Friday, April 13, 2007

Marijuana prosecution appears to be a political mandate This is truly unbelievable... SAN FRANCISCO - Federal prosecutors said today they would retry marijuana grower Ed Rosenthal on cultivation charges, even after a federal judge urged them to drop the case and chastised the government for lodging charges solely to punish the self-proclaimed "guru of ganja." U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer demanded to know who in the Department of Justice made the decision to continue pursuing Rosenthal, who had his original conviction overturned last year. Rosenthal can't be sentenced to prison even if he is convicted because the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the one-day prison sentence ordered by Breyer in 2003. Newly appointed U.S. Attorney Scott Schools made the decision, said Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan, but he was not sure if Department of Justice officials in Washington were involved. The judge said the government's position to go forward left him no choice but to hold a trial, which he scheduled for May 14. "This isn't a criminal case, this is a political case," said Rosenthal, who appeared in court dressed in a blue wizard's robe with a golden marijuana leaf emblazoned over the breast. "I may as well get my money's worth and have a trial." Newly appointed U.S. Attorney. Interesting. Scott Schools replaces US Attorney Kevin Ryan (who prosecuted Rosenthal for the past 4 years) and claims to be only a temporary replacement. Ryan (one of the infamous group of US Attorneys who was fired) was supposedly actually fired for incompetence (and it was Schools who "investigated" Ryan). Schools appears to be a political hack, with some history of politically motivated prosecution. And now Schools is doing this. So what is going on here? What possible reason is there to prosecute Rosenthal other than to make the federal government look even more stupid? Has their fear of what we can do to their precious drug war so colored their judgment? Is there a strategy here that I'm missing? Update: Digby picks up on it, and the comments in that thread are a pleasant sight. 6:26:42 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Comments were down, now back up. Update: The comment function was broken, but it's been fixed (Thanks, Lawrence) and so you should be able to comment again. 10:15:10 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Open Thread A very nice article about the Northeast Regional SSDP conference: A look at a war we continue to lose, which starts out... The war on drugs has long been about heavy bombing rather than thoughtful prevention. Jails and prisons fill up due to mandatory sentencing laws. U.S. officials tell poor farmers in other countries that they have to destroy their cash crop because if they don't it will eventually go up the noses of bored Americans. And the national drug appetite continues to grow and continues to demand more and more. I remember once sitting in a college auditorium and listening to the petite Nancy Reagan bringing her "Just Say No" message to students who probably had done more research on the subject than she had. The first lady presented a scene of lightweight good intentions tossed at a heavy, ugly, far reaching problem. Great job by Matthew Palevsky and the Brown SSDP chapter (along with the National board) in putting the conference together. Wish I could be there. Good article: Drug prohibition - lost liberty, money by Stephen Kershnar Even if drug prohibition didn't involve a dizzying lack of respect for liberty, it probably doesn't pass a simple cost-benefit analysis. A corollary to the harm principle is something like the following: before you restrict liberty, you should have convincing evidence that the benefits of doing so outweigh the costs. If you're in Austin, go see attorney Charlie Roadman's second annual Marijuana Law for Musicians talk next Thursday. Learn the answers to the important questions like "Can the police search your guitar case?" Sounds like a valuable and fun session. Those of you in the BC area should check out the No More Drug War Film Fest this weekend, featuring Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey and Waiting to Inhale at the Roxy Theatre in Victoria (2657 Quadra St.) on April 14 and in Vancouver at the Vancity Theatre (1181 Seymour St.) on April 15. Start times for both locations is 12:30 p.m. 12:29:45 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []