Mississippi man sentenced to life in prison on a marijuana possession charge has lost his appeal in the state’s highest court. Russell was given life without parole in 2019 after he was found guilty of being in possession of 43.71 grams of marijuana.
Allen Russell was arrested in 2017 for possession of cannabis. He now faces a life sentence that was upheld by the state appeals court because they deemed him a “habitual offender”—an idea that undoubtedly affects BIPOC at disproportionate rates. This status is due to unrelated charges associated with offenses that he served 10 years in prison for already. A number of judges on the court of appeals dissented because they disagreed with the cruel and unusual punishment.
There is no amount of cannabis that should land someone a life sentence. Allen Russel was found guilty of possession in 2019 over just an ounce of weed, meanwhile laws around recreational use are softening all across the US.
Sign this petition to dissent to this wildly disproportionate and cruel punishment and demand that Mississippi governor Tate Reeves commute his sentence. Allen Russel deserves our support.
A Black man, who is currently serving a life sentence in prison due to a marijuana conviction in Mississippi, was denied when he appealed his conviction.
On Tuesday, the Mississippi Court of Appeals denied Allen Russell’s appeal due to his history of being a “habitual offender.”
In 2019, the 38-year-old was found guilty of possession of more than 30 grams of marijuana. Russell was previously convicted on two separate home burglary charges in 2004 and possession of a firearm in 2015. He spent more than 10 years in jail, according to NewsOne.
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