Bill Text: NJ SCR89 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Governor to exercise executive clemency to commute five-year prison sentence of John Ray Wilson, whose cultivation of marijuana to treat his multiple sclerosis resulted in his criminal conviction for marijuana manufacturing.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-16 - Reported from Senate Committee, 2nd Reading [SCR89 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-SCR89-Introduced.html
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 89
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 13, 2012
Sponsored by:
Senator RAYMOND J. LESNIAK
District 20 (Union)
Senator NICHOLAS P. SCUTARI
District 22 (Middlesex, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Urges Governor to exercise executive clemency to commute five-year prison sentence of John Ray Wilson, whose cultivation of marijuana to treat his multiple sclerosis resulted in his criminal conviction for marijuana manufacturing.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Concurrent Resolution urging the Governor to exercise executive clemency to commute the five-year prison sentence of John Ray Wilson.
Whereas, John Ray Wilson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2002; and
Whereas, Many individuals with multiple sclerosis have used marijuana and reported that it relieves their symptoms, which include pain, tremor, and spasticity; and
Whereas, To further assist the treatment efforts of individuals with multiple sclerosis like John Ray Wilson, and the treatment efforts of other individuals with various conditions who may benefit from using marijuana, 16 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized the use of medical marijuana; and
Whereas, The State of New Jersey is among the states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana, done by the enactment of the "New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act," P.L.2009, c.307 (C.24:6I-1 et al.), which was introduced in the 213th Legislature on January 1, 2008 as Senate Bill No. 119, progressed through the legislative process in 2008 and 2009, and was signed into law on January 11, 2010; and
Whereas, While the New Jersey Legislature moved towards approving the legal use of medical marijuana, John Ray Wilson was arrested in August 2008 and later indicted by a grand jury for the criminal manufacturing of marijuana in violation of N.J.S.2C:35-5; and
Whereas, The facts associated with John Ray Wilson's arrest and grand jury indictment were that, lacking any health insurance and unable to afford any of the expensive medications regularly prescribed to alleviate the painful symptoms of multiple sclerosis, he engaged in the cultivation of marijuana plants, grown on his own rented residential property for his own medicinal use; and
Whereas, The trial court in March 2009 barred John Ray Wilson from asserting a personal use defense and from referencing his medical condition at trial, applying then existing law, which predated the enactment of the "New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act"; and
Whereas, On December 17, 2009, a jury found John Ray Wilson guilty of the criminal manufacturing of marijuana, a second degree crime, and the trial court subsequently imposed a five-year term of imprisonment; and
Whereas, The Appellate Division, on July 26, 2011, upheld the trial court's ruling which barred the personal use defense and references to John Ray Wilson's multiple sclerosis, and a petition for certification to the New Jersey Supreme Court was denied on January 10, 2012; and
Whereas, John Ray Wilson, without further judicial recourse regarding his attempts to introduce at trial a personal use defense associated with treating his multiple sclerosis, reported on January 27, 2012 to the Somerset County Courthouse for processing and to fulfill the five-year sentence on his criminal conviction; and
Whereas, The Governor, pursuant to the constitutional authority set forth in Article V, Section II, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution has the full authority to "grant pardons and reprieves" regarding the actions of individuals and their adjudicated convictions; and
Whereas, The Governor, exercising this executive clemency, has the ability to commute an individual's judicially-imposed prison sentence to reduce the amount of time to be served by the individual; and
Whereas, Executive clemency by the Governor is a constitutional power that should be wielded with careful consideration, and is historically applied to relieve the innocent individual who is wrongfully convicted, or the individual whose conviction and imprisonment represents an injustice, given the application of the law within the greater context of the circumstances surrounding that conviction and imprisonment; and
Whereas, The conviction and five-year imprisonment of John Ray Wilson is a clear injustice for a man who cultivated marijuana plants to treat his multiple sclerosis, who was barred from presenting a personal use defense at trial, and who was convicted for the criminal manufacturing of marijuana, and is especially egregious given that he now faces imprisonment in a State which in 2010 legalized the medicinal use of marijuana with the "New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act"; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):
1. The Legislature does hereby urge the Governor to exercise executive clemency, as exclusively provided to the Governor under Article V, Section II, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, to commute the five-year prison sentence of John Ray Wilson in order to rectify the injustice imposed upon him by his conviction and imprisonment for the criminal manufacturing of marijuana.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this concurrent resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly, and attested by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the General Assembly, shall be transmitted to the Governor.
STATEMENT
This concurrent resolution urges the Governor to exercise executive clemency, as exclusively provided to the Governor under Article V, Section II, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, to commute the five-year prison sentence of John Ray Wilson in order to rectify the injustice imposed upon him by his conviction and imprisonment for the criminal manufacturing of marijuana.
John Ray Wilson was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2002. Many individuals with multiple sclerosis have used marijuana and reported that it relieves their symptoms, which include pain, tremor, and spasticity. Mr. Wilson was arrested in August 2008 and later indicted by a grand jury for the criminal manufacturing of marijuana in violation of N.J.S.2C:35-5; the facts associated with John Ray Wilson's arrest and grand jury indictment were that, lacking any health insurance and unable to afford any of the expensive medications regularly prescribed to alleviate the painful symptoms of multiple sclerosis, he engaged in the cultivation of marijuana plants, grown on his own rented residential property for his own medicinal use.
The trial court, in March 2009, barred Mr. Wilson from asserting a personal use defense and from referencing his medical condition at trial, applying then existing law, which predating the 2010 enactment of the "New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act," P.L.2009, c.307 (C.24:6I-1 et al.), legalizing the medical use of marijuana. The jury found Mr. Wilson guilty of the criminal manufacturing of marijuana, a second degree crime, and the trial court subsequently imposed a five-year term of imprisonment.
The Appellate Division, on July 26, 2011, upheld the trial court's ruling which barred the personal use defense and references to Mr. Wilson's multiple sclerosis, and a petition for certification to the New Jersey Supreme Court was denied on January 10, 2012. Without further judicial recourse regarding his attempts to introduce at trial a personal use defense associated with treating his multiple sclerosis, Mr. Wilson reported on January 27, 2012 to the Somerset County Courthouse for processing and to fulfill the five-year sentence on his criminal conviction.
The conviction and five-year imprisonment of Mr. Wilson is a clear injustice for a man who cultivated marijuana plants to treat his multiple sclerosis, who was barred from presenting a personal use defense at trial, and who was convicted for the criminal manufacturing of marijuana. It is especially egregious given that he now faces imprisonment in a State which in 2010 legalized the medicinal use of marijuana with the "New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act." Therefore, the Legislature urges the Governor to exercise executive clemency to rectify this injustice by commuting his five-year prison sentence of Mr. Wilson.
