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Why the NRA should support Cannabis Reforms 2
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Why the NRA should support Cannabis Reforms
Part II
Ending cannabis prohibition would save lives, free up tremendous law enforcement resources, and help defend the American Way.
The major point I hoped to make with this 2-part article was that the war on drugs is a trojan horse for dismantaling of the Bill of Rights and I wanted to make that point to people outside the Cannabis Community: little point in preaching to the choir, so to speak.
I chose the NRA because they are generally "outside", though I am sure 1 or 2 of the massive NRA membership secretly sparks up, at least from time to time. They are also the definitive 2nd Amendment advocates. This makes the NRA a perfect group to address.
In Part I I gave a brief overview of how cannabis prohibition is a mechanism for Law Enforcement to cut corners on upholding the constitution.
Since then, several things have occured that have provided clearer context for the argument I am making, and that need to be brought to peoples attention in general.
The RAVE act and Operation TIPS are 2 serious affronts to the 1st and 4th Amendments. I have linked the titles to articles that further explain what is going on.
The RAVE Act creates huge new loopholes to excuse Federal Agency Raids on people's private and business properties. Barbeques where a joint gets smoked, despite puffery from the AG office spokespeople to the contrary, WOULD be "reasonable suspicion" to search. Factor in the TIPS program, where the meter and cable people will be asked to keep an eye on things (you), and you have the makings of a serious affront to the Bill of Rights and property rights.
Oh, and they want to "review" the Posse Comitatus Act to allow the Military to engage in "police functions"
This does not inspire any confidence for me that "Homeland Security" will be managed any better than what we see with the police now and that it won't degenerate into something MOST un-American. I am again arguing that it is in the best interest of 2nd Amendment Supporters to see any weakening of ANY other amendment as unacceptable and to keep abreast of what is going on in the name of cannabis prohibition.
Anyway, on with the show......
The Bill of Rights
Amendment 2
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment 4
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
The Power of a Plant
An American can own a gun and is supposed to be able to not worry about "unwarranted" home invasions by thier Government. Seems pretty simple and clear, doesn't it?
It appears you have the right to own guns until The Plant is involved: that Right is then able to be liquidated. I say this factor is unconstitutional because a law was made that infringes upon the 2nd Amendment. It punishes exercise of the right in the presence of the plant therefore it infringes upon it without anything necesarrily being dierctly stated in writing.
There is no right per se to touch cannabis (other than the guarantees of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.), so the laws against it are not directly unconstitutional. Needless and mean, but constitutional. Using that as reason to undermine the 2nd and to short-circut the 4th amendments IS unconstitutional
The War on Cannabis is characterized by relentless assaults on the Bill of Rights in the form of "Drug Raids" - paramilitary assaults by the police - end in the deaths of civilians, innocent by-standers, children, and police officers themselves. It also shows up in all the Police Department scandals, from Miami to L.A. This is what I mean when I say Law enforcement's priorities are "warped" by the war on drugs.
In researching material for what I had envisioned as a more limited, totally different article, it became clear hundreds of people would still be alive if cannabis was not prohibited, and if that prohibition was not so zealously pursued. It hadn't really dawned on me in that way. Children, the elderly, priests, blacks, mexicans, hippies, gays, even white millionaires, all dead at the hands of Law Enforcement because of drug raids.
While it is true that some drug raids are against people who are outrageous menaces to society, this has absolutley nothing to do with cannabis itself. The legalization of cannabis will aid in improving use of law enforcment resources, as in sorting out those who violate real laws (there really are plenty of them). True criminals are not made because some men enact a law. Conversely, the Plant cannot really be made "illegal" - it is an unnatural contrivance of Men.
I have gathered three separate incidences here which shows some of the issues that are on-going with Law Enforcement that demonstrate the Cannabis Prohibition and the "War on drugs" impairs Law Enforcement judgement, encourages violations of the Bill of Rights, wreckless conduct, and results all to often in mayhem, injuries and deaths. I don't believe these stories got the attention they should have because of this.
Jaqueline Paasch
Ms. Paasch's story, as told in Shot in the Dark is a microcosm of the problem. In it we see common elements:
shaky warrants,
unnecesary use of force - damage, mayhem, trauma.
denials by police,
attempts to "smear" the "suspect-victim" to cast attention away from the police.
Ms. Paasch is alive, but maimed for life.
"The fact that this can happen to me and my family has made me realize that it can happen to anyone. And that's really frightening because the police are the ones you're supposed to count on to protect you."
very brief mainstrem media story
related story: SWAT Reform.
A Tale of 2 Dons
Don Scott and Steven Dons were two different guys who were killed in totally separate incidents in the 1990's by the police for reasons directly related to enforcement of the War against Cannabis. Conversely stated that would read: "If cannabis possession was not illegal neither of these two men would be dead at the hands of Law Enforcement." And neither event ever took up space in the mainstrem media.
Donald Scott
was a millionaire who owned some fabulous California land. Our Federal Government coveted that property dearly. He reportedly "didn't trust" the Government and refused to deal with them. I have read somewhere that he was something of a cannabis activist, but could not find that in print before I completed this article.
