End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
--- On Wed, 1/6/10, James Karl <bong_jamesbong2001@...> wrote:
From: James Karl <bong_jamesbong2001@...> Subject: [CPOP] Fw: [THC-Ministry Yahoo group] Take The Chase Boycott Pledge To: cp3@yahoogroups.com Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 6:50 AM
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
--- On Sun, 1/3/10, Rev. Steven B. Thompson <BenziecountyNORML@ yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Rev. Steven B. Thompson <BenziecountyNORML@ yahoo..com> Subject: [THC-Ministry Yahoo group] Take The Chase Boycott Pledge To: minorml-news@ norml.net Cc: universal_life_ church@yahoogrou ps.com, thc-ministry@ yahoogroups. com, pda-michigan@ yahoogroups.
com, entheogens@yahoogro ups.com, "Dem Freedom Caucus" <markp@iserv. net> Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010, 8:29 AM
From: Rev.Steve... .our SSDP & MPP brothers & sisters need our help to send a message loud & clear to Chase Bank. Remember what we...united. ..did to Kellogs!! Let's do it again!!
From: "Micah Daigle, SSDP" <ssdp@... inaction. org> To: jcowen@netscape. com Subject: How Chase Bank cheated drug policy groups out of $25,000 Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:07:35 -0500 (EST)
Friends,
Recently, I asked you to vote for Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) in a competition on Facebook that would have earned us $25K and a shot at $1 million. Thousands of you took action, catapulting
SSDP into fourteenth place. We needed to place within the top 100 to win, so victory was assured.
Or so we thought.. As the New York Times reported this Saturday, during the final days of the contest, Chase rigged their own system to obscure the vote count and then revoked the winnings of a few groups, including SSDP and the Marijuana Policy Project!
Clearly, Chase can't be trusted to handle our money. This morning, I canceled my credit card account with Chase, and I hope you'll join me. Please make the Chase Boycott Pledge at http://www.ChaseBoy cott.com
To be clear,
this isn't sour grapes over not receiving a grant -- this is about demanding honesty and accountability of a corporation that handles billions of dollars of American assets. The banking giant had every opportunity to disqualify us from the start if they disagreed with our mission. Instead, they used our social networks to generate free advertising for their brand, and then revoked the winnings after the contest was over without providing an explanation. When asked by SSDP and the New York Times to produce a vote tally, they smugly refused.
Chase executives are not only out of touch with the principles of honesty and transparency, but they are also out of touch with the majority of Americans when it comes to drug policy. Did you know that 75% of Americans think the War on Drugs has failed and that 53% support legalizing marijuana? This is a mainstream issue that's gaining more support every day.
By boycotting Chase, you'll be sending a message to corporations that they need to earn your trust before they earn your money. http://www.ChaseBoy cott.com
Never defeated, Micah
Micah Daigle, Executive Director Students for Sensible Drug Policy
ELK
RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - A northern Michigan woman at risk of losing her
apartment because of medical marijuana has been given a holiday
reprieve from the owner - the federal government.
Lori Montroy
of Elk Rapids was told she had to be out by the end of the year or face
eviction proceedings in Antrim County court.
The Gardner Group
manages the building for the government and said Tuesday the process
has been suspended and Montroy's case will be reviewed after Jan. 4.
Montroy
has terminal brain cancer of the type that killed U.S. Sen. Edward
Kennedy. Medical marijuana is legal in Michigan, but the Gardner Group
says the U.S. government considers it illegal in its properties.
The American Civil Liberties Union is supporting Montroy.
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
--- On Sun, 12/6/09, kayleeusa@... <kayleeusa@...> wrote:
From: kayleeusa@... <kayleeusa@...> Subject: [CPOP] You have been invited to join Moms For Marijuana To: cp3@yahoogroups.com Date: Sunday, December 6, 2009, 7:56 AM
You have been invited to join Moms For Marijuana _____________________________________________
A budding group for moms and grandmas and their supporters who know the truth about the Cannabis plant.
FREE DANA BEAL
Category:
Organizations - Political Organizations
Description:
DANA BEAL-director of cures_Not-Wars, the worldwide marijuana march,advocate of
using ibogaine to cure drug addiction and old-time yippie was arrested with 2
other activists in Wahoo, Nebraska on Thursday September 30 and charged with
"possession of 150 pounds of pot" and possession with intent to deliver...Beal
is being held on $500,000 bail. we need to raise funds to bail our comrades out
of the nebraska Gulag....we are embarking on a campaign to raise at least
$50,000 to bqail out Beal....We are asking you, the marijuana smoker to donate
at least $10 to the cause of freedom via paypal.com!!!
The paypal address is douggreene@...!!
CHECKS ARE TO BE MADE PAYABLE TO :
GLEN A SHAPIRO
1001 FARNAM STREET # 3RD FLOOR
OMAHA, NEBRASKA 68102
PLEASE "DANA BEAL" ON THE MEMO LINE
-------------------------------------
WE NEED TO GO KNOCK KNOCK KNOCKING ON FREEDOM'S DOOR!!! FREE DANA BEAL
FEEL FREE TO POST TO THE BLOG VIA http://freedanabeal.wordpress.com OR
http://freedanabeal.blogspot.com/2009/10/help-free-dana-beal.html
Contact Info
Email:
Website:
http://www.freedanabeal.org
Office:
347-962-5024
Location:
New York, NY
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=143405647913
Mayday Global Chalk4Peace - Its Time To Get Out The Chalk again!
Mayday Global Chalk4Peace - Its Time To Get Out The Chalk again!
Invite all your friends to join in with this global event here:
http://www.facebook.com/editevent.php?guests&eid=102523387344http://www.infinitepossibility.org
click on Chalk4Peace for details of past Chalk4Peace Global Events
In 100's of cities around the world On Mayday -Chalk4Peace
Please copy this & forward this to all your contacts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
United Kingdom…United States…Egypt…Austria…Germany…Canada…
Ecuador…Puerto Rico… France… Chile… Iran… Iraq… Mexico…
Spain…Italy…Cypress…Israel… In hundreds of towns and cities - Everywhere!
"Our Streets Are OUR Media"
WE have TOTAL access -
"We CAN Make the difference"
_______________________________________
http://www.infinitepossibility.org
Changing The World By Changing The Conversation"
Please Support The work of this website
———————————————————-
Mission Possible "Our World Working For ALL of Us"
We CAN Make THE Difference!
MAYDAY 2009 Chalk4Peace!
On the pavements and sidewalks of our towns and cities
You are invited to Take Action! -
For your local organiser, LOOK IN THE MIRROR
It takes very little to participate in the global MAYDAY2009 chalk4peace , all
you need is a piece of chalk, you can chalk anything you want: a heart, a smiley
face, a word a poem or a flower - on a wall, a pavement somewhere, anywhere! -
It washes off in the rain so don't worry.
Invite all your friends on facebook, myspace etc & beyond, this can
spread faster than `flu, break the surface & appear in the mainstream
media.
Invite people to join you, if you have extra chalk, people will want
to join in `cos its so much FUN!
Get together in groups, organise chalk4peace parties picnics, print
leaflets, send press releases.
Your participation can be as big or small as you want
Bring some colour into the grey streets & turn our cities into
gigantic art galleries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCjATioFPCIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpkndYaCYYMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqJrNt9YVyUhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBGb9q3F334
(Scroll down for "WHAT CAN YOU DO?" to Participate in this
GLOBAL outpouring of public art. Where we make
our personal statements for peace on the pavements and sidewalks of
our cities all over our world.")
Chalk4Peace MAYDAY 2009 IS HAPPENING!
All around the globe, together we are decorating, dedicating and
declaring, in deep sincerity our collective call for peace.
Chalk4Peace is about our empowerment. We The People, our global
culture, all people everywhere and our common desire to live in peace.
The Chalk4Peace project has already transformed the experience of
thousands of people attending demonstrations for peace all over the
world during the past 7 years. Chalk4Peace is both a tool and a
conduit for non violent public self expression, and participation in
the growing global movement for peace.
Chalk4Peace is an opportunity for all of us of all ages to make our
feelings known, especially the young, whose future is in dire jeopardy
as our global village falls faster and faster into the fear breeding
fear breeding fear spiral.
Our global culture is teetering on the edge of extinction.
No one person alone can turn this around, but together WE CAN!
"The Structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man, one
party,or one nation. It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative
effort of the whole world"
… Eleanor Roosevelt
Our basic human instincts drive us to seek safety. This is what this
chaos is all about.Our essential human survival instincts are acting
out of context with the wider global cultural need resulting in
mistrust, fear and conflict.
Everywhere the media is bombarding us with WAR TALK, distractions and
negative belief patterns that encourage us to believe that the future
of our world is out of our hands entirely.
One place we still have communal access to, is OUR STREETS.
We can balance our GLOBAL CONVERSATION with collective self-expression
using OUR STREETS AS OUR MEDIA!
Chalk4Peace is one step, a catalyst that can transform our global
conversation as we the people, en masse make our statement that is our
common aspiration for peace.
START NOW! Just DO IT!
Carry some chalk with you, invite a friend with you, to chalk
inspirations on the pavement whenever and wherever you fancy.
Chalk is harmless, cheap and washes away within a few days.
Especially PARTICIPATE On MAYDAY 2009
GLOBAL Chalk4Peace ACTION!
Make it happen in your Community!
(Scroll down for "WHAT CAN YOU DO?")
Lets us turn our grey streets into a living river of colour and
possibility - With poetry, hearts, peace symbols, empowering
statements, also expressions of our frustrations and despair.
All will be seen for several days by thousands of people, then as they
are washed away by the elements WE CAN CONTINUE to find fresh places
to Chalk4Peace.
We don't need to be an artist to Chalk4Peace. Every statement, however
small or large becomes part of the amazing tapestry that is our global
future.
This unique event conceivably, could be the largest of its kind in
modern history.
It is a global effort that is happening.
We The People are spreading the word and making the effort to be a
part of this huge creative endeavor to bring Peace back into the
equation.
It is our goal for at least one million or more of us to participate
with this sidewalk/pavement chalk extravaganza, at thousands of
locations, in as many countries, cities and towns around the world as is
possible.
So WHAT CAN YOU DO to help make this happen?
1. NETWORK this email to your friends, contacts and where ever else
seems appropriate
2. JOIN the Yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chalk4Peace
or send a blank email to:
Chalk4Peace-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To network with others around the world who will be Chalking4Peace.
3. EMAIL:
viziondanz@...
to let us know what you are doing in your community, and please send
us pictures. Or to find out how you can participate in the project.
4. ARRANGE with you local businesses, libraries, churches, mosques,
synagogues, restaurants, supermarkets etc to chalk on the pavement
outside their premises Mayday and whenever else
IDENTIFY public squares such and invite
all your friends and your friends' friends to show up with a few boxes
of chalk, or even get some from your local quarry.
TAKE extra chalk with you to hand out to passers-by.
5. USE this Email as a press release for you local TV, Radio and Newspapers. Let
them know that Chalk4Peace is happening ASAP to get the momentum going.
6. DOCUMENT YOUR Chalk4peace actions with photos and video. Send them
to your local media - copies for our website will be greatly
appreciated - send to:
viziondanz@...
7. ENGAGE co-creatively in local communal efforts, strengthen working
relationships and find what it takes
to stand for peace and freedom.
8. Have lots of FUN and keep on
Chalking4Peace after the Mayday event.
"FUN The Final Frontier"
How did Chalk4Peace begin?
"Message in a bottle"
http://www.infinitepossibility.org/chalk/message/http://www.infinitepossibility.org/chalkhttp://www.myspace.com/chalk4peace
Its time for us to move beyond the "No to War" position and come together
"Saying Yes2Peace"
"If we don't create our future, our past will create it for us"
http://www.infinitepossibility.org/yes1
Lets skip the war bit and just get to the peace
Greet someone new today,
look into their eyes, smile, say hello,
shake their hand …
LET THE PEACE BEGIN!
Brian
–
1+1=11 — We Are S.Y.N.E.R.G.Y
"There is nothing wrong with our world,
we are just having a weird conversation"
"Reclaim the conversation"
"Our New World Order IS Love
http://www.infinitepossibility.org
Profile @
http://www.infinitepossibility.org/movieshttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=522206103http://uk.youtube.com/profile?user=viziondanz&view=videoshttp://www.myspace.com/viziondanzhttp://www.myspace.com/chalk4peacehttp://www.gunghomedia.co.uk
Social Acupuncture — http://www.infinitepossibility.org/sa
The FreeMind Project — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv4rmwQlfnM
Sunrise Celebration 2009 -The Odessy Continues - Phoenix Rising From
The Floods of 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFunT6c_Pl0
The Synergy Project video– http://youtube.com/watch?v=ecPKHAW0AXA
"Obama - are you the new american zeitgeist" ? - from the global community
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA4jA1YV6bc
The Movement For Peace Enters A New Phase
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cSDimvFYVU
"This is what democracy looks like"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FZ01Z2pC2Is
Dedicated to the child inside each one of us,
All the children and
All the children to come
TODAY'S Feature Interview: Radio show host Rick Smith, the voice of the people in Cleveland
What's New?
