cannabisnews.com: Trust-Buster -- Ashcroft Kicks The Dog Once Again





Trust-Buster -- Ashcroft Kicks The Dog Once Again
Posted by CN Staff on February 12, 2003 at 13:49:32 PT
By Peter Schrag -- Bee Columnist
Source: Sacramento Bee 
A few more victories like the one the feds just got in their prosecution of Ed Rosenthal, Oakland's officially deputized medical marijuana grower, and they may be lucky if they get convictions in the future of even the most hardened dealers.Shortly after they voted to convict, five of the jurors held a press conference to repudiate their own verdict: Had they been allowed to hear testimony that Rosenthal had been growing his pot plants for the medical uses permitted under California's Proposition 215, they said, they would not have convicted.
But they weren't allowed to hear any of that. Federal Judge Charles Breyer ruled that California law had no bearing on the federal drug law under which Rosenthal was tried.The defense hoped to argue that since the federal law immunized state and local drug enforcement officers against federal prosecution, Rosenthal, as a city-deputized official, should have been able to cite Proposition 215, California's medical marijuana initiative, and his function under it.Breyer, the thoughtful and respected judge who blocked that defense, is not to blame. It's not the job of jurors to sort out conflicts between federal and state law, if any; in any case, federal law trumps state law. If state law were allowed to nullify federal law, the South might still be segregated.But that didn't mitigate the frustration of the jurors who felt manipulated or the clumsiness and stupidity of the federal government in bringing the case.The stupidity was underlined in a White House report issued by the Office of Management and Budget almost at the same moment as the jurors' press conference last week. Castigating DEA, the Drug Enforcement Administration, for its ineffectiveness in stemming the flow and distribution of narcotics in the United States, the report concluded the agency "is unable to demonstrate progress in reducing the availability of illegal drugs in the United States." The DEA, whose budget has doubled in the last seven years, now gets nearly $1.6 billion a year.Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/pb.htm Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)Author: Peter Schrag -- Bee ColumnistPublished: Wednesday, February 12, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Sacramento BeeContact: opinion sacbee.comWebsite: http://www.sacbee.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Green-Aid.com http://www.green-aid.com Americans For Safe Access http://www.safeaccessnow.orgEd Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmThe Conviction of Ed Rosenthal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15456.shtmlThe Feds Versus Ed - San Francisco Examinerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15452.shtmlWill Rosenthal Case Destroy MMJ Enforcement?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15442.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #3 posted by observer on February 13, 2003 at 10:53:03 PT
Ashcroft, DEA
Want breaking DEA news? Track prohibition agency news with Bot! http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/topic/prohibition_agency.htmNew! Let Bot mail you news as it breaks! http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/ Breaking pot news: http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pot
Bot! :-]
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Cannabis jarhead on February 13, 2003 at 05:48:09 PT
south
I was raised in Tx and there are still towns and citys that blacks won't even drive through at night. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by 312 on February 12, 2003 at 20:22:55 PT:
Ashcroft
Good article slamming Ashcroft:http://www.mylowprofile.com/pm/weblog.php?id=P341"federal law trumps state law. If state law were allowed to nullify federal law, the South might still be segregated."Is that so? A Maori friend of mine here in NZ claimed that when he was over there, there were blatant signs proudly proclaiming "no niggers allowed" above the doors of certain bars. Being Maori, he didn't quite qualify as a 'nigger'. Is this still the case?
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment