In
1996, Jeff Mizanskey was a dead man, sentenced to life without the possibility
of parole because of three felony convictions. All were for non-violent,
marijuana-related offenses.
Mizanskey’s three strikes included selling a
small amount of pot to a relative, possessing less than three ounces in his
home, and driving a friend to a motel to buy pot from an undercover
officer.
That’s it. No guns, no sales to children. For those offenses, he
got a life sentence.
But thanks to the efforts of his lawyer, Dan Viets,
as well as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Missouri drug
reform group Show-Me Cannabis, Gov. Jay Nixon commuted Mizanskey’s sentence,
which allowed him to win parole.
Last week, Mizanskey walked out of
prison, a free man for the first time in 21 years. Reason TV was on hand to
cover the press conference outside the Jefferson County Correctional Center,
where Mizanskey spoke of his imprisonment as "cruel and unusal," and lamented
that he spent a thir...
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