cannabisnews.com: Drug Reformers Target Judge Judy


cannabisnews.com: Drug Reformers Target Judge Judy





Drug Reformers Target Judge Judy
Posted by FoM on March 07, 2000 at 13:17:36 PT
By Howard Stier 
Source: APBNews
Want TV Jurist to Apologize for 'Let 'em Die' Comment. Remarks by television's Judge Judy Sheindlin about drug addicts during a trip to Australia last year are continuing to haunt her back home. Drug reform advocates are appealing to sponsors of the Judge Judy TV show to pull their advertising dollars from the syndicated series that the reformers would like to see taken off the air. 
The organization, the Washington-based Drug Reform Coordination Network, also has launched the Dump Judge Judy Web site and is urging people to write to the show's sponsors and state legislators. 'Give 'Em All Dirty Needles' The controversy stems from comments the characteristically brash Sheindlin made in November during a promotional tour for her book, Beauty Fades, Dumb Is Forever, when she was asked about a program to provide clean needles to drug addicts to prevent the spread of AIDS and hepatitis. The Courier Mail in Brisbane quoted her as saying "Give 'em all dirty needles and let 'em die." David Borden, executive director of the Drug Reform Coordination Network, denounced Sheindlin's remarks as insensitive. "We have children being born with AIDS because of infected needles, and nowhere in any of her statements has she acknowledged that the disease spreads to other people," Borden told APBnews.com "She is in the public eye and influences people -- it was irresponsible for her to say that. I feel she owes an apology to anyone that has lost a loved one to drug abuse." Three Sponsors Leave Show: In the last three months, Borden says his organization already has persuaded three sponsors to stop advertising on Judge Judy, including Papa John's. "I regret ever advertising on her show," Brian Jennings, a spokesman for the pizza chain, said. "We stopped it as soon as we found out about her adverse views. We have nothing to do with Judge Judy, nor will we ever." A publicist at Paramount, which produces Judge Judy, said Sheindlin also clarifies her view in her book. Sheindlin never has apologized for her comment but addressed the matter on her Judge Judy Web site and during an appearance last month on Larry King's CNN show. Claims She was Misquoted: "It is so irresponsible for people to misquote without a context of what we were talking about," she said on Larry King Live. "My frustration [is] with the ... children who are the innocents and with the victims of crime, because what I said in Australia was that you may give these people free needles and you may give them a free place to shoot up, but nobody is giving them free heroin, and heroin is expensive. ... So these were the people that were going out and robbing and maiming and murdering people." But drug advocates are not satisfied. "Our goal is to get an apology and a retraction," said Paul Cherashore of the Harm Reduction Coalition, who scrapped plans to confront Sheindlin at a recent New York appearance when he learned the event was to promote her new children's book. "It was a horrible thing to say for which there is no justification." Howard Stier is an APBnews.com correspondent in New York.New York (APBnews.com) Published: March 7, 2000〤opyright 2000 APB Multimedia Inc. Related Articles & Web Sites:Dump Judge Judyhttp://www.dumpjudgejudy.com/ Drug Reform Coordination Networkhttp://www.drcnet.org/Harm Reduction Coalitionhttp://www.harmreduction.org/Death Threats For Judge Judy In AIDS Scandalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread3966.shtmlJudge Judy Urged To Retract Statement - DrugSensehttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3912.shtmlThe New Callousness - By Arianna Huffington http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3833.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by Tom Paine on March 10, 2000 at 10:08:58 PT
Many Judge Judy "Let 'em die" LINKS! 
Please forward. Several articles and many links are below.This whole message is online at:http://www.egroups.com/group/hemp-talk/7958.html?The APBNews.com article is also on the web at:http://www.apbnews.com/media/celebnews/2000/03/07/judy0307_01.htmlhttp://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread4995.shtml=====================Judge Judy Sorry...Sort Of. NY Post. LINKS!Judge Judy on drug users: "Let 'em die."Latest New York Post article. Earlier versions of this (with the text of the New York Post article) are on the web at:http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/187.html?http://www.egroups.com/group/hemp-talk/7955.html?http://www.nzdf.org.nz/cgi-bin/forum3.pl*Dump Judge Judy! DRCNet's excellent comprehensive Judge Judy website. Many links and activities. Easy email forms for letter-writing.http://www.dumpjudgejudy.com/*CannabisNews Judge Judy. Search via Google.com for all articles.http://www.google.com/search?q=cannabisnews+judge+judyDRCNet really got the ball rolling PUBLICLY in the Judge Judy campaign. They were weeks ahead of any other organization in strongly and PUBLICLY confronting Judge Judy. They did so in their ezine reports and elsewhere. But what really had the most effect in the Judge Judy campaign (in my opinion) were the sponsors lists that were almost immediately circulated around many email lists and message boards and media addresses by people such as Cliff Schaffer, Kendra E. Wright, and many others. Money talks! Eventually, advertisers started pulling ads from the Judge Judy show. This rattled her cage, and got the attention of more of the media. Weeks after DRCNet's initial ezine calls to arms, and the beginnings of the email list barrage, MAP/DrugSense also started sending out focus alerts calling for PUBLIC action. Months later, DRCNet started a Judge Judy website. This shows the power of the Internet as an alternative news media. Especially the power of email lists when many groups and individuals are moved to help in whatever way they can. A similar thing is happening with the MMM rallies planning worldwide. For the May 6, 2000 worldwide cannabis rallies. There are at least 80 cities involved so far in this effort. Many prominent speakers at many of these rallies.You can see the timeline for some of the Judge Judy activism yourself by looking at the list of links at the end of this email you are reading. In my opinion it is good for analyzing what happened and what worked and when.I think the lesson is that scapegoating works both ways. Or "what goes around, comes around." To bite Judge Judy in the ass. :-)"Judge Judy" on Drug Users and Their Families: "Let 'Em Die." DRCNet ezine article on Judge Judy. The Week Online with DRCNet.Issue #116, 11/19/99 http://www.drcnet.org/wol/116.html#judgejudy*Judge Judy photo. CLICK!:http://homepages.go.com/~marthag1/jjpc.jpg *DRUG WAR NEWS. Open mailing list, & online list archive. http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/fullinfo.htmlIn the middle of this mailing list homepage is the regularly-updated Judge Judy links list. HERE IS THE LATEST LINK COMPILATION FOR JUDGE let-drug-users-die JUDY:http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/16.html? v2. 1st URLs. Australian press text.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/26.html? v3. CBC & DRCNet text. Salon forum.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/29.html? Judge Judy link compilation.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/33.html? Cliff Schaffer resources.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/40.html? Judge Judy's husband.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/55.html? DRCNet. Dec. 6, 1999.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/57.html? National Enquirer article.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/58.html? GLOBE article. Links list.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/61.html? List of sponsors.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/62.html? Herr's Potato Chips pulls ads.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/63.html? REVISED sponsors list.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/67.html? Judge Judy links list. BIG.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/69.html? 2nd MAP focus alert.http://www.egroups.com/group/drug_war_news/73.html? 3 companies pull ads!*First 2 links are versions 2 and 3 of: Judge Judy on drug users: "Let 'em die." The next 2 links are COMPILATIONS of JUDGE JUDY LINKS, PRESS, and RESOURCES from Cliff Schaffer, DRCNet, MAP, CannabisNews.com and others! The links that follow are later info and JUDGE JUDY articles from National Enquirer, Globe, DRCNet, MAP, etc.. Note that higher numbers on the end of the URL denote later articles in the Drug War News archive. There are other Judge Judy links in the list archives, too. For some reason unknown to me, the archives sometimes make some text in messages smaller than others. So, if you are using the MS Internet Explorer browser click "text size" in the view menu to enlarge text as necessary.Also check this out: CLICK! MAP/DrugSense Shortcut to Judge Judy press clippings:http://www.mapinc.org/judy.htmAnd CLICK to see MAP's Sent-LTE (Letters to the Editor sent in, though not necessarily published) digest archives: http://www.mapinc.org/lists/sentlte/index.htm*Dump Judge Judy! DRCNet's excellent comprehensive Judge Judy website. Many links and activities. Easy email forms for letter-writing.http://www.dumpjudgejudy.com/*Then, check out the Martha (of CannabisNews.com) compilation, Judge Judy photo, etc.. Especially the list of links at the end. CLICK!:http://server5.ezboard.com/fdrugpolicytalkdrugpolicyreform.showMessage?topicID=30.topic http://www.cannabisnews.com*CannabisNews Judge Judy. Search via Google.com for all articles.http://www.google.com/search?q=cannabisnews+judge+judy*Judge Judy photo URL. In finger-wagging mode. CLICK! If you paste this cannabinoid.com URL into any of the Cannabis.com message boards the photo will automatically show up.http://www.cannabinoid.com/wwwboard/binaries/messages/7953.jpg
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Comment #2 posted by dddd on March 08, 2000 at 19:29:23 PT
judge judy
Now that we have a "czar"in the drug war,I think "judge judy" would be perfect for the ONDCPs' new position of "Hitler",of the war on drugs.dddd
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Comment #1 posted by observer on March 07, 2000 at 13:54:13 PT
Hate Propaganda
Judge Judy: "Give 'em all dirty needles and let 'em die." " Even if drug law reformers manage to presenttheir research findings to public policy makers,those officials are largely indifferent to factsabout the issue. A senior official in one statefrankly told me that he was simply demagoguingthe issue to get votes. Prosecutors at theNuremberg trials noted a similar attitude amongNazi conspirators, in which they promotedanti-Semitism not because they were concernedabout a Jewish problem but because they feltanti-Semitism would be politically popular.190Drug warriors sneer that talk of drug legalization is trendy, but their claim is rhetoric designed to make fellow warriors feel embattled and thereby whip up support for harsher measures. As an advocate of drug law reform, I give public presentations. In one instance a group of Quakers continually heckled me, their faces twisted like gargoyles as they shouted their hatred. When I noted that the law permitted someone with a marijuana cigarette to be imprisoned for life, one Friend yelled in fury that if such was the law, then it must be enforced -- this from a member of a sect famed for its resistance to inhumane law. Another Friend angrily insisted that if drug users denied they were sick, they should be restrained and forced to undergo psychotherapy until cured -- this from a lesbian who might easily be targeted for similar treatment because of her sexual identity. As I watched an assembly of pacifist social activists congeal into a mob with its anger directed at me, I did not feel I was part of a trendy and popular movement.I did feel I was witnessing a result of years of continual hate propaganda. Without such vilification, the war on drug users would be impossible, because citizens would recoil from persecuting people no different from themselves. Drug war propagandists serve the same function that Nazi propagandists served, a function judged harshly at Nuremberg. "(Richard L Miller, Drug Warriors and their Prey, 1996, pg. 32)http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0275950425/cannabisnews
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