Now They're Coming For The 1st? California man faces 13 years in jail for scribbling anti-bank messages in chalk Jeff Olson, the 40-year-old man who is being prosecuted for scrawling anti-megabank messages on sidewalks in water-soluble chalk last year now faces a 13-year jail sentence. A judge has barred his attorney from mentioning freedom of speech during trial. Amendment I or abridging the freedom of speech, Gag Order Fight Draws First-Amendment Expert to Rosenthal Defense If convicted of all counts, Mr. Rosenthal faces penalties of anywhere from ten years to life imprisonment, as well as asset forfeiture and up to $6,500,000 in fines. The defense will respond to the judge's request in court tomorrow, but given Mr. Rosenthal's more than 30 years of First-Amendment activism as a writer and publisher, it is highly unlikely that he will muzzle himself. Failing a voluntary agreement from him, the prosecution is to present to the judge a written sample of the sort of order they want him to impose. Medical marijuana law no defense in federal court, prosecutor in Grand Rapids says as far as federal prosecutors are concerned. The government, in a case where at least one of the four defendants claims to have grown marijuana for medicinal purposes, filed an 18-page motion to prohibit defense attorneys from suggesting marijuana has medicinal value, arguing that defendants believed their conduct to be lawful, or that they acted on advice of legal counsel. The government also wants to preclude testimony, evidence or questions that could lead to “jury nullification,” in which jurors acquit based on compassion or compromise. Ed Rosenthal Convicted of Following State Law, Helping Sick People Ed Rosenthal was convicted after U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer prohibited the marijuana activist's lawyers from telling the jury he was working for a pot club sanctioned by Oakland government officials. [Star-Telegram] Charlie Lynch Sentenced to Jail for Medical Marijuana Today, Charlie Lynch was sentenced to one year and one day in jail for operating a medical marijuana clinic that was legal under California state law. U.S. District Court Judge George Wu declined to impose the 5-year mandatory minimum that federal prosecutors deemed appropriate and I've been informed that the U.S. attorney was visibly upset with this outcome. FREE EDDY LEPP In addition to the 10-year sentence, Lepp will be under supervised release for five more years. He must turn himself in by July 6. The plants were for patients who had a right to use marijuana with their doctors' approval under California law. Lepp also said that he was a Rastafarian minister, for whom marijuana is a sacrament, and that he was growing the plants for 2,500 members of his church who were sharecroppers. Sister Somaya Kambui On Friday, Sickle Cell disease patient/activist Sister Somaya's court-appointed attorney had just begun his closing argument. On Monday, March 18, 2002, Sister Somaya Kambui was found "not guilty" of all charges in the Los Angeles County Court. This is a big win for medical marijuana proponents in many ways. She was facing 5 felony counts: 1) Cultivation of marijuana, 2) Possession of marijuana for sale, 3) Manufacturing a controlled substance (hash oil, based on trace amounts of THC found in her hand-pressed hempseed oil), 4) Maintaining a place for distribution of a controlled substance, and 5) Sale or transportation of marijuana. If she had been found not guilty of these charges, the jury could still have convicted her of the lesser misdemeanor offenses of possession of concentrated cannabis or possession of over an ounce of marijuana. Fifteen times, the forewoman repeated the words, "Not guilty." Sister Somaya was acquitted on all counts. Jury Nullification U.S. Attorney Said Montana Medical Pot Growers Wouldn't Be Prosecuted -- Now They're Facing Life in Prison They want to ██████ the Internet Internet Free Speech Goes on Trial Meth Bill/Free Speech by Richard Lake Making War On Free Speech! S. 486/H.R. 2987 Passes Bill Would Outlaw Internet Drug Information Censorship is also abridging our Free Speech in us not getting the truth. Or when the government lies, covers up and sabotages legislation. The Hype: Brain Damage in Dead Monkeys Cannabis Shrinks Tumors: Government Knew in 74 Cover-Ups, Prevarications, Subversions & Sabotage Calvina Fay Prohibition Inc. Bong Hits 4 Jesus When it comes to Bong Hits 4 Jesus, here's some Advice 4 Dummies: If the phrase poses such a threat to the health and future of any teenager exposed to it, then stop making a federal case out of it. Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ Case To U.S. Supreme Court? CN Source: Associated Press August 30, 2006 Juneau, Alaska Former Whitewater special counsel Kenneth Starr petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Alaska’s “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case, a dispute involving a high school student, a banner and a tough school policy. The following activities could be banned: • Writing a paper on the history of drug prohibition. • Debating marijuana legalization on a debate team. • Questioning the school’s drug testing policy. • Anything that could be construed as promoting illegal drugs. The Supreme Court tightened limits on student speech Monday, ruling against a high school student and his 14-foot-long "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner. "The message on Frederick's banner is cryptic," Roberts said. "But Principal Morse thought the banner would be interpreted by those viewing it as promoting illegal drug use, and that interpretation is plainly a reasonable one." Stevens, Souter and Ginsburg dissented: Karma... Bong Hit for Jesus + $45,000November 10, 2008 Remember when Joseph Frederick lost his famous Bong Hits 4 Jesus case in the Supreme Court? Well, there were a few extra issues lying around that didn't get included in the first case (having to do with the school violating his free speech rights under the Alaska Constitution), and Frederick eked out a victory. The district will pay Frederick $45,000. In exchange Frederick will drop remaining claims not heard by the U.S. Supreme Court [...] The settlement also calls for the district to spend as much as $5,000 to hire a neutral constitutional law expert to chair a forum on student speech at JDHS. This is to be done before this school year ends next spring. "Not only are we here to protect the public from vicious criminals in the street but also to protect the public from harmful ideas." Robert Ingersoll, then Director of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, in a column by Jack Anderson in the Washington Post, June 24, 1972, p. 31 (Ingersoll became the first director of the DEA in 1974) Clinton Asks Supreme Court To Overturn MMJ Ruling By Bob Egelko CN Source: San Francisco Examiner July 29, 2000 The Clinton administration wants the Supreme Court to overturn an appellate ruling that would make medical marijuana available to seriously ill patients in Oakland, saying the ruling would flout the will of Congress and undermine federal drug laws. Drug Warriors Try to Censor their Opponents Banned in Boston - Reason Magazine House of Reps. Approves Bill To Censor Americans The Motion Picture Association of America agreed to ban any mention or reference to marijuana and all public schools were forbidden to discuss the issue. Court Rejects DEA Press To Censor Doctors The Drug War: Suppression Tactics Will Never Work From the very beginning, official exaggerations hold an honored place in the government mendacity hall-of-fame. During the Nixon administration when the program first needed a worthwhile enemy, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs decided that for every known addict there were four unknown and, a year later, seven unknown, causing the ``official'' number of addicts to rise from 68,088 to 559,000 in only two years. The previous policy simply endorsed additional research into its effectiveness and safety of medical marijuana use. The proposal to support some use of medical marijuana was put forth by the AMA's Council on Scientific Affairs. Dr. Melvin Sterling, a member of the council from Orange, Calif., told a committee Monday, "This report is about the relief of suffering; it's not about getting high." But others testified they were concerned that the AMA's endorsement would have led to more widespread use of medical marijuana than the proposal intended. AMA Calls For Ending Nixon's Lie? Soma and the Wootton Report druglibrary In 1967 my organization Soma published a full paged advertisement in The Times which called for reform of the law on cannabis. "Restriction on free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us." -- William O. Douglas Amendment I or of the press; Freedom of the Press Foundation The Corporate Muzzle The inbedwith dis-infotainment: Gaza to Iraq Amendment I or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, Missouri music fest founder goes to jail for other people's marijuana and drug use The St. Louis