* Karen Kwiatkowski column
* Ava Bird poetry
* Rex Butters poetry
* Gary Mennie poetry
Columns:
Sherwood Ross — why not shut down a few prisons in the United States as well?
Mickey Z — Americans are cowards, too comfortable, will
never-ever-not-in-one-million-years revolt-or-even-bother-to-stand-up —
no matter what the rich folks do to them.
Lydia Sems — It's The American Dream that is the problem.
and more from Jack Saunders ...
Resistance:
* Planned civil disobedience in Minnesota to stop raids against immigrants
* Protests at Creech AFB against U.S. drone terroristic activity
*100 days of protest against Guantanamo to culminate
All this, Northern Exposure, The Big Lebowski, Paradise by the Dashboard Lights ... a certificate for free toast ... and more.
Join us.
The New American Dream
Dude.
... because ... "There are no wrong questions, if you don't know the answers."
.... well ... because the whole country is a freeking free-speech zone.
See it TODAY - TOMORROW - and all weekend
Feature Interviews:
TODAY: BRIAN KASORO, of Brooklyn, the publisher of The Liberator
Magazine. He is THE hope of the country, he and his friends, more-so
than Obama and his friends. Really.
TOMORROW: ALEJANDRO ROJAS, of THE Mutual UFO Network. It's time to take an interest, don't you think? Why not? UFOs are interested in you. Also:
Poetry by Ava Bird of Berkeley and David Ray of Tucson.
A Brand New Cartoon from Ben Heine of Brussels.
Mickey Z. asks why Americans are cowards.
Sherwood Ross says "what about closing Leavenworth, Lewisburg, San Quentin," — the hell-hole county jail across the street?
Home-Made Disarmament: Some Swedish folks show us
how it's done.
and ...
Writer Jack Saunders has written over 300 novels since the '70s — here's a taste of the big buffet.
The New American Dream
... as Americans we are allowed to ask questions:
Today's Feature Interview
CARL OLSEN, who spent two years in prison for his struggle against U.S. marijuana laws.
... three decades later, he's still fighting.
"I've never served in the military,
but almost went to prison for resisting the draft.
__________
"I showed up at the induction center with a Bible
and said my religion does not allow me to kill people.
"Marijuana is my sacrament.
__________
"God made it, wicked governments hate it."
_________________________
THE New American Dream
As Americans we are allowed to ask questions:
About war, about 9/11, about JFK, MLK, Wellstone, Waco, OKC — UFOs, Bigfoot, landing on the moon.
We are about dreaming a New American Dream — based on truth in our history books and bread on the table of the poor.
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
--- On Fri, 1/23/09, james Karl <bong_jamesbong2001@...> wrote:
From: james Karl <bong_jamesbong2001@...> Subject: [CPOP] Re: Fw: [asa] URGENT: DEA Scoffs Obama with Raid!! Call the White House Now! To: mikelericz@..., cp3@yahoogroups.com Date: Friday, January 23, 2009, 6:52 AM
Well, Mike, just who's the boss here??? I suppose we'll find out shortly. Show time, ya'll!!!
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
--- On Thu, 1/22/09, Mike Zorn <mikelericz@yahoo. com> wrote:
From: Mike Zorn <mikelericz@yahoo. com> Subject: Fw: [asa] URGENT: DEA Scoffs Obama with Raid!!
Call the White House Now! To: AMarijuanaSmokersLo unge@yahoogroups .com, bong_jamesbong2001@ yahoo.com Date: Thursday, January 22, 2009, 10:59 PM
Mikel Zorn's comment: This is muthflippn' bushit all over again you heartless DEAth bastards! You want war you cocksuckers have at it... WITH THE CARTELS YOU CANNOT HANDLE NOT MY SICK N DYING FRIENDS. I'M SICK OF YOU DEAth trap assholes we ALL ARE!!!!!!! BAN THESE INHUMANE FASCIST HORSES ASSES OF HITLER TO HELL. YOU'LL FACE GOD FOR THIS ONE AND YOU CAN'T RAID HIM NOW CAN YOU:0) HEARTLESS COWARDS PROBABLY STILL KNOCK LITTLE OLD LADIES OVER THE HEAD FOR MONEY MONEY MONEY NOT SAFETY OR COMPASSION JUST GREED AND A SMALL ARMY OF EXTREMELY STUPID PEOPLE YOU DEAth fuckers are. Go ahead n set me up too now there will be many more in our footsteps who use weapons of TRUTH NOT DEAtHitlerism! !!!!!! I AM
INDEPENDENT AND STAND BY MY COMMENTS NO COVER UPS ONLY TRUTH TRUTH TRUTH. THEY RUN FROM TRUTH OR
LOCK IT UP IN
HITLERVILLE.
----- Forwarded Message ---- From: "george@safeaccessn ow.org" <george@safeaccessno w.org> To: asa@... snow.org Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 6:48:05 PM Subject: [asa] URGENT: DEA Scoffs Obama with Raid!! Call the White House Now!
DEA Scoffs Obama: Raids California Dispensary Call the White House Immediately!
Dear ASA Supporter,
Can you believe that DEA would act so quickly to undermine and disregard the statements made by President Obama?
Today, the Drug Enforcement Administration, currently staffed by officials from the Bush Administration, raided a medical cannabis dispensary in South Lake Tahoe, California. They did so knowing full well that President Obama has repeatedly pledged to end federal threats, arrests, and prosecutions of patients and their providers in medical cannabis states.
You can see video clips of Obama's statements here and here.
We are shocked and awed! For DEA to act with such brazen arrogance and in direct conflict with the new President’s pledge to end federal raids is deeply concerning. With only weeks left in office, it is clear that top DEA officials are using this transitional period to exploit the differences in policy between the old and new administration.
We need you to act… and we need you to act NOW!
Call President Obama and urge that he issue an immediate suspension to all federal funds used to investigate, intimidate, arrest, and prosecute individuals who use or provide medical cannabis in accordance with their state laws. Call the White House at (202) 456-1111 and say:
"Hi, my name is ____________ _. Today, the Drug Enforcement Agency raided a medical cannabis dispensary in Tahoe, California. The dispensary was raided by DEA despite numerous statements by President Obama saying he would end federal interference with state medical cannabis laws. I'm very concerned about outgoing DEA officials undermining these state laws and aggressively threatening innocent Americans. I'm also concerned about DEA taking action that is an affront to President Obama's position. I am pleading with President Obama to issue an immediate suspension of all federal funds used to investigate, intimidate, arrest, or prosecute individuals who use or provide medical cannabis in accordance with their state laws. We are being threatened by our own DEA. Please help us."
President Obama's position on medical marijuana is no secret. This is the single most important action you have been asked to take this year. We need President Obama's support. Once you’ve made this phone call, please forward this message to friends and family. Then visit www.whitehouse. gov/contact to copy and paste the above message.
Sincerely,
George Pappas Field Coordinator Americans for Safe Access
P.S. The only way we can continue to work with the Obama Administration and Congress is with your continued support. Become a member of ASA today!
Americans for Safe Access is the nation's largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ You received this message as a subscriber on the list: asa@... snow.org To be removed from the list, send any message to: asa-unsubscribe@ lists.safeaccess now.org
For all list information and functions, see: http://lists. safeaccessnow. org/lists/ info/asa
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
--- On Sun, 1/11/09, Bob Newland <newland@...> wrote:
From: Bob Newland <newland@...> Subject: SDSA ~ Do this NOW To: bong_jamesbong2001@... Date: Sunday, January 11, 2009, 2:24 PM
[You're receiving this because we have some reason to believe you want to be on this list. If you want to be off the list, please REPLY with UNSUB SDSA in the subject line. Thank you.]
Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009
As of this morning, SDSA still doesn’t have a legislator committed to sponsoring the Safe Access Act.
Since we started asking people to contact their legislators and ask them to support or sponsor the Safe Access Act, 17 people have told me of their conversations with their legislators.
I know there are some who didn’t tell me of their calls, but I also know there are a lot of people on this list who asked to be put here expressly to help influence medical cannabis legislation. Now’s your chance.
Legislators will go to Pierre tonight. Tomorrow they will be in training sessions. Every legislator has a laptop set up to receive emails. The LRC doesn’t yet have email addresses of legislators available as a click-through, but every legislator’s email that I have seen is in this format: [Rep.Smith@...] or [Sen.Jones@...].
You can find Capitol phone numbers for most legislators at http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2009/MemberMenu.aspx “Downloadable Address List” on that page is good if you have a database program like Xcel or MSWorks. The LRC will soon have a link to individual legislators and their contact info.
Try this. Email your legislators at their Capitol email address.
Ask Sen. Jones to consider the plight of the most vulnerable among us, those who suffer from conditions that only cannabis alleviates. Ask Rep. Smith to consider sponsoring the Safe Access Act.
Tell Sen. Jones that Bob Newland is in Pierre and will be at the Capitol Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Ask Rep. Smith to call Bob at 605-209-4354 and ask to meet to discuss the Safe Access Act.
Go to this page to find out who your legislators are.
There are several districts in Rapid City and Sioux Falls, so you might have to call around or email me to find out what district you live in. If you email me give me your street address.
Copy this message if you want to, and plug it into your email with any changes or additions you like. I only ask that you be polite, and recognize that a majority of people in your district did elect this person to office.
I am MyFirstName MyLastName. I live and vote in your district.
I am concerned by the fact that state law makes no allowance for the suffering needlessly inflicted on some people who can only receive relief from pain or nausea through the use of cannabis.
I urge you to contact Bob Newland and offer to sponsor the Safe Access Act, about which Mr. Newland has sent you several letters.
Bob will be in and at the Capitol building at least Monday afternoon and Tuesday. Please call him at 605-209-4354 and ask to meet with him to attempt to correct this injustice.
Thank you, and keep up the good work. No, I don't know anyone in South Dakota, but I'd still like to see it made legal for medicinal use. Now if you can just make some progress here in Georgia so I can get a card so I can again use marijuana for to terrible pain related to my bilateral hip dysplasia, seizures, migraines, nausea, insomnia and lack of appetite. It's been nearly four years since I left my card behind in Oregon and I hate having to take pharmeceuticals instead, just because I don't want to go to jail.
Blessed are the flexible for they shall not get bent out of shape.
Forgiving someone doesn't make them right -- but it does set you free!
In God We Trust
Mary Sizemore
--- On Fri, 12/12/08, james Karl <bong_jamesbong2001@...> wrote:
From: james Karl <bong_jamesbong2001@...> Subject: DW. DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE IN SOUTH DAKOTA? Fw: SDSA makes more progress To: "Marijuana Activist" <marijuana_activist2000@...>, aleearth420@..., amarijuanasmokerslounge@yahoogroups.com, apfn-1@yahoogroups.com, "dawnee b" <dawneeb420@...>, "blondie blues" <hotsplash@...>, bmargolin@..., "CalifNorml" <canorml@...>, "Chris" <crisericson@...>, "Traverse City" <benziecountynorml@...>, "Laurie Corzett" <libramoon42@...>, cp3@yahoogroups.com, dendecannabist@..., drugwarnews@yahoogroups.com, "Ed Forchion" <njweedman@...>, "M G" <n_c_terrorist@...>, "Alex Hidell" <hidell_alex@...>, "Karen" <kheikkala@...>, "Richard Lake" <rlake@...>,
"maryjanesokbuyme" <justifieddestiny1@...>, mikeymike26@..., "mrweed1621" <mrweed1621@...>, "Loretta Nall" <cnall1@...>, "peter" <tallman_2848@...>, pm_987@..., rjnewland@..., "showmem" <showmem@...>, stonertimes@yahoogroups.com, "Tammi" <cannabis_flower@...>, thc-ministry@yahoogroups.com, themillionmarijuanamarch@yahoogroups.com, "Tim" <ravynnsloft@...>, "toobearus" <toobearus@...>, "Womens Organization for National Prohibition Reform" <swftl@...>, yippies@yahoogroups.com, "Dallas Zorn" <atsuhiearth@...> Date: Friday, December 12, 2008, 9:43 AM
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
--- On Thu, 12/11/08, Bob Newland <newland@rapidcity. com> wrote:
From: Bob Newland <newland@rapidcity. com> Subject: SDSA makes more progress To: bong_jamesbong2001@ yahoo.com Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008, 8:03 AM
Happy December 10, everyone!
We have a sponsor in the legislature. There is no doubt now that our proposal to amend South Dakota law to allow sick, disabled and dying people to possess and use cannabis if their doctor recommends it will be heard in the South Dakota legislative session beginning Jan. 13.
Our job now is to back up our legislative sponsors (there will be more) with great witnesses. Go here to bone up on the procedure a proposal must follow before it is made into law.
We have witnesses, and they are good witnesses. Some are people who will admit to a legislative committee in a room with several cops in it that they commit crimes daily.
We need more stories from people. We can maintain anonymity if that is desired. We will have no trouble convincing the public that it is a fear-producing prospect to have the law know you smoke cannabis, even if you are dying.
We need more contact with people who use or have used (in which case, no problem with fear of arrest) cannabis to alleviate an illness.
No one yet has written to tell us of an experience with approaching a legislator on this topic. I¢ll tell ya, that¢s crucial to our campaign. We MUST have people call their legislators and ask them to support medical cannabis in the legislature.
Point out to them that the 2006 vote either won in their district or was close enough that the issue will not threaten their chances of re-election.
We sent a letterto Larry Long, So. Dak. Attorney General, on Tuesday. We asked for his help in drafting legislation to allow sick people access to the medicine that works.
We have some handout cards for those of you who want to help spread the word. These are 4x5 cards on cardstock with a glossy finish. Their niceness might help keep them from being thrown away in parking lots. I¢m hoping that distribution of them will help increase traffic at our website, which might result in a great witness, and might result in some donations.
For those of you who already requested some cards, they¢re on their way.
I hope you are sending the website URL around to your friends, as well.
Friends and supporters, I am telling you that we have within our reach the distinct possibility that the So. Dak. legislature will pass a bill friendly to medical cannabis users. If that happens it will save hundreds of thousands of dollars that will be spent to put the issue on the election ballot for 2010. That¢s money that can be used to convince the feds to admit that cannabis has medical use.
Please don¢t let this opportunity slip by.
Talk to your legislators; it¢s their job to take phone calls from folks like you. Let SDSA know what they said.
And send us $25.00, or $100.00, or $5.00. Make this campaign yours as well ours. You can find our address and a PayPal or Credit Card donate button at http://www.SoDakSaf eAccess.net/.
We will use the money to pay the expenses of getting witnesses to Pierre and lodging and feeding them.
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
--- On Thu, 12/11/08, Bob Newland <newland@...> wrote:
From: Bob Newland <newland@...> Subject: SDSA makes more progress To: bong_jamesbong2001@... Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008, 8:03 AM
Happy December 10, everyone!
We have a sponsor in the legislature. There is no doubt now that our proposal to amend South Dakota law to allow sick, disabled and dying people to possess and use cannabis if their doctor recommends it will be heard in the South Dakota legislative session beginning Jan. 13.
Our job now is to back up our legislative sponsors (there will be more) with great witnesses. Go here to bone up on the procedure a proposal must follow before it is made into law.
We have witnesses, and they are good witnesses. Some are people who will admit to a legislative committee in a room with several cops in it that they commit crimes daily.
We need more stories from people. We can maintain anonymity if that is desired. We will have no trouble convincing the public that it is a fear-producing prospect to have the law know you smoke cannabis, even if you are dying.
We need more contact with people who use or have used (in which case, no problem with fear of arrest) cannabis to alleviate an illness.
No one yet has written to tell us of an experience with approaching a legislator on this topic. I¢ll tell ya, that¢s crucial to our campaign. We MUST have people call their legislators and ask them to support medical cannabis in the legislature.
Point out to them that the 2006 vote either won in their district or was close enough that the issue will not threaten their chances of re-election.
We sent a letterto Larry Long, So. Dak. Attorney General, on Tuesday. We asked for his help in drafting legislation to allow sick people access to the medicine that works.
We have some handout cards for those of you who want to help spread the word. These are 4x5 cards on cardstock with a glossy finish. Their niceness might help keep them from being thrown away in parking lots. I¢m hoping that distribution of them will help increase traffic at our website, which might result in a great witness, and might result in some donations.
For those of you who already requested some cards, they¢re on their way.
I hope you are sending the website URL around to your friends, as well.
Friends and supporters, I am telling you that we have within our reach the distinct possibility that the So. Dak. legislature will pass a bill friendly to medical cannabis users. If that happens it will save hundreds of thousands of dollars that will be spent to put the issue on the election ballot for 2010. That¢s money that can be used to convince the feds to admit that cannabis has medical use.
Please don¢t let this opportunity slip by.
Talk to your legislators; it¢s their job to take phone calls from folks like you. Let SDSA know what they said.
And send us $25.00, or $100.00, or $5.00. Make this campaign yours as well ours. You can find our address and a PayPal or Credit Card donate button at http://www.SoDakSafeAccess.net/.
We will use the money to pay the expenses of getting witnesses to Pierre and lodging and feeding them.
In 100's of cities around the world Chalk4Peace2008 Sept13-21
Please copy this & forward this to your contacts
This is non political campaign- whether we are left, right or centrist,
PEACE is in all of our interests, especially our children
:)
Its Time To Get Out The Chalk!
Global Chalk4Peace2008 - Sept 13 - 21st
During the week of international peace events
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
United Kingdom...United States...Egypt...Austria...Germany...Canada...
Ecuador...Puerto Rico...France...Chile...Iran...Iraq...Mexico...Spain...
Italy...Cypress...Israel... In hundreds of towns and cities - Everywhere!
"Our Streets Are OUR Media"
WE have TOTAL access -
"We CAN Make the difference"
_______________________________________
http://www.infinitepossibility.org
Changing The World By Changing The Conversation"
Please Support The work of this website
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission Possible "Our World Working For ALL of Us"
We CAN Make THE Difference!
THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 13th - 21st Chalk4Peace!
On the pavements and sidewalks of our towns and cities
You are invited to Take Action! -
For your local organiser, LOOK IN THE MIRROR
(Scroll down for "WHAT CAN YOU DO?" to Participate in this
GLOBAL outpouring of public art. Where we make
our personal statements for peace on the pavements and sidewalks of
our cities all over our world.")
Chalk4Peace IS HAPPENING!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCjATioFPCI
All around the globe, together we are decorating, dedicating and
declaring, in deep sincerity our collective call for peace.
Chalk4Peace is about our empowerment. We The People, our global
culture, all people everywhere and our common desire to live in peace.
The Chalk4Peace project has already transformed the experience of
thousands of people attending demonstrations for peace and public
gatherings all over the
world during the past 3 years. Chalk4Peace is both a tool and a
conduit for non violent public self expression,
and participation in the growing global movement for peace.
Chalk4Peace is an opportunity for all of us of all ages to make our
feelings known, especially the young, whose future is in dire jeopardy
as our global village falls faster and faster into the fear breeding
fear breeding fear spiral.
Our global culture is teetering on the edge of extinction.
No one person alone can turn this around, but together WE CAN!
"The Structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man, one
party,or one nation. It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative
effort of the whole world"
... Eleanor Roosevelt
Our basic human instincts drive us to seek safety. This is what this
chaos is all about.Our essential human survival instincts are acting
out of context with the wider global cultural need resulting in
mistrust, fear and conflict.
Everywhere the media is bombarding us with WAR TALK, distractions and
negative belief patterns that encourage us to believe that the future
of our world is out of our hands entirely.
One place we still have communal access to, is OUR STREETS.
We can balance our GLOBAL CONVERSATION with collective self-expression
using OUR STREETS AS OUR MEDIA!
Chalk4Peace is one step, a catalyst that can transform our global
conversation as we the people, en masse make our statement that is our
common
aspiration for peace.
START NOW! Just DO IT!
Carry some chalk with you, invite a friend with you, to chalk
inspirations on the pavement whenever and wherever you fancy.
Chalk is harmless, cheap and washes away within a few days.
Especially PARTICIPATE in the Sept 13th - 21st
GLOBAL Chalk4Peace ACTION!
Make it happen in your Community!
(Scroll down further for "WHAT CAN YOU DO?")
Lets us turn our grey streets into a living river of colour and
possibility - With poetry, hearts, peace symbols, empowering
statements, also
expressions of our frustrations and despair.
All will be seen for several days by thousands of people, then as they
are washed away by the elements WE CAN CONTINUE to find fresh places
to Chalk4Peace.
We don't need to be an artist to Chalk4Peace. Every statement, however
small or large becomes part of the amazing tapestry that is our
global future.
This unique event conceivably, could be the largest of its kind in
modern history.
It is a global effort that is happening.
We The People are spreading the word and making the effort to be a
part of this huge creative endeavor to bring Peace back into the equation.
It is our goal for at least one million or more of us to participate
with this sidewalk/pavement chalk extravaganza, at thousands of
locations, in as
many countries, cities and towns around the world as is possible.
So WHAT CAN YOU DO to help make this happen?
1. NETWORK this email to your friends, contacts and where ever else
seems appropriate
2. JOIN the Yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chalk4Peace
or send a blank email to:
Chalk4Peace-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
also facebook group
To network with others around the world who will be Chalking4Peace.
3. EMAIL:
viziondanz@...
to let us know what you are doing in your community, and please send
us pictures. Or to find out how you can participate in the project.
4. ARRANGE with you local businesses, libraries, churches, mosques,
synagogues, restaurants, supermarkets etc to chalk on the pavement
outside their premises during the 13th to 21sr of September and whenever
else.
IDENTIFY public squares such and invite
all your friends and your friends' friends to show up with a few
boxes of chalk, or even get some from your local quarry.
TAKE extra chalk with you to hand out to passers-by.
5. USE this Email as a press release for you local TV, Radio and
Newspapers.
Let them know that Chalk4Peace is happening ASAP to get the
momentum going.
6. DOCUMENT YOUR Chalk4peace actions with photos and video.
Send them to your local media - copies for our website will be greatly
appreciated - send to:
viziondanz@...
7. ENGAGE co-creatively in local communal efforts, strengthen
working relationships and find what it takes
to stand for peace and freedom.
8. Have lots of FUN and keep on
Chalking4Peace after the September event.
"FUN The Final Frontier"
How did Chalk4Peace begin?
"Message in a bottle"
http://www.infinitepossibility.org/chalk/message/http://www.infinitepossibility.org/chalkhttp://www.myspace.com/chalk4peace
for Chalk4Peace locations in America
http://www.chalk4peace.org
Its time for us to move beyond the "No to War" position and come
together
"Saying Yes2Peace"
"If we don't create our future, our past will create it for us"
http://www.infinitepossibility.org/yes1
Lets skip the war bit and just get to the peace
Greet someone new today,
look into their eyes, smile, say hello,
shake their hand ...
LET THE PEACE BEGIN!
Brian
:)
--
1+1=11
We Are S.Y.N.E.R.G.Y
"There is nothing wrong with our world,
we are just having a weird conversation"
"Reclaim the conversation"
"Our New World Order IS Love
http://www.infinitepossibility.org
Please support the work of this website
with a financial contribution if you are able to.
Profile @
http://www.infinitepossibility.org/movieshttp://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=522206103http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=viziondanzhttp://www.myspace.com/viziondanzhttp://www.myspace.com/chalk4peace
Social Acupuncture
http://www.infinitepossibility.org/sa
Sunrise Celebration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFunT6c_Pl0
The Synergy Project video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ecPKHAW0AXA
Waveform/Earthdance documentary
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AIC5T22-MDg
The Movement For Peace Enters A New Phase
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cSDimvFYVU
"This is what democracy looks like"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FZ01Z2pC2Is
Dedicated to the child inside each one of us,
All the children and
All the children to come
By Mark S. Alper, RHM NCHM Director of Compliance Services
I (Don't) Want To Take You Higher
When the US Congress passed the Volstead Act (also known as
Prohibition) into law in the early part of the last century, they
provided an exemption allowing for the use of liquor for medicinal
purposes. Naturally, this resulted in "illnesses" and "viruses" on
a massive scale, along with the growth of bootlegging and speakeasy
operations across the US, and prohibition lasted less than fifteen
years.
Three decades after prohibition's demise Lenny Bruce, the
controversial comedian/satirist, stated his belief that marijuana
would be legalized within the next two decades since most of the law
students he knew smoked marijuana. While Bruce was wrong about the
timing, ten states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical
purposes (or allowed affirmative defenses connected to medical need)
according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws (NORML).
This has led to inquiries from owners and management agents
concerning whether or not marijuana prescribed by a licensed medical
practitioner for treatment of an existing condition constitutes an
allowable medical expense on the HUD-50059 or HUD-50058. The short
and simple answer is: No. Marijuana is not a HUD allowed medical
expense.
But that's only part of the story.
HUD has had a "zero tolerance" policy with respect to narcotics for
many years, culminating in drug free lease addendums and the "One
Strike, You're Out" initiative developed jointly by HUD and the US
Department of Justice. Notwithstanding the actions of state
legislatures permitting marijuana use for medicinal purposes, there
is no corresponding law at the federal level and marijuana
possession and/or use, sale or distribution remains a federal crime.
With this in mind, HUD does not recognize as legitimate any use of
marijuana. In the Housing Choice Voucher program, regulations
provide that any individual who has been prescribed marijuana use
for medicinal purposes should have their assistance terminated (24
CFR CFR 982.552(b) and 983.553). If an individual is receiving
project-based federal housing assistance, HUD regards marijuana use
as grounds for termination of tenancy (eviction). Following the
logic of this position, the mere admission that an individual has
been prescribed or obtained marijuana for a medical reason may be
sufficient evidence for a program (Housing Choice Voucher) or lease
(project-based programs) violation requiring management action.
Some housing professionals have, in discussion with me, wondered how
HUD can have a position contrary to the state law in the
jurisdiction within which the property is located? I cannot give a
legal answer to that question since I am not an attorney-at-law. It
does seem to me as a layperson that state legislatures do not have
any explicit or implied authority to overturn federal housing
program regulations. It will be interesting, however, how eviction
for marijuana use that has been prescribed by a licensed medical
professional will play out in court where the state has sanctioned
the use of marijuana for medical reasons. In such instances, there
will be a tension between the drug free lease addendum and the law
of the state -- and evictions are heard in state or municipal
courtrooms rather than federal ones.
We need to fight this all the way!!
Anyone wants to join in a class action suit call Adam at 509-397-
3252 and please visit www.marijuanafactorfiction.org
Or hear me on my Podcast at www.podomatic/massenberg420
I am forwarding this well docmented situation because I had the pleasure of attending the Drug Policy Conference in New Orleans with this couple. They have visited in our Atlanta home. I know them to be sincere in their faith and honest in their efforts. From everything happening to them, it is apparent that the laws concerning religion in this country are arbitrary and the First Amendment in great jeopardy, which affects every one of us. If you don't know the law well enough to be of service, please pass this on. We have to knock on every door because we never know which one holds the solution.
Please take a few minutes to read Brenda's appeal for help and all that has transpired regarding our current legal case here in Alabama. If you know anyone that you think would be willing to help us, please forward this on to them. At this point, we are "enslaved" by the court and being treated as "guilty" until proven innocent. I'm not sure about you, but I remember from my history classes that it was supposed to be the other way around. Please help. We are completely destitute at this point, and ANY help would be greatly appreciated. Brenda's Husband, Bruce Shoop bruce@...
Calling A Civil Rights Attorney Angel... by Brenda Shoop
I feel all alone here. And I really need some help. I desperately need some help.
I need a hero.
I am Reverend Brenda Shoop, BSN, RN and my husband and I are cannabis sacrament ministers.
We are recognized ministers of the gospel who have been called forth in the revelatory Word to preach the good news that Jesus is the Anointed with marijuana.
On September 15, 2006, armed officers of the law, based on an “anonymous tip”, invaded our private sanctuary, uprooted and stole our religious sacrament (growing in the ministry’s garden), along with other religious paraphernalia. We were not arrested nor detained at that time.
On November 15, 2006, we were indicted by a grand jury and charged with felony drug trafficking in marijuana, misdemeanor possession of marijuana and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia. We continue to assert that we do not understand the nature and cause of these accusations.
On December 13, 2006, we “turned ourselves in” at the Baldwin County Corrections Center and were each released on $25,000 appearance bond. The electronic monitoring requirement was lifted due to the fact that we were not considered a flight risk by the sheriff or the District Attorney’s office.
The next day, FOX News reporter Adam Walser showed up at our home. He told us that the story would run with or without our input, so we decided to speak to the reporter. Immediately after the story ran on the news, my husband and I both lost our local employment. See News Story
On January 11, 2007, our attorneys of record advised us to sign waivers regarding our arraignments and enter pleas answering as to the charges against us. We were not aware of our rights at that time, and our attorneys did not advise us that we had other rights as specified in Article 1, Section 6 of The Alabama Constitution. In hindsight, this was clearly not in our best interests, as we do not understand the nature and cause of the accusations against us and have been denied the opportunity to ask the District Attorney questions regarding this matter.
On April 24, 2007, my attorney filed a Motion to Dismiss (a motion I wrote) for Violation of Religious Freedom Restoration Act and Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment and Religious Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, noticing the court of my religious beliefs and the nature of my defense.
I specifically asked my attorney of record if I was free to travel, and he replied that I was. In fact, my pretrial docket call scheduled for June 28, 2007 was rescheduled by my attorney in order to allow me to work in south Florida. He encouraged me to work whenever and wherever I could so that I could pay him his fees.
My case was originally set in front of Judge Reid, the presiding judge, and was transferred into Judge Wilters’ courtroom (drug court) between August 30 and September 18, 2007. I continue to assert that my case is not a drug case. My case is a religious freedom case involving constitutional issues.
On October 16, 2007, I filed an Affidavit of Prejudice regarding Judge Robert E. Wilters. This affidavit was based on what I had been told about Judge Wilters from officers of the court, along with published articles; Judge Wilters is notorious for imposing Draconian sentences for drug offenders. I truly believed that I would not get fair and impartial treatment in Judge Wilters’ courtroom. I filed the affidavit expecting Judge Wilters to recuse himself, and expecting the DA’s office to schedule a meeting to discuss an alternate judge.
Instead, on October 18, 2007, during a pre-trial docket call (with motions still outstanding), Judge Wilters allowed my attorney to quit without cause after I paid the attorney $2,500. This was obviously in retaliation for filing the Affidavit of Prejudice. I was scheduled for trial in 11 days, October 29, 2007, without my outstanding motions being scheduled for hearing. Judge Wilters ordered me back into court on October 29th to answer as to the question of counsel.
On October 19, 2007, my husband and I mailed and hand delivered a letter to the presiding judge, Judge Reid, informing him that we felt that we were being denied due process of law, and asserting that we firmly believed that we would be unable to receive a fair and impartial trial with Judge Wilters presiding. Judge Reid refused to speak to us, and his secretary told us that he said that there was nothing he could do to remedy the situation.
On October 24, 2007, due to the fact that Judge Wilters had not recused himself, and allowed our paid attorneys to quit our cases without cause, my husband and I filed a Motion to schedule an ex parte hearing pursuant to Alabama Constitution Section 160, and asked the presiding judge to issue an order to the district attorney to meet for the purposes of mutual agreement for a competent judge to be assigned to our cases. We also filed for a continuance until after such meeting could be arranged. This motion has also never been heard or ruled on.
On October 29, 2007, due to a family emergency requiring our presence out of the state, we sent our Bishop, the Right Reverend Gregory Karl Davis, to speak for us and answer the court as to counsel with signed and notarized filings. At that time, Bishop Davis testified on the record as to our status’ as ministesr of the gospel and delivered to the Assistant District Attorney the Doctrine of the Revelatory Word and his Public Notice of Clergy.
On that day, I was ordered by Judge Wilters, through my Bishop, to appear in his courtroom within 48 hours or risk bond revocation.
On October 31, 2007, I appeared in Judge Wilters’ courtroom without counsel and my bond was not revoked, but amended by adding the color-coded drug screening, and by ordering me to stay in Alabama while my husband was allowed to return to the ailing family member in our charge in Florida. I objected to this on the record, stating that these conditions were against the mandates of my religion, and signed the Drug Testing Form under duress.
In order to comply with the mandates of my religion, I was ordered by my Bishop not to comply with these orders of the court. I filed an immediate appeal, but it was dismissed because my bond wasn’t revoked; it was only amended.
On January 10, 2008, I appeared in Judge Wilters’ courtroom, without counsel, for a scheduled date to hear “all outstanding motions.”
The only motion that was heard that day was the Assistant District Attorney’s motion to revoke my bond. I was forced, against objections, to submit to a urine drug screen or face 5 days in jail for contempt of court. My Bishop was in court with me to testify as to the orders of the Church, but he was not allowed the opportunity to testify on my behalf.
I informed Judge Wilters that I needed time to make a decision, and he appointed a “temporary” public defender who happened to be nearby in the courtroom. This attorney, John Gamble, stated to me that he was not familiar with constitutional law. He stated that he did not do well in that class in law school.
The public defender advised me to submit to the test. Attorney Donald Bolton told my husband and I, while we were interviewing attorneys, that we could both “look forward to getting raped in jail,” and because of this, I was afraid of going to jail. I agreed to submit to the test. The public defender was then dismissed by Judge Wilters. Christine Welch from the Baldwin County Court Referral Office administered the test and reported that it was positive for marijuana. Judge Wilters immediately revoked my bond; I was placed under arrest and led off to jail in handcuffs.
I was incarcerated in the Baldwin County Corrections Center from January 10 until February 1, 2008. I was kept in a cellblock with no heat, forced to put poison on my head, denied any contact with my husband, denied a religious diet, denied a Bible, and forced to give my blood or be put into isolation.
On January 31, 2008, I was brought into Judge Wilters’ courtroom with my new court-appointed attorney for a bond hearing so that I could be released from incarceration. At that time, the DA tried to use intercepted email communications between other people discussing my situation to deny my release from incarceration. In spite of this, my bond was set at $50,000, secured with my mother’s home. I was placed on the color-coded drug testing program, and I was put under house arrest.
I cannot practice my religion under threat of incarceration. I also cannot leave my home to go to work, buy groceries, or attend church services without the same threat of incarceration. The conditions state that I am only allowed to go to court, appointments with my attorney, and the drug testing center.
I continue to assert that these conditions of bond substantially burden the sincere practice of my religion. My court-appointed attorney has refused to appeal these conditions. On April 3, 2008, I was notified by my attorney that the DA had filed another motion to revoke my bond and issue a writ of arrest, based upon a positive drug screen from March 25th and failure to pay drug screening fees to the Court Referral Office. ($80)
On April 11, 2008, I filed into the record an affidavit of facts regarding the qualifications of my expert witness, my Bishop. My appointed attorney tried to block me from filing this, stating that my Bishop would only be certified as a “custodian of the record” and not “clergy.” My Bishop is not allowed to testify under those conditions. And he is my KEY witness, testifying to the doctrine of the Universal Orthodox Church, of which he is the founding Bishop. This testimony is crucial to my defense. After trying to obtain advice on this, with no results, I decided to file it into the record myself (before my impending docket call on April 14th). I felt compelled to get these documents into the record while I still could. In fact, after entering this document into the record, I felt a tremendous weight lift from my shoulders.
I attended a pretrial docket call on Monday April 14, 2008 expecting to be put back into jail on that day. After arriving at the courtroom, my attorney served me with a motion to withdraw as counsel. He stated in his motion that I continue to file papers pro se, against advice of counsel, and we cannot have a functional relationship because of this. He also stated that he was afraid of a post-conviction lawsuit claiming ineffectual of counsel. My attorney obviously believes that I will be convicted of all charges.
On this day, the judge was not present in the courtroom; his secretary was handling the scheduling of trials for the next session. The DA’s motion to revoke my bond was not mentioned. Also, my attorney’s motion to withdraw was not recognized and he was ordered to appear with me on April 22, 2008 for our motions hearing.
My attorney also stated that the DA will most likely move to strike the documents containing my Bishop’s qualifications as an expert witness.
As stated above, the last time I was in court for a motion hearing, on January 10, 2008, the only motion heard was the DA’s motion to revoke my bond, and I was incarcerated. If history repeats itself, I expect to find myself in jail until the next trial session in August, without any of my motions being heard.
I have been continuously blocked from defending myself against these clearly unconstitutional actions of the state. I continue to assert that the use and cultivation of marijuana is mandated by my religion, and so protected by the First Amendment, the Alabama Religious Freedom Amendment, and the Federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. My current bond conditions are also unconstitutional under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
This drama has been going on since September 15, 2006. Since that time, even though I have not been convicted of any crime, I have lost my job; my nursing license is under investigation; my body has been illegally searched (pee testing); I have been incarcerated and separated from my husband; I have been put under house arrest; I have been prevented from defending myself; I have been treated like a drug addict and criminal; and I have lost hope that the right and lawful actions will occur in my case.
I have lost all faith in the legal system and I have no one with whom I can place my trust.
If you are unable to help me, please forward my information to someone who you believe is able and willing.
And just in case I get placed back into custody on April 22, my address will be
Brenda Williams 86972 200 Hand Ave Bay Minette, AL 36507
If I am not incarcerated on April 22, you can email me at Brenda@... or call me at 251-753-8612.
THANK YOU AND BLESS YOU!
Religious freedom was the basis for the founding of our country, and it makes me sad that even here in the so-called Bible Belt, religious tolerance is severely lacking. No one was harmed due to plants growing in a garden. No one in the surrounding community knew who we were until the news cameras showed up.
The funny thing is…..if we bought our sacrament from the black market instead of growing it ourselves, no one would have EVER known we were here. But because we desired purity of our sacrament, we are each facing 10 years in prison and the rest of our lives as convicted felons. Neither one of us has ever been arrested before. I don’t understand why we are being treated so badly.
The attached message is one which I believe is most important. If such a site went down, its time to replace it immediately with 10 concerning the same subject; police misconduct. And when those 10 go down, with a 100, and so on, until the police come under the control of the people....
Note: forwarded message attached.
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
Each week, if not every day, brings in its train another illustration of
the fact that those who scrutinize us cannot abide reciprocal scrutiny.
Witness the apparent demise of the "Rate My Cop" website.
Carly Kullman, a one-time police cadet, explains that Rate My Cop was to
be a national database of police officers and agencies. Users would be
able "to browse through their own local police department and see how
their local police force stacks up" when compared to other agencies
across the country. The site would deal only in publicly available
information about agencies and individual officers. Each officer would
be rated on the basis of three criteria: authority, fairness, and
satisfaction.
Rebecca Costell, a creator of Rate My Cop, said that the objective was
to combat an emerging stereotype of police as abusive, violence-prone
revenue hogs: "Our website's purpose is to break that stereotype that
people have that cops are all bad by having officers become responsible
for their actions."
Of course, stereotypes don't materialize spontaneously, and the image
Costell describes has been abundantly validated over the past couple of
years with the emergence of YouTube and other forms of cyber-samizdat
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samizdat>. The near-ubiquity of cell
phones and other digital recording devices has made it possible to
record episodes of police misconduct, and video sharing sites have made
those recordings available to anybody with a high-speed internet connection.
