat offender.
The United States Supreme Court upheld an appeals court’s decision that the punishment was illegal under the Eighth Amendment. According to local courts, Russell’s case pales in comparison to Solem’s. According to the majority decision, Helm was involved in non-violent offenses, but Russell was a violent offender.
“It is crucial to note that the arrest occurred while law enforcement was attempting to serve another drug-related warrant on Russell as well as execute a search warrant on his properties,” the judges stated. “To get Russell to surrender, chemical gas had to be used.”
“Clearly, the trial judge was aware of Russell’s past as it was recorded in the record and, as a result, he weighed ‘all circumstances relevant to’ the sentence that was imposed.” Associate Justice Robert Chamberlin wrote the majority opinion, which was joined by Justices James Maxwell, Dawn Beam, David Ishee, and Kenny Griffis.
In a separate written opinion, Chief Justice Michael Randolph, who was joined by Beam and Ishee and joined in part by Maxwell and Chamberlin, affirmed the trial court’s decision. Associate Justice Josiah Coleman wrote the dissenting opinion, which was joined by Justices James Kitchens and Leslie King.
According to the dissenting judges, burglary was not a “per se crime of violence” until July 1, 2014, when the Mississippi Code…made it so as a matter of law. They also disagree on whether Russell had a history of violent crime.
“Before July 1, 2014, a burglary was only deemed a violent crime if there was real violence during the burglary. We don’t know if Russell’s burglaries entailed actual violence, but the fact that he was allowed to participate in the Regimented Inmate Discipline Program by the sentencing court suggests they didn’t.”
Before it was terminated, the Mississippi RID program was open to nonviolent criminals, according to the US Department of Justice’s website. The justices debated how attitudes toward marijuana are changing on both sides.
The judges cited the fact that the state had only recently legalized medical marijuana in their dissent.
“Mississippi joined several of its sister states in implementing a medicinal marijuana program.” They added, “According to the bill that established the program, the only difference between going to jail for possessing 2.5 ounces of marijuana and possessing it legally in the future would be a prescription.”
The majority ruling agreed with the dissenters’ assessment of “changing views toward the illegality of marijuana,” and said that the government could and should take such shifting sentiments into account when creating sentencing guidelines.
Russell was found guilty of possessing approximately 1.54 ounces of marijuana, which was far less than the allowed limits under the state’s medical-marijuana statute.
Coleman argues in his dissent that the court should grant Russell the remedy he seeks. “The majority takes on the work of providing procedural direction to courts dealing with defendants in similar situations to Russell’s, but it denies Russell the benefit of that guidance,” he said. “By doing so, the majority has sentenced Russell to life in jail.”