Riverfront Times cover story this week tells the horrible and frightening tale of Schwagstock founder and Grateful Dead cover band musician Jimmy Tebeau, who was sentenced to federal prison not for any drugs he bought, used or sold - but for the drug usage of the people who attended his festival. The law was originally written to go after scum landlords who rent out to crack dealers, they point out. United Nations Drug Report Disappointing XTC v Meth! The Rave Act stops NORML benefit concert Well, you may or have not heard by now but the Rave Act has hit very close to home. On the 30th of May the Billings chapter of Montana NORML/SSDP had organized a highly publicized and expensive benefit concert featuring a number of local acts, the proceeds from which would have gone to help the medical marijuana campaign in Montana in 2004. Unfortunately, not only did my probation officer arrest me the day before, but the DEA came and shut things down the day of. The reason being of course that due to the RAVE Act anyone caught on the premisis with marijuana would automatically subjects our generous venue to a fine of $250,000. Rainbow Farm Massacre "Rainbow Farm was the conduit for people interested in marijuana law reform," Schmid says. "The best petitioners I met, I met through Rainbow Farm." officially warning him that if he permitted drug use on his land, the property could be seized by the county as a public nuisance. Marijuana Advocates Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm Sensed the Government Was Out To Get Them. And Then They Were Dead. Was Rainbow Farm Another Waco? Marc Emery in Solitary Confinement in US Prison A Drug Warmongers Toll on Americans The US Drug Enforcement Administration admitted on the day of Marc Emery's arrest that his investigation and extradition were politically motivated, designed to target the Marijuana Legalization organization that Emery spearheaded and ran for over a decade in Canada. Amendment I and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. Oh Gilligan! White House responds to more petitions Cops Raid Home of Idaho Marijuana Activists; Seize Child Conservative Addiction Good, Liberal Addiction Bad! "Pot laws are racist," he says. "They're used to provide an excuse to arrest blacks, and take away their vote, because, in the U.S., once you've been convicted of a felony, you can't vote. Using the drug war to keep blacks from voting Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; Court-Upholds-10-year-Term-Eddy-Lepp-Case Federal law strictly bans marijuana, however, even in states that allow its medical use. The appeals court upheld Patel's refusal to allow Lepp to invoke his religion as a defense to the charges, saying his prosecution served the government's "compelling interest in preventing diversion of sacramental marijuana to non-religious users." Roger Christie In 2000, he founded the THC Ministry, which offered cannabis as a part of its services. On July 8, 2010, Christie and 13 other individuals associated with the THC Ministry were indicted by a Federal grand jury in Honolulu on Marijuana possession and trafficking charges. He is now being held in the Honolulu Federal Detention Center awaiting trial Rastafarians and Ganja Ethiopian Zion Coptic Ancient Temple Hashish Incense! Did Jesus Inhale? Freedom of Religion Cannabis Religion Erowid Vault Cannabis Religion Links THE PSYCHEDELICS AND RELIGION Do Drugs Have Religious Import? On Indications of the Hachish-Vice in the OT WTF were they thinking... Both SWAT and DARE were founded by Daryl Gates "Casual drug users should be taken out and shot." -- DAREyl SWAT Gates, LAPDog Perversions. The Murder of Peter McWilliams White Plume Hemp Crop Destroyed Again The Ganjawar Comes to the The Rez Food Stamps Become a Weapon in the War on Drugs Closing Ranks on MAPA/Secret Searches Bill Passes Legislation Introduced to Overturn DC Initiative Five Reasons Cops Want to Legalize Marijuana Joe McNamara Prohibition Inc. Lobbyists Are Getting Rich Off of WoD Please Don’t Forget About The Pot POWs "The oppressed should rebel, and they will continue to rebel and raise disturbance until their civil rights are fully restored to them and all partial distinctions, exclusions and incapacitations are removed." Thomas Jefferson, 1776 :afro::daisy::2thumbsup::love::bobby::sunny::sultan::mickey::devil::biker:
I think more people would read what you have to say if you stick to one topic at a time. This post looks like a giant cluster fuck. Also, there is already a thread about the first topic.