Rate My Cop's very practical and commendable contribution to the
necessary -- and overdue -- public conversation about police misconduct
is to provide an incentive for internal police reform: The site would
help burnish the reputations of genuinely professional, service-oriented
departments and officers, while goading others to clean up their act.
In these ways, Rate My Cop would have applied the logic of the free
market to the practice of law enforcement. The problem here, of course,
is that our current approach to law enforcement is entirely statist,
which means that it's designed in a manner intended to insulate it from
market discipline.
In unadorned terms, the last thing police want is to be accountable to
the communities they're supposed to be serving. Accordingly, police
unions immediately began to shriek and keen
<http://cbs13.com/local/rate.a.cop.2.673410.html> that Rate My Cop posed
a threat to ...
In this case, there was a legitimate threat, since Rate My Cop did
imperil the job safety
<http://www.lewrockwell.com/greenhut/greenhut31.html> of bad,
indifferent, or corrupt police officers. Of course, it also offered a
way to reward and promote the conscientious, heroic officers we are
constantly assured constitute the vast majority of police.
Apparently, it was that positive stereotype -- which is still the
preponderant image in most media and entertainment depictions of police
-- that would have suffered, or perished, because of Rate My Cop. So the
"law enforcement community," as an appendage of the Leviathan State, did
what such people always do when threatened with accountability: They
used the threat of legislation and criminal sanctions to compel Rate My
Cop's creators to shut down the site
<http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/019940.html>.
Interestingly, the first recorded objections to Rate My Cop come from a
familiar source: Utah state senator Chris Buttars, sponsor of SB260, a
measure intended to suppress reports of police misconduct. As Salt Lake
City CBS affiliate KUTV reported on February 12: "A main concern of
SB260 supporters is with the buisness `rate-my-cop,' which is a national
company that has made requests for misconduct reports on every officer
in every agency in the area. Buttars believes that `rate-my-cop' will
put the information into a data base and sell it to defense attorneys."
Buttars, like other petit-authoritarian Republicans with a basically
Cardassian <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ3EDTYZTOU&feature=related>*
concept of how the justice system should operate, finds it
unconscionable that defense attorneys might have the means to impeach
the testimony of a police officer. Those of us who understand that the
purpose of a trial should be to force the State to prove the guilt of a
defendant have no problem, of course.
Before the March 2007 incident that led to Buttars' conviction, he had
worked as a law enforcement officer in Bonneville County, where --
according to some -- he had a reputation for being short-tempered,
foul-mouthed, and unprofessional. It's easy to see why Buttars might
have disliked a system like Rate My Cop. It's possible that a system of
that sort might have weeded him out before he beat, choked, and
simulated sodomy on a suspect who dared return the favor when Buttars
started treating him to profane verbal abuse.
The Teton County Sheriff's Department offers another illustration of the
potential value of a Rate My Cop-type system. The exquisitely lovely and
thinly populated region of southeastern Idaho was thrust into the
national spotlight with news of the drug-related arrest of actress Dawn
Wells <http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-03-11-dawn-wells_N.htm>,
better known to men of a certain vintage as Ginger's better-looking
friend on Gilligan's Island.
Wells was stopped by a Deputy Sheriff last October while she was
returning from a birthday party. Her car was reportedly bobbing and
weaving on the highway. A search of the vehicle turned up a small
quantity of marijuana and related paraphernalia. Wells apparently didn't
test positive for intoxicants, and several witnesses testified that the
weed belonged to someone other than the 69-year-old film producer. She
was spared a drug charge, escaping with a small fine, probation, and a
short jail sentence. (I doubt a common Idaho resident in the same
circumstances would be blessed with a similarly favorable outcome).
As I read about this case, my second reaction -- my first being, "Wait a
second -- Mary Ann lives here in Idaho?" -- was a moment of disgusted
recognition when I read the name of the officer involved in her arrest:
Deputy Sheriff Joseph Gutierrez.
About a month after he collared Gilligan's girlfriend, Deputy Gutierrez
committed a felony by illegally attempting to murder a Black Labrador
Retriever mix named "Bobby," a dog owned by Leo Barboza of a small town
called Felt. Leo and his family got Bobby as a puppy about five years
ago, and everybody in their neighborhood seemed to find the dog friendly
and agreeable -- except for one mentally handicapped lady, who filed
several police reports claiming that the dog had attacked her. This
troubled woman, significantly, was notorious for causing problems with
dogs, rather than being the victim of canine misconduct.
Yes, he may have had a steenkin' badge, but Deputy Gutierrez didn't need
no steenkin' evidence.
Cowed by the presence of a bellicose bully in a State-issued costume,
Leo obediently brought out Bobby and tied him up in the front yard. His
wife, father-in-law, and three-year-old son all watched in a state of
growing agitation as Gutierrez retrieved a rifle from his vehicle.
Nearby, a bus deposited a group of curious schoolchildren -- who stood
paralyzed in the street, their innocent eyes growing wide with
incredulous alarm as they took in the spectacle coalescing in front of them.
In what could be described as a "life-imitates-Napoleon Dynamite
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG91VCdK_vw>" moment -- but worse --
Gutierrez shot Bobby in the head three times as the screams of terrified
children rent the air.
At about 3:30 that afternoon, Gutierrez wrote in his incident report:
"Shots fired. Dog is dead." Barboza's traumatized family had to endure
another shock as Leo's aging father-in-law suffered a severe anxiety
attack that left him hospitalized.
When the family returned, they found, to their astonishment, that Bobby
was alive -- albeit severely wounded and bleeding profusely. They called
the local media <http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=8356> to report the atrocity
committed by Gutierrez, and shortly thereafter filed a lawsuit
<http://www.kidk.com/news/local/11730201.html>.
Although Gutierrez was suspended, Sheriff Kim Cooke insisted -- let's
say it together, now -- that he had acted properly according to
department policy. Cooke maintained that Gutierrez was authorized to
kill the dog under Section 8.11.4 of County Ordinances, which permit
"vicious" dogs to be destroyed if they are "found at large" and "cannot
be safely taken up and impounded." He also simpered that his department
had received numerous death threats because of the publicity Gutierrez's
crime had received.
Oh, I see: It's a matter of officer safety again.
Only in this case, Gutierrez's criminal actions had created a threat to
officer safety -- assuming that the comments reported by Cooke were
actually made, and should be taken seriously.
Bobby was not at large; he was on Barboza's property. He was not a
"vicious" animal, since he submitted to being tied up and shot without
much difficulty (Gutierrez, by his own account, was on the Barboza's
property a total of ten minutes.) County ordinances and Idaho law
specify <http://www.kidk.com/news/local/11677526.html> that a dog must
be found to have committed two confirmed attacks before being regarded
as vicious, and that its owner has ten days to challenge that
designation before a judge.
In other words: A dog, being a form of personal property, cannot be
destroyed without due process of law.
And -- note this well, Gutierrez -- "due process" doesn't automatically
occur whenever some punk-ass tax-feeder in a State-issued costume makes
a demand of innocent people.
Gutierrez, significantly, is a recent graduate of the Idaho Peace
Officers Standards and Training academy (I-POST). He is also a former
Marine, albeit one who apparently doesn't live up to the expectation
that every Marine should be an expert marksman. However, he does
exemplify the credo of last December's I-POST graduating class: Don't
suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder -- go out and cause some. Of
this, Barboza's family, which includes a traumatized senior citizen and
a nearly murdered dog, can attest.
Sheriff Cooke couldn't resist a gratuitous dig at the Barbozas, claiming
that the family's delay in getting medical help for Bobby demonstrated
that they had been irresponsible in their maintenance of the dog.
Talk about a cluster-bomb of hypocrisy. If the arrogant, ignorant
berserker Cooke had hired as a deputy had followed the rules, none of
this would have happened. If he had killed the dog outright, it wouldn't
have needed the medical care it didn't receive while the Barbozas were
dealing with the more urgent matter of the father-in-law's anxiety attack.
Sheriff Cooke is not only a hypocrite and a cretin, he's also something
of a criminal kingpin, since at least half of his department
<http://www.kidk.com/news/local/12130791.html> (three out of six
deputies) have recently been under criminal investigation.
The Idaho Attorney General's office has considered criminal charges
against Gutierrez
<http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2008/01/17/news/breaking/news16.txt>
(on previous performance, Gutierrez has little to fear from the AG's
office). Two other deputies, Nate and Mat Froehlich, are also the
subjects of official inquiries -- Nate for insurance fraud, and Matt for
abuse of police power.
Reid Rogers, president of the Teton Valley Chamber of Commerce, probably
wasn't exaggerating when he told the press that "There's a growing
discontent about the level of performance generally" with the Sheriff's
Department. All three of the scandal-tainted deputies are in their
twenties, fresh of the fascisti
<http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-i-spent-my-sommerferien.html>
farm. If they're cashiered in Teton County, chances are they'll show up
on some other force elsewhere in the country.
This situation is altogether too typical of what's happening in law
enforcement nation-wide, and it illustrates both the desperate need for
a Rate My Cop-style resource, and some of the reasons why the "law
enforcement community" will do whatever it takes to keep us from getting
one.
___
*The Cardassians were a fictional alien race -- militarist in
disposition, and thoroughly statist in their culture -- featured in
recent versions of Star Trek. Their "justice" system was designed for
the sole purpose of vindicating the State and teaching subjects to
submit to its all-encompassing wisdom. Guilty verdicts were preordained
certainties in trials held on Cardassia Prime.
Dum spiro, pugno!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Hey everyone,
If you don't know me already, I am Adam Assenberg, a medical
Marijuana user. I use this medication due to a broken back in nine
places.
My family was thrown out of our home over the Medical use after a
State Judge said he did NOT care what the voters said.
Well I am now a DJ at KRFP 92.5 FM in Moscow, Idaho and they can be
heard on the web at http://www.radiofreemoscow.com
I am on the show every Sat. from 5-9 PM PST. Teaching about the
value of Medical Marijuana. I have had a lot of great people on the
show and I would welcome your voice.
My number is 509-397-3252
I had my website listed as marijuanafactorfiction.com but that web
site is down thanks to waycheaperhosting.com being down. I have not
been able to get ahold of them to re-direct my web site so I have
set up a new site with all the bugs fixed and that includes the
Podcast link!
The NEW site is http://www.marijuanafactorfiction.org
On this show we have Mike from LEAP, Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition, Also we have C.W. Thorton, Jenny from Drugpolicy.org as
well as the Drug Policy Forum of Texas. And as always please check out
the great work of Dean Becker's Century of lies located at
drugtruth.net on the show.
And as always we have plenty of great music as well.
If you wish to join in call Adam at 509-397-3252
This week we have Jack Cole of LEAP, also we have the NJWEEDMAN, Dean
Becker of Drug truth and another 10 names from Congress.
Also note that as of this broadcast we are now a four hour show out of
KRFP 92.5 FM The show is LIVE from 5-9PM PST on the web at
www.radiofreemoscow.com
Check out our older shows at
www.marijuanafactorfiction.com
Also when I'm not working on the server at home we are on
Shoutcast.com also. Or go direct to the show on my Podcast a
http://massenberg420.podOmatic.com
Ok. Now for the latest response to the latest response.
Maybe its me. I just don't get it. BS doesnt show up for court-required drug testing, which came about as a result of allegations of child abuse from an unhappy ex.
Child Support Services was there. Already took her children. But specific allegations of abuse have yet to surface.
Believe me, the "Child Protection Team" , or whatever the State of California calls its collection of bureaucratic kidnappers, will claim child abuse, based only on the fact that Spears uses
drugs, even if only cannabis. Under the circumstances, I wouldn't show up for drug testing demanded by a judge either. This is legal blackmail, and state-sponsored terrorism. The state is saying, 'If you use drugs, we'll take your kids, by force if necessary." No pictures of tortured kids, or starving kids (can you starve on $750,000 a month?). I don't think she neglects her kids, she does show at court for a custody hearing, but is basically hounded out of the place by mobs of papparazzi while she is under 'police protection:' And this is why I completely fail to understand Carl Worden's response, and he show know quite well that what I say is true.
This is not 'putting drugs before your kids.' This is putting the principle that you have
a private life and a right to be free of drug testing as a parentand human being, before the extortions of a legal system gone fascist.
Hey, someone do me a favor. Tell me how being drug testing makes one a better parent.
Brittany Spears as an artist? Not my cup of tea, but she's got a lot of number ones in the books and A&R men who keep producing records which sell and more contracts. BS as a person? Eh, my gal wouldn't drop her drawers in public or be seen kissing Madonna on world wide tv. And I don't much care for gyrene hair on anyone. BS
as a parent? Got every right to due process that the rest of us have!!! BS as a fellow prohibitionist resister??? You'll have to ask her.
And thanks, everyone, for all of your responses. I do mean all.
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
Here are my two favorite responses to my appeal on behalf of Brittany Spears, names anonymous to protect ......., and my responses back.
She was seen by me,on national tv running a red light,almost hit by oncoming traffic with her kids in the back seat of the car.They could have all been killed that night,a guy ,papparrtzii hollering at her to stop,as they saw the empending accident about to happen,and had it clear on video for the world to see.IF IT WAS MEDICINAL HERB,SHE CANT DRIVE AND HANDLE IT.SHE SEEMS TO NEED A DIFFERENT DOCTOR OR STAY HER CRAZY AZZ HOME.
