HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — State law in Alabama has never allowed for a summons to replace an arrest... particularly in crimes dealing with drugs and alcohol.
On Wednesday, members of the Huntsville City Council got together to discuss this becoming a reality.
What was discussed was not the decriminalization of marijuana here, but rather a shift in the process of prosecuting those who've received a marijuana-related charge.
Instead of always getting arrested and being taken into custody, suspects may receive a summons to go to court. The consequences would still be there but without being immediately taken to jail.
Council members and law enforcement officers are not aiming to decriminalize marijuana. Deputy Chief DeWayne McCarver made this very clear. "We wanna make it very clear that the Huntsville police department will enforce all the laws of the state of Alabama. We don't have any option and we would never just choose to do something outside of that. We're sworn to uphold the laws of the state. And this measure, should it go through, has absolutely nothing to do with the enforcement of any laws. those laws are still in place and we would continue to enforce those as they are now. However, if we had the ability to use a complaint and summons for some of these misdemeanor offenses, it would create a much more efficient operation for the police department."
This would give law enforcement officers options other than just arrest, options that may be able to cut down on overall cost and resources needed to put someone into custody.
McCarver continued, "So, if we have the option and again, this would just be an option for the police officers to issue a summons, just to have another conduit so to speak, to get this charge to the court. I can only see it as a benefit. I don't see this as anything negative."
And on the judicial side, things wouldn't really look different. Those charged still have to appear in court, in front of a judge...
Lonzo Robinson, Huntsville Municipal Court Presiding Judge, said, "The only thing that this measure really is is an alternative method of getting the person in front of us. So for the court, for me, there will be no practical difference. when I'm on the bench. If a defendant is in front of me, I'm not looking in the file to figure out how they got in front of me. So whether they are actually undergoing a physical custodial arrest, or whether they are given a summons and are brought to the court, they're in front of me. Once they're in front of me, then you have all of the powers of the court there."
No decision has been made on this issue.