cannabisnews.com: The Rebellion and Its Martyrs





The Rebellion and Its Martyrs
Posted by CN Staff on May 21, 2003 at 08:47:53 PT
By Alexander Cockburn 
Source: Creators Syndicate 
The endless clash between state power and popular will has always assumed its most vivid contours in the matters of sex, booze and drugs. Particularly in the last case the struggle concerns not merely pleasure but the suppression of pain. The state protects pharmaceutical companies, who enjoy the highest profits in American business. The state persecutes marijuana cultivators and suppliers, and, at the federal level, is trying to crush a nationwide rebellion by those who not only see marijuana as delightful and benign, but of proven efficacy as a medicine for those in chronic pain. 
The rebellion has its many thousands of martyrs, rotting in state and federal prisons. Its most conspicuous victim right now is Ed Rosenthal. Come June 4, Ed Rosenthal will be back in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to hear what sentence U.S. Judge Charles Breyer has decided to impose. Earlier this year, a California jury found him guilty of cultivating marijuana, of maintaining a place to cultivate marijuana and of conspiring with others to cultivate marijuana. He's in his early 50s now, and he's looking at the possibility of being hauled off to prison for the rest of his life. Let's all hope that it won't come to that and that Breyer will stay his sentence, pending appeals that may end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. The feds went after Rosenthal because he's a high-profile advocate of legalized marijuana, famous for his books and articles, not least in High Times magazine. The charges seemed surreal. Under the terms of California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996 OK'ing the cultivation and use of medical marijuana, the City of Oakland designated Rosenthal the legal supplier of marijuana starts to those in chronic pain. Back then, on the eve of the trial, Rosenthal told me, "This is a tipping-point case. If they put me behind bars, they are going to start closing these clubs. The clubs will have no excuse. Everyone will have to plead out. It's really important that I win this case." He has rematches ahead of him in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and then perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court, but Rosenthal lost that round in U.S. District Court. His trial was a grim farce. Breyer (brother of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Steven) overruled every effort of Rosenthal's lawyers to introduce the fact that the man in the dock had been working under the aegis of the city of Oakland, abiding by the provisions of a state law approved by the voters of California. Thus kept in the dark, and with the ground cut from under Rosenthal's defense, the jury found him guilty. Then the jury stepped out of the jury box and for the first time learned the actual circumstances and background of the charges. Within days six of them mustered in front of the U.S. courthouse to apologize publicly to Rosenthal, and to proclaim their shame and indignation that they had been dragooned into this parody of justice. I was there, and it was an exhilarating occasion. Terence Hallinan, the district attorney of San Francisco, S.F. Supervisors Tommy Ammiano and Matt Gonzalez, and the chairman of the city's board of supervisors all stepped up to the microphone to applaud the penitent jurors for their stand, to denounce the conviction. Board President Gonzalez invoked the long tradition of jury nullification, which, had this jury known about it, would have enabled them to set aside Breyer's instructions, consult their consciences and find Rosenthal innocent. The next round in the case concerned precisely this issue of whether a juror can discount a judge's instruction. In the wake of the verdict, two jurors, Marney Craig and Pamela Klarkowski, disclosed to Rosenthal's lawyers that during the trial, outside the jury room, they had discussed, at least twice, the issue of disobeying Breyer's instruction. Craig said she had phoned an attorney friend who had told her forcefully that she had to follow Breyer's instructions and would get into big trouble if she used her own judgment. Craig had then discussed this call with Klarkowski. Rosenthal's lawyers went before Breyer again, arguing for a mistrial on the grounds of malfeasance by the two jurors. Though Craig took the Fifth, the facts weren't disputed. On the face of it, you'd think it's open and shut. Aside from Breyer's outrageous restrictions, did Rosenthal get a fair trial if two jurors were secretly sitting on a piece of bad legal advice, to the effect that if they stepped outside the narrow lines drawn by Breyer, they'd face serious sanctions? But Breyer brusquely dismissed the motion. He doesn't want to order a new trial, one in which the chances of a jury aware of the background of the case and also of the possibility of nullification would be far higher. Just as Rosenthal predicted to me, the feds took the guilty verdict as a green light. Across California people acting within the terms of the 1996 California statute have every reason to fear that DEA will come crashing through the door and that federal judges like Breyer will back up their right to do so. The only silver lining thus