My response:
So Deb, what was the cause of this incident? Had she smoked anything at the time? Did smoking cause this incident?
From what I know of the latest legal
proceedings, she was not driving at all, just did not want to hand over her kids to K-Fed, the ex.husband.
I will share a little incident which happened in my life with you. Just a few months after my first arrest for cannabis, I was driving home from the store about a mile away from where I lived at the time with my firstborn sleeping in his carseat. As I turned left onto the main road, a car came out from the other side of the road and hit me broadside, even though I had the right of way, being in the intersection first.
Of course I got out to exchange ids and information with the other guy. He came over to my car, looked in, and said`: Oh my God, you had a baby in the car? I wouldn't have hit you if I had known that." I had just been in an auto accident and didn't think too much about it at that moment. But I never forgot
that......What do you think was happening THEN?
In case some of you haven't heard, Brittany Spears is a multi-zillion selling singer from Louisiana. She is known well beyond the English-speaking world, her records are played in places that Elvis Presley never reached.
Ms. Spears is also well-known for various faux pas in just about as many places. One of her problems seems to be the prohibitionist Drug Police in the USA and the associated legal establishment. I don't know the exact details, but she seems to have violated some drug law or other. A divorce also ensued, and custody of her two children became an issue linked to her consumption of drugs.
To the best of my knowledge, Spears' two children have never been abused. Whatever one thinks about Spears, her artistry (or lack thereof), her faux pas, or her use of drugs, I cannot understand how a parent whose
kids show no signs of physical or mental abuse can have their kids taken away as a result of drug use. The USA government has consistently over the years used the children of drug consumers and activists as kidnap victims to blackmail opponents of its corrupt and unpopular drug prohibitions. It is well past time for this to stop. Controlled substance consumption seems to have become some kind of legally supported assumption of child abuse in our legal system, and it never should have.
I WOULD LIKE TO ASK ANYONE WHO READS THIS TO PLEASE E_mail GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZNEGGER OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND DEMAND THAT THE CUSTODY OF THE CHILDREN OF MS: BRITTANY SPEARS BE RESTORED TO HER; PENDING A HEARING ON THEIR PHYSICAL WELL-BEING. BLACKMAIL AND KIDNAPPING SHOULD NEVER BE A PART OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM IN A DEMOCRATIC OR JUSTICE-LOVING NATION:
THANK YOU.
Sincerely,
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
This week we have a full show with Phil Smith from Stop the Drug War
then we have Steve Nolan from NORML after that the 10 names from
Congress then Dean Becker Part three Century of Lies. Also as always we
have lots of great music as well.
http://massenberg420.podomatic.com
Also check out www.marijuanafactorfiction.com
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
If you have read the three previous posts in this series, you know now that Big Pharma is completely behind Sativex. GW developed it in England, and licensed it for distribution to Bayer, the giant German Pharma concern, for worldwide distribution.
Bayer responded by contributing huge sums of money to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, the folks who bought all those "This is Your Brain, this is your brain on drugs" ads in the 80's with the pictures of scrambled eggs on them, in order to keep cheap, homegrown medicine illegal in the face of its marketing THE SAME STUFF; HASH OIL, in VERY EXPENSIVE sprays. This cost millions of Americans their freedom, families, fine monies, and jobs. A woman in the DEA, Dr. Andrea Barthwell, spent a good deal of the year 2005 wandering around the country on taxpayer money, urging such states as Illinois to
refuse to pass legislation legalizing cannabis for medical purposes. As soon as her tour was over, SHE QUIT TO WORK FOR GW!!!!!
This is a concise case in how fascism works. From this you can conclude:
1) the DEA has known from day one that cannabis has lots of medicinal uses.
2) they have refused to cooperate with the cannabis movement because it would lessen penalties for the people they have been illegally imprisoning,
3) GW, and Bayer, have cooperated with the US Government and the DEA and the Prohibitionist Establishment (the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and others) in an illegal conspiracy to keep our people
imprisoned in an effort solely to increase their own profits,
4) the US Government, the DEA, the Prohibitionist Establishment, GW, and Bayer are all part of a huge racketeering conspiracy to promote illegal and unconstitutional fascist government here in America.
I AM CALLING FOR A BOYCOTT OF ALL GW AND BAYER PRODUCTS; AND FOR AN IMMEDIATE CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION INTO THIS WHOLE SCENARIO.
Allow me to present Exhibit A in the case of Common Sense V. The United States of America.
Somewhere in this country, a man is sitting in a prison cell, wasting away. This man lived a normal middle-class American life up until his incarceration. He had paid his taxes and contributed to his community. He'd worked at a decent job. More than likely, he has a family trying to get by without him for the next 10 to 15 years. There is no chance of an early release for this man.
What did he do? He was found with a small quantity of marijuana in his possession. He wasn't an addict. He wasn't selling to
children. It wasn't any sort of problem in his life or in anyone else's. To this man, a little bit of the bud was no different from a couple of drinks -- even better in many ways.
But in one unfortunate moment, he became collateral damage in this country's misguided and misnamed War on Drugs. His state's mandatory minimum law required that he spend many years in prison. The judge in the case wasn't allowed to consider his lack of a criminal record or his exemplary life in sentencing and, by any standard, this man's life has now been ruined.
What was just described is the common story of millions of inmates, both male and female, crowding our country's correctional institutions. According to FBI statistics, almost a million of the roughly 1.8 million annual drug arrests in this country are for marijuana. Almost 88 percent of those are for possession alone. In a recent report from the National Organization for
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, it is estimated that taxpayers spend between $7.5 and $10 billion a year arresting and prosecuting people for marijuana violations.
Since 1992, a mind-boggling 6 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges -- more than the populations of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming combined. That is an immense investment of money, time, energy and human resources into a national project that has never had any demonstrable success.
Worse yet, in order to keep these citizens locked up in prison as required by law, and to comply with court orders to decrease crowding in the facilities, hardened and violent criminals are being paroled early. Other times they are moved to less secure county jails and are then more able to escape.
Doesn't this seem absurd? Is this little plant that human beings have partaken of
for millennia really something so threatening to American life that it justifies this madness? California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a recent British GQ interview that it wasn't a drug, it was a leaf. He's right. We have attempted to outlaw nature. Where is the threat? What is the harm?
I don't think there has ever been a single person who has overdosed and died from smoking pot. I've never heard anyone say they smoked so much that they vomited all over their (fill in the blank) and had a headache the next day. You'll never find a case where someone smoked a joint and then beat his wife or got into a public brawl. I think the worst dangers are probably sore cheek muscles from laughing or a bad case of indigestion from the jar of peanut butter and the brick of Swiss cheese that suddenly tasted so amazing together.
So this all-out assault on marijuana use doesn't seem to make the least bit of sense,
like so many things in modern America. But, also like so many things in modern America, it makes a little more sense if you understand the corrosive influence of corporate money in our legal and political systems.
For example, there is a widely-respected and taxpayer-funded public service organization called the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. You might remember their famous "This is your brain on drugs" ad featuring the frying egg. Now, how drug-free do you think the Partnership for a Drug-Free America really wants the country to be, considering that the group is actually a joint venture by the alcohol and pharmaceutical industries? Maybe free of just certain drugs?
The dirty little secret that the big pharmaceutical companies fear most is that marijuana actually helps a lot of people with a lot of things that these companies would rather sell people an expensive pill for. It provides a lot of harmless
enjoyment and social lubrication for a lot of people, without the added toxicity of alcohol.
The lives of casual marijuana users are not being destroyed by a war on drugs -- they're being destroyed by an ongoing war on anything that a multi-national corporation can't control and generate profits from. Like Bill Maher said, if they could figure out a way to put a little Pfizer logo on each leaf, marijuana would be legal tomorrow.
End the oppression of cannabis and its consumers. Self defense is always correct, and it is never illegal. b_jb2001
Just who dropped the ball on digging up dirt on this candidate while he was still running? Thought someone was in charge of that, guess no one's at the helm of this ship, but it makes me sick. Now if I could just get EVERY VOTER IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA to protest this government by not voting in ANY election. Hmmmm, would this constitute another American Revolution? I believe the Declaration of Independence states that when something's wrong with this government, those who are in a position to do something HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY to do something about it. I'm ready to dump that tea, if that's what it takes.
A close ally to Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson resigned his post Monday as a top campaign bundler, FOX News has learned, a day after his drug-dealing history was
revealed.
Phil Martin, a businessman who has lent Thompson his Cessna to fly around the country, was one of four campaign co-chairman for the '08 Republican candidate. The Washington Post reported Sunday that Martin also posted a guilty plea in 1979 for selling 11 pounds of marijuana and a no contest plea in 1983 for cocaine trafficking and conspiracy.
"I have decided to resign my position as chair of 'First Day Founders' of 'The Friends of Fred Thompson'. The focus of this campaign should be on Fred Thompson's positions on the issues and his outstanding leadership ability, not on mistakes I made some 24 years ago. I deeply regret any embarrassment this has caused," Martin said in a statement.
Thompson said Sunday that he wishes he had known earlier that one of his key
presidential campaign advisers pleaded guilty to drug charges but he still thinks Phil Martin is "a good man."
Thompson, who's not the first candidate this year to be linked to a donor with a criminal past, seemed at first to brush off the news.
"You are talking about something that happened in his life, I guess, 25 years ago ... when he was in his 20s," Thompson said. "I wish I had known about it a little bit earlier. Phil, I am sure, knows that he should have told me about this. That he thought (it) was over and done with and forgotten about I am sure. But of course nothing is ever over and done with and forgotten about in this business."
Martin never want to jail on the charges. Sentencing was withheld on the first plea while Martin served out probation. The 1983 charges, along with a felony bookmaking charge, came while he was still serving that probation. Martin's probation was extended, according to the Post.
Martin started out in Republican politics in Tennessee in the early 1990s, when he met GOP Rep. Zach Wamp. During fundraisers for Wamp, Martin got to know Thompson. He began donating to Thompson in 1994, during Thompson's first run for the U.S. Senate. Overall, from 1992 to 2002, Martin donated more than $75,000 to Republican candidates and causes in Tennessee, the newspaper says.
The Post reports that Martin has lent
Thompson his plane for possibly two dozen campaign stops since the summer, for a price of $102,330. That's about half of what it would cost to rent a charter plane for those flights. The payment at a fraction of the commercial price was legal and common for many candidates until Congress passed lobbying and ethics reform rules in September.
Thompson said Sunday that none of the donations were improper, and the campaign has made no indication that it will return any of the money raised by Martin.
FOX News' Serafin Gomez contributed to this report.
Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Yahoo Mobile. Try it now.
Kay Lee, I suggest that EVERY jail and prison in the entire United States follow the lead of the Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. What follows are two accounts I have, and having lived there, I know for a fact this is exactly how these prisoners are treated, rather than as privileged guests. Of course it would mean stopping the molly coddling by the bleeding hearts who have raised career criminals and thinks their "children" should be given the same rights as law abiding citizens. Obviously in the colder climates it would be long underwear and coats that were also pink. But there's nothing wrong with them eating like they do in Maricopa County, everyone feeds that to their kids and not one of those kids has died from that diet yet in history. And there's nothing wrong with them getting selected channels on tv, you do monitor what your children watch, don't you?
I personally am sick of the "rights" the criminal gets while the victim has none. This is
coming from the heart of one who IS a victim -- my late husband was murdered by my ex-husband and he has always had more rights than me -- I was told I could lock myself in my house, or I could relocate, but in spite of two separate restraining orders law enforcement could do nothing to stop him from violating those RO and, in the end, murdering my husband.
And you think a criminal should have more choices? I think not. They chose to commit their crimes, the time for special treatment of them is past and the time for victims to receive some rights (such as actual justice) and the taxpapers to have less expense has come.
If you want to see some real reform, see to it that the changes be made to match those of Maricopa County, as enumerated below.
------------------
SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN
MaricopaCounty was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the CountySupervisors said okay.
The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They
feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows. The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million.
Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a
MaricopaCounty shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.
The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.
I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.
Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote.
Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind of a "Git-R Dun" kind of Sheriff.
Update on Joe Arpaio
TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFFAND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER.
THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY:
Sheriff Joe Arpaio (In Arizona) who created the "Tent City Jail":
He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.
He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights. Cut off all but "G" movies.
He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.
Then He Started Chain Gangs For Women So He Wouldn't Get Sued ForDiscrimination.
He took away cable TV Untilhe found out there was AFederal Court Orderthat Required Cable TV For Jails. So He Hooked Up The Cable TV Again. Only Let In The Disney Channel And The Weather Channel.
When asked why the weather channelHe Replied, "So They Will KnowHow Hot It's Gonna BeWhile They Are Working ONMy Chain Gangs."
He Cut Off Coffee. Since It Has Zero Nutritional Value.
When the inmates complained, he told them, "This Isn't The Ritz/Carlton.....If You Don't Like It, Don't Come Back."
He bought Newt Gingrich's lecture series on videotape that he pipes into thejails.
