The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed a life-without-parole sentence for possession of 43.71 grams of marijuana, about 1.5 ounces, in a 6-3 decision in June 2022, the AP reported through KPLC. The Forrest County defendant was sentenced as a habitual offender; the usual maximum for the charge is three years.
His prior convictions were two house burglaries and felon in possession of a firearm. A dissent questioned whether the burglaries were violent, and the Court of Appeals had earlier deadlocked 5-5. Separately, WDAM reported in April 2022 that a Forrest County jury convicted the same man of first-degree murder, and Mississippi corrections records show a second life sentence for that conviction, so he is not imprisoned for marijuana alone.
Why it matters: The ruling shows how a habitual-offender law can turn about an ounce and a half of marijuana into a life sentence on paper. The man's separate murder conviction means this case should not be read as a marijuana-only imprisonment.
Source: KPLC (AP), 2022-06-17. Forgotten Prisoner's account is based on this reporting.