Press "Enter" to skip to content

Column: ACLU Executive Director discusses marijuana arrest discrepancies

In an era with a second term bi-racial president, a Supreme Court case seeking to end affirmative action and a Kim Kardashian-Kanye West baby due any day, some might like to think that race is a non-issue in America. But, two recent studies, one by the government and another by the American Civil Liberties Union, confirm that’s not the case. If you are black in America, you are being treated worse than whites.

On May 31, the Missouri attorney general’s annual data on traffic stops was released. Once again, it shows ongoing racial inequalities. Statewide, blacks are 65 percent more likely than whites to be stopped by police, and more likely to be searched and arrested, even though blacks are less likely to be found with illegal items.  Missouri taxpayers need to realize this is a waste of money and resources. Unfair treatment of African Americans is not only ineffective policing ― it  confirms that people of color are being targeted, even though it may be done unconsciously, and this causes mistrust that divides our community.

Jeffrey Mittman Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri
Jeffrey Mittman
Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri

On June 4, the American Civil Liberties Union released its nationwide survey of arrests for marijuana possession; the findings also show large disparities by race. Regardless of similar rates of usage, blacks are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested  than whites for marijuana possession in the United States. Raw data shows Butler County’s racial disparity at 5.78 to 1. Arrests rates for marijuana possession were up 68 percent in Butler over a 10-year period. Missouri blacks fared a bit better, but they are still 2.6 times more likely to be arrested than whites. Clearly Missouri police are not equitably enforcing our laws.

The problem of unequal treatment has grown worse with the War on Drugs. The ACLU report demonstrates that the numbers of marijuana arrests multiplied between 2001 and 2010. Marijuana possession in 2010 accounted for  more than half of all drug arrests in Missouri, with a marijuana arrest made on average every 28.5 minutes. As marijuana possession arrests increased by 43 percent in the 10 preceding years, so too have the numbers of Missourians affected by unequal treatment.

The ACLU of Eastern Missouri recommends that Missouri cities document marijuana possession arrests by race, similar to the way the state has been documenting the race of those stopped while driving.  We should also put protections in place to slow down optional searches which affect minorities more than whites.

The nation’s over reliance on arrest rates as a measure of policing success has only fueled the expansion of the drug war and increased the temptation to focus on minorities as easy targets. We can no longer support the huge levels of incarceration nor the huge social costs of locking up everyone possessing a couple joints. Columbia and St. Louis have taken a step in the right direction with policies to reduce penalties for small levels of marijuana possession to a ticket and a fine.

We need to redirect attention to those techniques that actually reduce serious crime.Together, these reforms will give us the tools to advance the cause of providing justice with a blind eye to race.

Jeffrey Mittman
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri