cannabisnews.com: Going To Pot





Going To Pot
Posted by CN Staff on May 29, 2003 at 16:51:32 PT
Editorial
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal 
We'll find out next week just how far a California federal judge is willing to go to run roughshod over the rights of defendant Ed Rosenthal and the will of Golden State voters. Mr. Rosenthal was convicted earlier this year on federal drug charges for cultivating marijuana. But he was no ordinary pot grower. Mr. Rosenthal had been deputized by the city of Oakland to produce medical marijuana under a law approved overwhelmingly in 1996 by Californians. 
The federal drug warriors, of course, have little respect for most of the Constitution, let alone the 10th Amendment. They busted Mr. Rosenthal, the laws of the sovereign state of California be damned. They then found a willing toady in U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer (the brother of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer). During a sham trial, Judge Breyer refused to let Mr. Rosenthal's attorneys inform the jury of his defense: that he was operating under the imprimatur of the city of Oakland, in accordance with California law. The jury convicted, but when informed of all the facts after the trial, nine of the 12 decried their own verdict and said they would have voted to let Mr. Rosenthal go free had they known the real story. Having rigged the system to get the outcome he desired, Judge Breyer will pass sentence on June 6. The federal Probation Department is recommending 21 months; prosecutors want five years. But California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has written to Judge Breyer urging the most lenient sentence allowed. That would exclude jail time. We'll find out next week whether Judge Breyer runs this farce into the ground or finally comes to his senses. Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)Published: Thursday, May 29, 2003Copyright: 2003 Las Vegas Review-JournalContact: letters lvrj.comWebsite: http://www.lvrj.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Ed Rosenthal's Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htm5 Years Sought for Pot Grower http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16442.shtmlLockyer Urges Leniency in Marijuana Casehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16431.shtmlGanja Guru -- If Only Truth Could Set Him Freehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16354.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by Virgil on May 29, 2003 at 22:24:24 PT
312- it is not just the feds
I recently had a chance to talk to a person from Rockingham, North Carolina which is in Richmond County. She is on disability and did about 4 months in state prison for bottom level sales of cannabis. She would preface her statements with the fact that Richmond County was completely crooked and a sheriff held onto the office for 40 years and ran gambling, and prostitution, and drugs (Isn't that the list of victimless crimes that FoM mentioned once.) If you were not paying him and selling drugs they wanted you to go down. When the man got in his 80's he arranged for the election of the next sheriff.Now there is a more compeling story that was on PBS some years back concerning a Lumbee Indian frpm Lumberton taking hostages and holding them in a bank wanting the feds to come and get him to protect him from the sheriff of the county who was out to kill him. It was interesting on several points in that the federal government really wanted this guy as time went on. He would go to a reservation where the feds could not get him. They held a trial under a law that says the defendant does not have to be present. To give the tale credit, I have to say it was one of the best stories I have ever seen on television. Anyway, the Indian died of AIDS recently. He accused the sheriff of being involved in selling cocaine and the sheriff would either resign or not run for reelection because the story drew so much attention.Anyway, the sheriffs in the South were categorically treated as corrupt in movies like Macon County Line and Coolhand Luke mainly because in reality many were corrupt and had there hands in illegal activities where they protected themselves. It is by no means just the feds that are for prohibition. It is the local people with public armies to protect illegal gains that want prohibition more than anyone. I would think the same situation is why you see local LE in Canada screaming to keep prohibition.Before they cancelled my forum out of Charlotte there were several people that said dealers had to pay LE to not get busted. Anyway, it is not just the feds, it is the whole prohibitionist community, especially the ones that profit from prohibition.
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Comment #2 posted by 312 on May 29, 2003 at 21:14:16 PT
crucifiction
Wasn't Jesus executed on the cross to try and crush the growing upsurge in Christianity? Just look at that now.The feds were so eager to get at Ed that they didn't think through the consequences of making a martyr out of him. It's just a shame that there's a real live human being who isn't certain of his future in the middle of all this; something that the feds might not realise fully, and they may not appreciate the fact that even if they don't care about him, other people do.I've never looked into public opinion on the issue, but do people actually like the feds, or is it just the drug 'warriors' who are disliked, generally speaking?
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Comment #1 posted by mayan on May 29, 2003 at 18:08:24 PT
Feds Screwed Up
"The jury convicted, but when informed of all the facts after the trial, nine of the 12 decried their own verdict and said they would have voted to let Mr. Rosenthal go free had they known the real story."It's a shame that the jurors were only informed of the facts after the trial & an even greater shame that Ed was denied a new trial. I believe more than ever that the feds screwed up by going after Ed. But then again, what does one expect from a system that rewards failure? It will be an injustice even if Ed only gets probation. Breyer & the rest of the prohibitionists should be the ones put behind bars.The way out is the way in...Washington Post Headline on 9/11 Inquiry May Prove Prophetic Says Watchdog Group:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/archive/scoop/stories/6d/21/200305281016.258acdf4.html9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive:
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledge 
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