Nutter surrenders in Philly marijuana war

Mayor Michael Nutter didn't seem like a fan of City Councilman Jim Kenney's bill to decriminalize marijuana in Philadelphia. Last month, he mocked its supporters for making "black guys should be allowed to smoke as much dope as they want" into "suddenly...the great civil rights issue of our day."

But some people did see it as a great civil rights issue: 83 percent of the 4,314 marijuana-possession arrests made by Philly police in 2013 were of African-Americans.

And so Nutter, after facing months of intense criticism, will now sign an amended bill that ends arrests and criminal charges for the possession of small amounts of marijuana and replaces it with a $25 fine. That bill is expected to be amended in City Council when it reconvenes on Thursday, according to Kenney's office, and then voted on the following Thursday.

Kenney says that Philly's move to decriminalize marijuana possession is historic and will help propel the nationwide move toward fully legalizing marijuana.

"I'm obviously happy that the administration has changed course and we're going to have the opportunity to keep young people in our city, many of them African Americans, out of the criminal justice system," says Kenney. "I think in some ways its been decriminalized for quite some time for a certain race of people ... you go to a Willie Nelson concert, or Phish concert or an Eagles game."

Kenney says that he received a call last week from the Nutter Administration and then sat down on Friday with Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey's legal advisor, Capt. Francis Healy, and Nutter legislative aides Robert Murken and Tumar Alexander, to hammer out an agreement.

"And I was kind of shocked, surprised, that there was very little change in the legislation and that they were willing to move forward in a cooperative way," he says.

Nutter yesterday praised Kenney for causing "all of us to talk about this and focus on this particular issue in a very, very different way. So, you know we were never at odds about the goal, and we share the same goal: People should not necessarily get arrested, or be hassled, or end up with a life changing criminal record," according to a transcript of an interview with reporters released by his office.

The mayor's change-of-heart came just before a pro-decriminalization rally organized by the Institute for the Development of African American Youth slated for Wednesday.

"While I am elated that the mayor has agreed to sign this bill and see this as a positive step forward, we will not rest until the bill is officially made law," said IDAAY Executive Director S. Archye Leacock in a statement. "Once IDAAY has achieved the goal, we can build more support for in-patient and outpatient drug treatment and a drug-education program in our community that IDAAY" can support and assist.

Nutter did extract one concession: those caught smoking weed in public will be subject to $100 fine or community service. So much for getting high in the park. It's unclear whether that was a public policy priority for the mayor or an effort to save face. But, said PhillyNORML co-chair Chris Goldstein, it's a big step forward.

"As the national conversation continues about full legalization, Philadelphia residents will no longer have to endure what was one of the harshest marijuana procedures in the country," said Goldstein in a statement.

In June, Council approved the decriminalization legislation by a 13-3 veto-proof majority, but quickly encountered resistance from Police Commissioner Ramsey and District Attorney Seth Williams. In January, Ramsey had said he was "in favor of being able to write a citation for minor possession as opposed to actually having a physical arrest taking officers off the street." Ramsey then told City Paper that he changed his mind after conversation with Williams and city court officials.

Williams' office told City Paper it had no choice because "by law, all misdemeanors in the commonwealth require an arrest by police." But no such statute, the paper reported, appears to exist.

Williams has not yet responded to a request for comment.

"I want to thank you and the City Paper. You guys grabbed onto this and didn't let go," says Kenney. "It was a big help, honestly. Your persistence was very helpful in moving the needle."

Kenney says that he received a call this morning from Ramsey, who was not available for an interview, pledging to find a way to make decriminalization work.