Deshaun Durham doesn’t belong in a Kansas prison for cannabis. Gov. Kelly can fix it | Opinion

Deshaun Durham was once a young man with a bright future. The Manhattan, Kansas, native at one point had plans to attend Kansas State University before beginning his professional career.

Instead, Deshaun now looks forward to his mother Brandi visiting him at Hutchinson Correctional Facility on the weekends. He’s serving a 92-month sentence for possession with intent to distribute 2.4 pounds of cannabis.

Deshaun had a clean record before the arrest and was convicted for a nonviolent offense. According to the Kansas Sentencing Commission, courts across Kansas typically give probation for people with no criminal history. It was a rare occurrence for a first-time offender such as Deshaun to receive this harsh a sentence.

Kansas has no level of cannabis legalization. However, Gov. Laura Kelly has been an advocate for those incarcerated on low-level marijuana offenses. She has said: “Right now we are incarcerating many, many people who are nonviolent, first-time drug offenders. Those folks no more belong in prison than you or I. What they need, if anything, is treatment.”

Was the governor talking about cases such as Deshaun’s?

Shortly after Deshaun’s sentencing in June 2021, Kelly took executive action on several individuals serving time on drug charges. This included commuting Dominic Holder’s sentence, which was for two counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. Deshaun recently turned 23 and has been in prison for three years, similar to Dominic, who received clemency at age 23. However, Dominic, who was convicted with possession of 44 pounds of cannabis, had a significantly larger amount than Deshaun. If individuals such as Dominic can be granted clemency with a large amount of cannabis, why can’t Deshaun, who was convicted for only 2.4 pounds?

Kansas taxpayers spend an average of $30,100 annually per inmate. For a first-time cannabis offender such as Deshuan, with no criminal history and a release date in 2028, we have to ask ourselves: Does the time fit the crime, and is it worth the expense to keep him in prison?

In 2018, Kelly said: “When we incarcerate those people for first-time drug offenses, we’re really separating them from work, separating them from family and doing great devastation to them individually, but also, I think, our economy.”

Deshaun has stayed active in prison, working an off-site private industry job. In 2019, the governor visited Lansing inmates at an off-site private industry workflow site located in downtown Leavenworth.

It is safe to say Kelly likely believes in the private industry sector of her criminal justice system as a way of rehabilitation and teaching skills to reduce recidivism. Deshuan is a testament to that idea: He is currently a taxpayer while incarcerated, as he is a private industry worker looking to acquire additional skill sets to reintegrate back into society.

I believe if clemency exists, it should be offered to a person like Deshaun. The Kelly administration has demonstrated a great approach through prior executive action for individuals with circumstances similar to his. I wouldn’t be surprised if the governor uses her executive power once again to grant Deshaun the justice he deserves along with other cannabis prisoners in her state.

Will history repeat itself with Deshaun Durham? I think — and hope — that it will.

Donte West, also known as Donte Westmoreland, is an entrepreneur and criminal justice advocate who was exonerated in 2021 after spending three years and eight months incarcerated on possession of 1 pound of marijuana with intent to distribute. He works with the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Last Prisoner Project to help other incarcerated cannabis offenders.