The Tale of Two MA Teenagers: Probation for Coach Belichick’s Son for Small Amount of Marijuana, Two Years in Jail for Mitchell Lawrence

For Immediate Release: October 31, 2006 For More Info: Tony Newman (646) 335-5384 The Tale of Two MA Teenagers: Probation for Coach Belichick’s son for Small Amount of Marijuana, Two Years in Jail for Mitchell Lawrence Probation is Appropriate Response to Teen with Small Amount of Marijuana, Not Cruel Two Year Sentence 18-Year-Old Mitchell Lawrence is in Jail Because of Bad Law, Cruel Prosecutor The son of New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick was placed on probation for six months after being arrested on Saturday on one account of marijuana possession. Charges against Stephen Belichick will be dropped after six months if he stays out of trouble. The Drug Policy Alliance, a national organization working end the war on drugs, applauded the appropriate sentence given to Stephen Belichick, while highlighting an injustice that has befallen another teenager from Massachusetts: Mitchell Lawrence, an 18-year-old now spending two years in jail for selling one joint’s worth of marijuana to an undercover police officer in Great Barrington, MA. Mitchell Lawrence received the two-year jail sentence because he was within 1,000 feet of a school and because the fanatical district attorney of Berkshire County, David Capeless, decided to press school zone charges, which trigger a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison. “Sending an 18-year-old to jail for two years for a small amount of marijuana is inhumane,” said Tony Papa, communications specialist at the Drug Policy Alliance. “Fortunately, the district attorney working on the Belichick case used common sense and compassion when pushing for probation instead of a jail cell.” Lawrence’s case was depicted in a recent flash movie. The two-minute movie introduces people to Lawrence and the details of his case. The flash asks and then explains how an 18-year-old (he was 17 when arrested) who has never been in trouble before could be sentenced to two years in jail for selling such a minuscule amount of marijuana. (View the flash movie at: http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/050506greatbarringtonflash.cfm [6]