far, aside from the edifying stance of principle taken by Ed Rosenthal is that the issue of jury discretion, or jury nullification, is on the front burner again. You've been called to serve on a jury? I strongly recommend you take the time to study a useful little guide drawn up by Clay Conrad, chairman of the Fully Informed Jury Association. Money to help with Ed Rosenthal's defense should go to: http://www.Green-aid.comAnd yes, this is a Republican administration rhetorically committed to states' rights. Bush himself made a campaign issue of it, ladling out a plateful of campaign pledges that he, as a good Republican, was committed to states' rights. Note: Ed Rosenthal faces the music.Article appeared on WorkingforChange.com: http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=15025Source: Creators Syndicate Author: Alexander Cockburn - Creators Syndicate Published: May 21, 2003Copyright: 2003 Creators SyndicateContact: info creators.com Website: http://www.creators.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites:Green Aidhttp://www.green-aid.com/Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmMedical Pot Activist Loses New Trial Bidhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16332.shtmlRosenthal Faces Music in Key Marijuana Casehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16248.shtmlThe Feds vs. Ed Rosenthal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15383.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by Lehder on May 21, 2003 at 16:06:23 PT
well, we don't have long to wait
Only until June 2 to find out. The article claims that there's money to be made by serving the subversive tastes of the left, and that the media, inscrupulous enough to backstab President Boosh, will show up to collect - as soon as they kissingly have their way with merger regulations.If they are unmoved by the persecution of classes and the atomization of society, perhaps they'll be as remorseless over the exposure and crumpling of their federal friends. After all, do the corporations need governemnt any more than we do? Do they not see it as a minor impediment to their exploitation of the people?Long Live The New World Order!
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Comment #4 posted by malleus2 on May 21, 2003 at 11:39:20 PT
Lehder, there won't be any lefty talk shows 
Because lefty shows are run by people who think and question...and that hurts the sheeple's brains too much. And those who have benefitted from their ignorance for so long aren't about to reverse course and add shows to their routines which force people to do that. Don't want the wolves to take off their sheep suits and rediscover their freedom again...that's simply too dangerous.
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Comment #3 posted by Lehder on May 21, 2003 at 11:20:13 PT
media mega-mergers
You've likely already seen this article, it's been hanging there at Common Dreams for a couple of days. But we were talking recently about the domination of radio by right-wing screechers and how the FCC's coming blessing of media mergers on June 2 will only make these idiots even more prevalent. But that's not the case according this article.http://commondreams.org/views03/0519-03.htm"The industry giants are ignoring markets and
     passing up profits over the short term in order to make bigger money over the long
     term. It's not politics - it's just good business. If Gore had been in office and his FCC
     chairman was inclined to approve further industry mergers, Gore would have
     suddenly found himself equally bulletproof in the media, much to his delight. At
     least until the mergers were approved. "And after the media conglomerates are empowered on June 2 to become superconglomerates, they'll tap into the unserved liberal markets:"Get ready for liberal/progressive talk radio, coming to a commercial station near
     you. After June 2, of course..."Maybe more people then will know about nullification and the truth about the drug war. Even the Bush Twins' escapades might get more coverage. Let's hope for a positive influence on listeners, and some coverage on Rosenthall in the media that can be passively engaged, as Americans like.Still, it's a corrupt system. We need public ownership of broadcasters as well as news service by low powered local stations. But these are issues we'll probably never hear much about from the media giants.
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Comment #2 posted by malleus2 on May 21, 2003 at 11:07:08 PT
The more I see of this, the more I think 
of the civil rights battles. And the feds are looking more like Bull Connors and the early George Wallace, "whuppin' up on dem nigras". All we need are the snarling dogs and firehoses.
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on May 21, 2003 at 09:14:04 PT
Alexander Cockburn, an editor of CounterPunch
Alexander Cockburn, along with Jeffrey St.Clair, are the editors of CounterPunch.org. The man is not out informed by anyone and is a jewel in the crown of freedom. No bootlicking here, only a good journalist serving up another story in fine fashion.Richard Cowan said yesterday in his commentary he would be scaling back to one day a week because having to earn a living is in opposition to his labor done mostly for love.
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