cannabisnews.com: White House: Drug Czar Not Bound by Nevada Law White House: Drug Czar Not Bound by Nevada Law Posted by CN Staff on January 29, 2003 at 11:49:00 PT By Ed Vogel, Review-Journal Capital Bureau Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal A White House lawyer has notified Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller's office that Drug Czar John Walters does not have to follow a Nevada political campaign law. In a Monday letter, General Counsel Edward Jurith said Walters is "immune" from a state law requiring people who advocate positions on Nevada ballot questions to identify their contributors and report expenditures. During the fall campaign, Walters visited Nevada three times to speak out against passage of Question 9, the failed ballot question that would have allowed adults to possess up to three ounces of marijuana. After the election, the Marijuana Policy Project of Washington, D.C., complained to Heller that Walters had not filed reports on his contributions and expenditures. Susan Bilyeu, deputy secretary of state, then requested that Walters explain why he should not follow the law. Jurith said Walters is immune from Nevada election laws "as a federal official acting within the scope of duties, including speaking out about the dangers of illegal drugs." Walters was empowered by Congress and the president to act as an anti-drug spokesman, he added. Consequently, Jurith said Walters would not respond to the Marijuana Policy Project complaint. The project, through its Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement subsidiary, ran the campaign to legalize marijuana. The group reported $1.8 million in contributions and detailed its expenditures in reports to Heller's office. "This letter is not a serious response," said Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. "It is insulting. They don't cite any statute or special authority that makes them immune from the law. They just say they don't have to. "He has gone from ignoring the law to blatantly defying it," Mirken said. Steve George, a spokesman for Heller's office, said the Walters letter will be reviewed and the agency may ask the attorney general's office whether additional action should be taken.Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)Author: Ed Vogel, Review-Journal Capital BureauPublished: Wednesday, January 29, 2003Copyright: 2003 Las Vegas Review-JournalContact: letters lvrj.comWebsite: http://www.lvrj.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Drug Czar Won't Respond To Complainthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15307.shtmlMarijuana Group: Feds Broke Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15209.shtmlDrug Czar Asked for Explanationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15202.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #5 posted by malleus2 on January 30, 2003 at 05:51:19 PT So what else is new? Walter's boss is Ashcroft. Ashcroft is a member of the Federalist Society:http://www.fed-soc.org/The aims of this society are, to use their own words:*The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies is a group of conservatives and libertarians interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.*Got that? In essence, the Fed Society people were supposed to be FOR 'State's Rights', not against them.But look at what these people have done. They have rammed Fed suzerainity down the Med-pot States throats.And now Walters says, imperiously, that like his boss and his boss's boss the Escaped Chimp, that he doesn't have to adhere to State laws, that they are irrelevent for someone in his lofty position.Nothing like having one's cake and eating it too, eh, John "Pee"? [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on January 29, 2003 at 15:04:37 PT the contitution being used as toliet paper These guys are playing the role of rulers instead of democratically elected leaders.The drug bozo thinks that he's above state law. I hope they take him to court, he should respect state rights. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by JustGetnBy on January 29, 2003 at 13:15:53 PT: Immune from the Law?? They have trashed the constitution, now they are immune from state law????? Exactly what authority do these people answer to? I'm begining to believe that the only way to control this pack of self-serving,power mad thugs is the remedy used against the first King George. A government that no longer serves the people is not the government laid out by the constitution. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo MD on January 29, 2003 at 12:27:11 PT: It's a Small World "General Counsel Edward Jurith said Walters is "immune" from a state law"Edward Jurith was the former #2 at ONDCP under Barry McCaffrey. Isn't that special? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by delariand on January 29, 2003 at 12:09:42 PT What's next? The DEA seems to be immune to the constitution, any state law it doesn't agree with, unreasonable search and seizure laws... what's next? Will it be OK for a member of the DEA to kill a man on the street, if he "feels" the person was a drug trafficker or some nonsense?I hope this goes all the way to the supreme court, and the constitution is upheld... [ Post Comment ] Post Comment