When asked by a reporter if he had any lecture series by a Democrat, he replied that a democratic lecture series might explain why a lot of the inmates were in his jails in the first place.
More On The Arizona Sheriff:
With Temperatures Being Even Hotter Than Usual In Phoenix (116 Degrees Just Set A New Record),the Associated Press Reports:
About 2,000 Inmates Living In A
Barbed-Wire-Surrounded Tent EncampmentAt TheMaricopa County Jail Have Been Given Permission To Strip Down To Their Government-Issued Pink Boxer Shorts.
On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached138DegreesInside The Week Before.
Many Were Also Swathed In Wet, Pink Towels As Sweat Collected On Their Chests And Dripped Down To Their PINK SOCKS.
"It Feels Like We Are In A Furnace,"Said James Zanzot, An Inmate Who Has Lived In The TENTS for 1 year."It's Inhumane."
Joe Arpaio,the tough-guy sheriffwho created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: "It's 120 Degrees In Iraq AndOur Soldiers Are Living In Tents Too,And They Have To Wear Full Battle Gear,ButThey Didn't Commit Any Crimes,So Shut Your Damned Mouths!"
Way To Go, Sheriff! Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat
offenders.
Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.
Be a better pen pal. Text or chat with friends inside Yahoo! Mail. See how.
RE: 11/28/2007 Editorial , 'Latest study on prisons full of errors'
Your editorial questions a recent study that concludes we must make big changes in prison reform or suffer severe consequences. I work in that arena so ams particularly interested suggestions for solutions. Up to now the only suggestions the mainstream have made involves spending more money, building more prisons, shuffling prisoners from state to state, and an occational suggestion to decrease the 85% time served (and that one would apply to murderers as well as non-violent drug offenders).
The reporter who wrote the editorial is upset because this study has dared to suggest the only REAL solution to the prison problem: (which to me has been a no-brainer for quite awhile): Put fewer people in jail. Oh my gosh, the writer says, that's DANGEROUS ground. We can't quit arresting drug users and abusers - those non-violent people are dangerous. This writer has obviously not studied the effectiveness of this costly and ineffective drug prohibition.
Historically prohibition has never reduced the harms of the intended substance and this failed policy applied to drugs has not worked any better than it did for alcohol, cocaine, or even coffee.
Problem is it only took us a decade to figure out it wasn't going to work for alcohol yet we've insisted on funding drug prohibition for over 60 years now. Is we getting stupider?
Kay Lee 404-212-0690 2683 Rockcliff Road Southeast Atlanta Georgia 30316
11/28/2007
Midland Reporter-Telegram Latest study on prisons full of errors
There is a recent privately funded study that is recommending some sweeping changes in the way we operate our prison system and we find some of the leanings in the study as moving toward dangerous ground.
The report was produced by the JFA Institute, a Washington criminal-justice research group, and its authors included eight criminologists from major U.S. public universities. It was funded by the Rosenbaum Foundation and financier George Soros's Open Society Institute.
As far as the study goes, we agree on the basis of fact. The number of Americans in prison has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and society. That is hard to dispute on any level.
Where dispute arises, however, is in the approach we take in solving key issues pertaining to the fact. The study calls for a major justice-system overhaul. It is in error, however, on how to proceed in that direction.
The truth is that prison reform is constantly under way. It is fact that our prisons of today are much different than they were 100 years ago. It also can be argued the changes that have occurred have produced both positive and negative results. That is why it is important to keep exploring methods to improve the system and the rehabilitive nature of the process.
The report recommends shorter sentences and parole terms, alternative punishments, more help for released inmates and decriminalizing recreational drugs as steps that would cut the prison population in half, save $20 billion a year and ease social inequality without endangering the public.
We certainly need to explore some of these avenues as we move forward, but falling into the trap of decriminalization of crimes is a wrong path to follow and this is a stance we have made before and will continue to do so.
As a society, we must take a stand on certain issues and we will not prevail as a superior society if we lessen our attack on the use of illegal drugs or other crimes that "pose no harm to our society."
Let's just take the use of illegal drugs as a starting point. How can such a learned study come to the conclusion that such crimes are not harmful to society? Every study we've seen shows massive negative effects on society at every turn in both costs and ultimate quality of life.
Yes, we need to continue to seek ways to limit jail populations across the nation, but decriminalization of crimes is not a good starting point.
A close ally to Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson resigned his post Monday as a top campaign bundler, FOX News has learned, a day after his drug-dealing history was revealed.
Phil Martin, a businessman who has lent Thompson his Cessna to fly around the country, was one of four campaign co-chairman for the '08 Republican candidate. The Washington Post reported Sunday that Martin also posted a guilty plea in 1979 for selling 11 pounds of marijuana and a no contest plea in 1983 for cocaine trafficking and conspiracy.
"I have decided to resign my position as chair of 'First Day Founders' of 'The Friends of Fred Thompson'. The focus of this campaign should be on Fred Thompson's positions on the issues and his outstanding leadership ability, not on mistakes I made some 24 years ago. I deeply regret any embarrassment this has caused," Martin said in a statement.
Thompson said Sunday that he wishes he had known earlier that one of his key presidential campaign advisers pleaded guilty to drug charges but he still thinks Phil Martin is "a good man."
Thompson, who's not the first candidate this year to be linked to a donor with a criminal past, seemed at first to brush off the news.
"You are talking about something that happened in his life, I guess, 25 years ago ... when he was in his 20s," Thompson said. "I wish I had known about it a little bit earlier. Phil, I am sure, knows that he should have told me about this. That he thought (it) was over and done with and forgotten about I am sure. But of course nothing is ever over and done with and forgotten about in this business."
Martin never want to jail on the charges. Sentencing was withheld on the first plea while Martin served out probation. The 1983 charges, along with a felony bookmaking charge, came while he was still serving that probation. Martin's probation was extended, according to the Post.
Martin started out in Republican politics in Tennessee in the early 1990s, when he met GOP Rep. Zach Wamp. During fundraisers for Wamp, Martin got to know Thompson. He began donating to Thompson in 1994, during Thompson's first run for the U.S. Senate. Overall, from 1992 to 2002, Martin donated more than $75,000 to Republican candidates and causes in Tennessee, the newspaper says.
The Post reports that Martin has lent Thompson his plane for possibly two dozen campaign stops since the summer, for a price of $102,330. That's about half of what it would cost to rent a charter plane for those flights. The payment at a fraction of the commercial price was legal and common for many candidates until Congress passed lobbying and ethics reform rules in September.
Thompson said Sunday that none of the donations were improper, and the campaign has made no indication that it will return any of the money raised by Martin.
FOX News' Serafin Gomez contributed to this report.
RE: 11/28/2007 Editorial , 'Latest study on prisons full of errors'
Your editorial questions a recent study that concludes we must make big changes in prison reform or suffer severe consequences. I work in that arena so ams particularly interested suggestions for solutions. Up to now the only suggestions the mainstream have made involves spending more money, building more prisons, shuffling prisoners from state to state, and an occational suggestion to decrease the 85% time served (and that one would apply to murderers as well as non-violent drug offenders).
The reporter who wrote the editorial is upset because this study has dared to suggest the only REAL solution to the prison problem: (which to me has been a no-brainer for quite awhile): Put fewer people in jail. Oh my gosh, the writer says, that's DANGEROUS ground. We can't quit arresting drug users and abusers - those non-violent people are dangerous. This writer has obviously not studied the effectiveness of this costly and ineffective drug prohibition.
Historically prohibition has never reduced the harms of the intended substance and this failed policy applied to drugs has not worked any better than it did for alcohol, cocaine, or even coffee.
Problem is it only took us a decade to figure out it wasn't going to work for alcohol yet we've insisted on funding drug prohibition for over 60 years now. Is we getting stupider?
Kay Lee 404-212-0690 2683 Rockcliff Road Southeast Atlanta Georgia 30316
11/28/2007
Midland Reporter-Telegram Latest study on prisons full of errors
There is a recent privately funded study that is recommending some sweeping changes in the way we operate our prison system and we find some of the leanings in the study as moving toward dangerous ground.
The report was produced by the JFA Institute, a Washington criminal-justice research group, and its authors included eight criminologists from major U.S. public universities. It was funded by the Rosenbaum Foundation and financier George Soros's Open Society Institute.
As far as the study goes, we agree on the basis of fact. The number of Americans in prison has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and society. That is hard to dispute on any level.
Where dispute arises, however, is in the approach we take in solving key issues pertaining to the fact. The study calls for a major justice-system overhaul. It is in error, however, on how to proceed in that direction.
The truth is that prison reform is constantly under way. It is fact that our prisons of today are much different than they were 100 years ago. It also can be argued the changes that have occurred have produced both positive and negative results. That is why it is important to keep exploring methods to improve the system and the rehabilitive nature of the process.
The report recommends shorter sentences and parole terms, alternative punishments, more help for released inmates and decriminalizing recreational drugs as steps that would cut the prison population in half, save $20 billion a year and ease social inequality without endangering the public.
We certainly need to explore some of these avenues as we move forward, but falling into the trap of decriminalization of crimes is a wrong path to follow and this is a stance we have made before and will continue to do so.
As a society, we must take a stand on certain issues and we will not prevail as a superior society if we lessen our attack on the use of illegal drugs or other crimes that "pose no harm to our society."
Let's just take the use of illegal drugs as a starting point. How can such a learned study come to the conclusion that such crimes are not harmful to society? Every study we've seen shows massive negative effects on society at every turn in both costs and ultimate quality of life.
Yes, we need to continue to seek ways to limit jail populations across the nation, but decriminalization of crimes is not a good starting point.
We all know George's Life Without Parole sentence for pot isn't, as the editorial suggests, so that politicians can 'appear' tough on crime: I deal with a lot of pot prisoners and other than George, almost all of them are like Gary "Smuggler's Tales" Waid or Lakeith Sharif, both first time non-violent drug offenders sentenced for trafficking, both of whom served around 10 years.
So, no, George's sentence is not reflective of the usual pot sentence. Oh, wait... Surely they are not holding George for the rest of his life for... surely not for 'Thought Crimes'?!?
See, George's dad was suspected by law enforcement of being involved in 'organized crime'. Perhaps his jury or judge were of the opinion that by taking George's entire life away early on, they prevented him from following in his dad's footsteps.
Naw, that can't be true... That can't be why George is serving an unbelievably longer sentence than is proscribed by law. That would be akin to prohibiting George from thinking about the future. Only in '1984' are we punished for 'thought crimes', right? RIGHT? But what other reason for destroying all quality of life for one non-violent crime?
Thank you for this editorial, John. I would have missed it if you hadn't brought it to my attention and its about our favorite most-talented first-time-offending longest-serving pot prisoner of all time .
For federal prisoners, the prospect of early release expired in 1987. As prisons bulge and recidivism persists, why is the parole ban still in place?
In 1982, when George Martorano pled guilty to charges of marijuana possession and drug conspiracy, he was expecting ten years in prison, at most.
Today, after 24 years, Martorano holds the honor of longest-serving nonviolent first-time offender in the history of the United States. He's all too ready to forfeit that mark of distinction, but if his sentence plays out as issued, he'll be looking at several decades more: Martorano is serving a life sentence for three years of transporting and selling marijuana. Despite his spotless prison record - not to mention his suicide-prevention volunteer work, his yoga practice and the 20 books he's written while incarcerated - he has no hope of being released.
Martorano is just one of almost 200,000 inmates in federal prison, many of whom have no chance for early release, thanks to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, which abolished parole at the federal level. The toughening of prison legislation over the past 20 years has also meant longer sentences for nonviolent offenders, combining with the parole ban to prompt a sharp increase in the federal prison population. As it stands, the beefed-up federal prison system costs taxpayers $40,000 per year for every inmate, and it costs inmates whole decades of their lives.
"We're being warehoused," Martorano said in a phone interview. "It's taken a million dollars just to keep me in."
Since the parole ban took effect, the federal prison population has more than quadrupled, according to Bureau of Justice statistics.
In the past few years, the sentencing system has been slowly changing in other ways. For example, the US Sentencing Commission recently shortened its recommended sentences for crack cocaine offenses, and Congress has shown signs that it will consider bills addressing the disparity between penalties for crack and powder cocaine. The Supreme Court is deliberating whether judges should be able to grant sentences that dip below established guidelines for sentence lengths.
However, Congress has taken no steps toward reversing course on federal parole. Although a bill to revive parole for federal prisoners has been introduced repeatedly in the House over the past few years, it has never made it to the floor for a vote. And an official at the US Sentencing Commission, who asked not to be identified, said he was not aware of any impetus that would bring back parole anytime soon.
As the prison population continues to explode, many influential voices in Congress and the public sphere are still touting a hardline philosophy when it comes to criminal justice, according to Representative Danny Davis (D-Illinois), who has sponsored the federal parole reinstatement bill for the last two Congresses.
"People don't want to be characterized as being 'soft on crime,'" Davis said in an interview. "They are still afraid that characterization will follow them. You would think that a country that is supposed to be as progressive as ours would've recognized that this approach is not working."
Toward Sentencing "Truth"
In the 1980s, when the movement to abolish parole swept across state sentencing systems and reached the federal government, "tough on crime" was the mantra of the day. The federal parole ban, part of a broad Sentencing Reform Act, which also lengthened and standardized prison sentences, passed in 1984 and was enacted in 1987. It represented one step in a movement toward "truth in sentencing": Abolishing parole was intended to ensure that judges - and the families of victims - would know how much time defendants would actually be serving.
"Truth in sentencing" eliminated the authority of a third party, the Parole Board, which could substantially alter a sentence after the judge was out of the picture. A paroled prisoner might serve as little as one-sixth of his or her sentence. After the ban, a prisoner could only earn "good time," a subtraction of no more than 54 days a year.
At the time it passed, the parole ban seemed something of a panacea: It fulfilled the goals of not only the "tough on crime" crowd, but also of a group of Democrats pushing for "fairness in sentencing." They hoped the abolition of parole, along with clarified guidelines for sentence lengths, would help to overcome the justice system's glaring racial disparities in sentences.
The act passed, garnering little attention. No public hearings were held before it was debated.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who served on the US Sentencing Commission prior to his court appointment and, before that, participated in the shaping of the 1984 law, described the act as promoting "greater honesty in sentencing."
"Under previous law the Parole Commission determined (within broad limits) how much time an offender would actually serve," Breyer said in a speech at the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1998, of the thought process that went into the crafting of the legislation. "A judge might sentence an offender to 12 years, but the Parole Commission might release the offender after four. No one - not offender, judge or public - could say in advance what a 12-year sentence really meant."
Without parole, Breyer explained, he and the other crafters had hoped the sentencing system would be "transparent, more candid, than before."
However, when the new guidelines were enforced, some began to question whether the power to discriminate was simply being shifted from the Parole Commission to the prosecutors, according to Nora Callahan, executive director of the November Coalition, a nonprofit organization working for drug sentencing reform.
The prisoners getting the longest sentences, Callahan said, were not necessarily the ones who had committed the most egregious crimes. They were often the ones who didn't know much about judicial system, since they had less money, less education and less access to legal aid.
Take Danielle Metz, a nonviolent first offender and mother of two, who was sentenced to three life sentences plus 20 years for helping her husband distribute cocaine. She pled innocent despite evidence of her guilt. Later, she discovered her public defender was primarily a traffic lawyer.
"When you lack knowledge of the law, they can do whatever they want to you," Metz said in a phone interview. "No one explained to me what was going on until it was too late."
Soon, thousands of cases like Metz's were cropping up: nonviolent first offenders sentenced to life in prison, without a hope of early release.
Another such prisoner, David Correa, who was incarcerated 18 years ago for transporting 495 grams of powder cocaine, pointed to the way the strict-guideline sentencing system can still trip up defendants in court, depending on which aspects of their crimes are highlighted and which legal moves they choose.
"Because I really had nothing to offer the prosecutor, because I took my case to trial, because in order for me to take a plea deal I had to say I was guilty of gun charges that I never had, and because I had to give names that I didn't have either, I am now doing a life sentence," Correa wrote in a letter to me.
Parole Forgotten
Once the parole ban was in place, though, it did not budge. Most people - outside of prisoners and their families - had no idea it had happened, noted parole activist John Flahive, who was first clued in when he accidentally received a wrong-number call from a prisoner: George Martorano.
The two began chatting on a regular basis, and Flahive began to lobby in Washington to bring back parole.
"As I got more involved, I found out there were thousands like Georgie," Flahive said, noting that about 60 percent of federal inmates are currently incarcerated for nonviolent crimes.
In 2002, the first bill to revive parole, introduced by Rep. Patsy Mink, made its way to the House - and died in committee when Mink died of chicken pox and pneumonia. Since then, Davis has proposed the bill twice. Both times, it died in the Judiciary Committee, then headed by Rep. James Sensenbrenner, who has consistently voted to toughen sentences, maintain the death penalty and reduce opportunities for appeals.
With a Democratic majority now in Congress, parole advocates hope for a victory sometime soon. However, a restoration of parole in the near future would be surprising, according to Mark Bransky of the Federal Parole Board, which remains in operation for prisoners sentenced prior to 1987, some of whom are still eligible for parole.
"Things tend to go in cycles, so I'm not sure," Bransky said. "But for now, there doesn't seem to be much unhappiness in Congress with the new system."
Jeralyn Merritt, a Denver criminal defense attorney and drug law analyst, concurred, adding that lobbying for an increase in "good time" might be the only route for earlier release.
"Federal parole won't be instated as long as we have these guidelines," Merritt said. "They're not looking at changing these guidelines."
However, unlike in the Reagan era, the parole ban is not riding on the wave of "tough on crime" fever. Public sentiment has softened to a certain extent, and, according to Callahan, most of the liberal advocates of parole abolition have long since changed their stance.
In a 2003 Dan Jones survey in Utah, widely held to be the most conservative state in the nation, almost two-thirds of respondents favored the return of parole - once they were informed it had been banned.
"It's something a lot of people don't think about until it personally touches them," Davis said.
Parole may not be a highly contentious issue; it's just an invisible one.
No More Carrots
Despite lawmakers' original rationale of the parole ban as a "tough on crime" measure, it has hit the lives of nonviolent offenders much harder than it has hit crime, according to Callahan. Although prisoners now do more time, she said, without a tangible motivation to "do good," they may actually be less likely to change their ways.
"In 1987, all the incentives for corrections to work in a rehabilitative way were taken away," Callahan said. "This affects violent crime, because so many people are getting out with nothing but bitterness."
According to FBI statistics, violent crime increased steadily in the five years after the parole ban was established.
Callahan also links prisoners' decreased motivation to rehabilitate to recidivism.
One element of the logic behind the parole ban was "many prisoners released on parole were committing new crimes," Bransky said.
Yet ex-prisoners were significantly more likely to be rearrested in 1994 than in 1983, according to the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Since 1987, the atmosphere within prison walls has changed, too, according to Martorano, who has witnessed life in multiple federal prisons firsthand since the parole ban kicked in.
"The institutions were much less violent [before 1987], because there was a light," he said. "If you've got ten life sentences, with no chance of parole, there's no carrot."
Lack of parole also makes life tougher for prison guards, according to Alan J. Williams, a former prisoner who is now chair of the Delaware branch of the advocacy organization, Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants, Federal Prison Chapter (FedCURE). Without the incentive of getting out on good behavior, there's no substantive reason to treat guards well. Additionally, no chance of early release breeds anger toward the prison system, which often takes the form of violence, according to Williams.
Williams also pointed to the frustration-provoking divide between prisoners sentenced prior to 1987, many of whom still eligible for parole, and prisoners sentenced after the ban kicked in - a rift that triggers fights among inmates.
"We've been going about this the wrong way, emphasizing incarceration rather than rehabilitation," Davis said. "We're not reducing crime or recidivism. Since that's not the case, why do we continue to follow a flawed policy?"
Parole and Electoral Reality
Although some '80s-style tough-on-crime Congress members remain, the persistence of the parole ban may have less to do with hard-line philosophy and more to do with political priorities, according to Callahan. Between federal prisoners, ex-federal prisoners and their families and friends, millions of Americans are seriously impacted by federal prison policy. However, those millions are, by in large, not policymakers.
"The 'war on crime' is just as insidious as the war in Iraq," Callahan said. "But a war like this is different from an Iraq War. The middle class doesn't see this war."
Not many prisoner advocates were surprised the last two bills to revive federal parole never made it out of committee. Sensenbrenner chaired the Judiciary Committee, which was also stocked with such stalwarts as Randy Forbes, who led the successful movement to abolish parole in his home state of Virginia in the 1990s. Both still hold places on the committee, with Forbes as its ranking member.
When a Democratic majority won Congress last year, the shift did not prompt a face-off with tough-on-crime Republicans.
The issue doesn't always break down in line with the party divide, according to policy analyst Ryan King of the Sentencing Project. Just as the original Sentencing Reform Act was a bipartisan venture, the maintenance of the sentencing status quo requires the consent - at least implicitly - of members of both parties.
Lawmakers have to pick their battles, and picking parole is not a politically savvy move.
"I've never seen anyone lose an election for being tough on crime," King said. "You might see a candidate say they would overturn every parole board decision in the state. But I doubt a candidate would set sentencing reform as the centerpiece of a campaign. No candidate wants the public to think they would let individuals off easy."
Shying away from sentencing and parole reform basically boils down to fear, on the part of both the public and politicians, according to King. People are afraid of early-released prisoners wreaking havoc on their communities. Lawmakers are afraid that, should they push for reform, a high-profile case of a parolee committing a crime could sabotage their campaigns.
The fear is grounded in precedent: 1998 Democratic presidential candidate and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis supported his state's "furlough" program, which allowed inmates temporary leaves of absence from prison as part of a rehabilitation plan. When Massachusetts prisoner Willie Horton committed armed robbery and rape while on furlough, the incident became a major issue in the 1988 election and a basis for attack ads against Dukakis.
In Connecticut last July, two parolees committed a triple murder and arson. In September, Connecticut's attorney general ruled that parole-ineligible sentences could not be commuted to parole-eligible, and a Quinnipiac University poll in early November showed 72 percent of Connecticut voters thought the parole system let prisoners out too soon.
"It's a cost-benefit analysis," King said. "There's not a lot of benefit for those politicians to step out and support parole, but the costs could be enormous."
As with many prison issues, convincing lawmakers to take a stand on parole is an especially tough sell because many of the people to whom parole is most important - prisoners and felons - can't vote.
Money Motives
Many Americans who can vote benefit from prisoners staying behind bars with no chance of early release, noted both Martorano and Metz.
Though keeping millions of people in prison is a drain on taxpayer dollars, inmates bolster the economy by working for less than $1 an hour for companies like Microsoft and AT&T. ("Most of the time when people call directory assistance, they don't realize they're speaking with an inmate," Metz said.)
Noah Robinson, the half-brother of Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and a federal prisoner serving a life sentence in Terre Haute, Indiana, points out as private prisons expand, a growing sector of the small-town vote will have the preservation of the parole ban at heart. The local economies of "prison towns" benefit from the lack of parole, since a guaranteed (and increasing) number of prisoners means a constant source of jobs for guards, administrators, food service workers, cleaning people and suppliers of everything from toilet paper to office supplies.
"With prisoners confined forever (i.e. no parole), job security [is] totally unaffected by inflation and recession; contracts for local businesses are ongoing," Robinson wrote to me.
Even more directly, some of the lawmakers who could most influence the prospect of the parole bill - Judiciary Committee members - take campaign money from corporations that build and maintain private prisons.
The two largest private prison companies, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Wackenhut Corporation (now the GEO Group), entered the business in the mid-80s, when, due to tougher drug laws and the loss of parole, government-run prisons were bursting at the seams. The corporations' expansion paralleled the continued Congressional reinforcement of hard-line prison policies.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in the 2006 election cycle, the CCA contributed thousands of dollars to the campaigns of six House Judiciary Committee members, including Sensenbrenner, who kept the parole bill off the floor every time it was proposed. He now sits on the Homeland Security subcommittee, which deals most closely with sentencing and parole.
Sensenbrenner's office did not return repeated calls for comment.
The CCA also funded the campaign of ranking member Lamar Smith, who, in this Congress alone, has introduced two bills which would increase prison terms.
In the Senate, the CCA financed the campaigns of four out of the nine Republicans on the Judiciary Committee.
Wackenhut, on the other hand, developed a reputation for giving to both the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee. Its new incarnation, the GEO Group, also contributes to both parties. In fact, for the 2008 election, GEO has so far contributed more to the campaigns of Democratic legislators than to Republicans, and has donated to the campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson.
Even Democratic Congressman Bill Nelson of Florida, to whom both John Flahive and David Correa's mother have appealed for help in reviving parole, took $10,000 from GEO in 2006, according to data from Capitol Advantage.
"Financial drive is such a huge factor for both sides of political aisle," said King, who noted economic pressure from prison employees' unions plays a large role in pulling Democrats away from parole and sentencing reform.
The American Federation of Government Employees, to which federal prison workers belong, gives almost exclusively to Democratic candidates.
Nevertheless, according to King, prisons are at a breaking point. Contractors and government funding aren't keeping up with the demand for new prison facilities, and overcrowding is rampant. For policymakers, King said, dwindling resources and their effect on profit - not a realization of the system's injustices and ineffectiveness - will likely be the turning point for parole and sentencing reform.
Though King does not foresee a vote to reinstate parole right away, he argues measures like Davis's parole bill are still necessary to put the idea "on the radar screen," triggering momentum toward sentencing policy change. As resources become scarcer, he reasons, more lawmakers may get behind such legislation.
As for Davis, he has been cooperating with FedCURE and other organizations on a new bill to revive parole. He hasn't yet introduced it, he said, because he did not want people to confuse it with his less controversial Second Chance Act, a bipartisan-supported bill that just passed the House, which provides resources for prisoners reentering society.
The passage of the Second Chance Act may begin to pave the slow road to a criminal justice system that emphasizes rehabilitation over punishment, according to Davis. He hopes someday parole will follow.
Until then, for prisoners like Metz, it's becoming increasingly difficult to fight off despair.
"My kids grew up while I was in prison, but I've been stuck in time," Metz said. "If they don't bring back parole, I'll be stuck until I die."
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