Bernard Noble is a 48-year-old father and a truck driver from New Orleans. He's currently serving a 13-year prison sentence for an act that is now legal in Colorado, Washington, and many other states.
On October 27, 2010, two New Orleans police officers spotted Noble riding a bicycle down Miro Street. With no probable cause, they did a stop-and-frisk and turned up two joints. A jury convicted him of marijuana possession. Noble had previously served time for two minor drug charges, the last one nearly a decade prior. Under Louisiana's three strikes law, Noble faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 13 years in prison.
The case judge, looking over Mr. Noble's impressive work history and support of his children, refused to give him 13 years. Instead, he sentenced him to five years without parole. Noble, the judge said, "is one of the few truly deserving" a lesser sentence.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzarro appealed the sentence: He insisted Noble go down for the whole 13. This is typical in Louisiana, where "triple-billing" defendants is a matter of course and men like Bernard Noble receive sentences far out of proportion to their crimes.
Under Louisiana law, Cannizzarro prevailed. An appeals court mandated a 13-year sentence for Bernard Noble. The judge in that case found himself handcuffed by state laws. In an extraordinary opinion, he stated:
"This Court believes with all of its heart and all of its soul that this is injustice."
Bernard Noble has appealed his case to the Louisiana Supreme Court. He is waiting to hear whether the Court will reconsider Noble's extraordinary punishment. Meanwhile, he wakes every day behind bars.”
For more information and to add your voice of support for the commutation of Bernard Noble's cruel and unusual sentence, please visit http://anoblecause.wix.com/bernard-noble#!the-project/ceu8