(synopsis of incident from FEAR website.)
On October 2, 1992 Malibu California millionaire Donald Scott was shot to death inside his own home, during a raid by Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and agents from five federal law enforcement agencies. The Scotts were awakened by the sound of the police breaking down their door.
Scott's wife, Frances, ran downstairs to find her house swarming with men with guns aimed at her. She screamed "don't shoot me, don't kill me." Donald Scott, recovering from recent cataract surgery, got his gun and ran to the defense of his wife. When he emerged at the top of the stairs, holding his gun over his head, the officers told him to lower the gun. As he did, they shot him to death.
The warrant was for evidence of the cultivation of marijuana, but no illegal activity was discovered at the Scott ranch. The report of the Ventura County District Attorney, Michael Bradbury, concluded that the police lied to obtain the search warrant, that there had never been any marijuana cultivation on the property, and that the raid was motivated by a desire to forfeit the multi-million dollar ranch.
Despite the DA's dramatic conclusions, no officer was ever indicted, or even lightly disciplined for the lies or the killing.
(entire article @ FEAR website: F.E.A.R.
Condenced version of 64 page Bradbury Report)
When the shooting happened NORML tried to get press coverage, to no avail. Why would the murder of a white millionaire by the Federal Government not be newsworthy?
If thats not outrageous enough, the Sheriff Deputy who shot and killed Scott tried to sue the DA who released the report linked above. (Libel Suit Dismissed) That report concludes the shooting of Mr. Scott was essentially justified, despite holding the Deputy responsible. I totally disagree that any portion of the shooting was justified because the ONLY reason they were there was to snatch $5,000,000 worth of property. What do you think?
Steven Dons
was the subject (victim?) of a "knock and talk" operation that resulted from some patently unconstitutional activities on the behalf of Mr. Dons' local Police and Marijuana Task Force, and resulted in ugly tragedies.
News report
Friday, Feb. 6, 1998 OREGON: A Multnomah County grand jury has indicted Steven Douglas Dons on 13 counts of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and assault in a shooting last week that killed a Portland police officer and injured 2 others.
Prosecutors have not presented evidence to the grand jury related to weapons or marijuana plants found in Dons' house, but James McIntyre, a Multnomah senior deputy district attorney said that "the investigation is continuing, and additional charges probably will be presented later on."
Investigators are looking into Dons' background to see whether he can be charged as a felon in possession of a firearm; in addition, a grenade launcher found at the scene could lead to federal charges. Investigators will ask for help from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Dons, 37, is scheduled to be arraigned today, probably in the hospital. He is being held in a locked and guarded facility, and he remains in fair condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman. McIntyre said prosecutors would press the case against Dons as a death penalty case, but that won't become an issue unless Dons is convicted.
********
(Source: Death Penalty News)
13 counts of aggravated murder? I see where he is alleged to have killed only 1 person. Looking for all the charges they can find because it won't become a death penalty case until he is convicted? What about the pot they had alleged was being burnt providing them with "probable cause" for thier "dynamic entry? in the first place"? Why is there no more mention of the Plant?
Dons never saw court. He was dead 19 days after that report. Note the reference to being held in a "locked and guarded facility where he remains in fair condition" above as you read the following:
On January 27, 1998, officers of the Marijuana Task Force, Portland, Oregon Police Department, broke down 37 year-old Steven Dons' door on a tip from a Confidential, Reliable Informant (CRI) that Dons had a marijuana growing operation going on inside his home. Dons met their assault with a hail of gunfire, killing 44 year-old Officer Colleen Waibel instantly. Officer Kim Keist was seriously injured and another male officer, James Hudson, was also wounded in the exchange. Dons was partially paralyzed from a gunshot wound to the chest.
On February 25, 1998, Dons is said to have committed suicide in his cell. According to reports, Dons fastened a ligature around his neck, tied the end to the bed frame above his head, and then used the lift mechanism of the bed to strangle himself to death. Toothpaste had been smeared over the lens of the ceiling surveillance camera in his cell, something Dons would have been physically incapable of doing in his paralyzed condition, but suicide is the "official" finding to date.
(Source: Police Gone Bad
see also "suspicious suicide")
I had remembered initial news accounts of the Dons Raid and remembered Dons portrayed as some sort of career criminal, probably because of reports like the one cited above. However, in researching this story I could find little evidence of Dons being a menace to anybody. He did own a lot of guns and a grenade launcher, but thats all legal ( I guess the grenade launcher isnt, but he wasnt being raided for it, was he? even in the first report they only reportedthe possiblity of Federal Charges. Wouldn't that be ironic? can have a grenade launcher, but not the plant.).
Even if Dons was no saint, which is entirely beside the point, the officer who died did so because of by-passing established procedures. Rules are made for our protection, I am often told: the MTF violated those rules and police officers died. And other police officers killed Dons. Everybody seemed to have forgotten about the marijuana on his property, that their raid was illegal from the word go, they got away with it.
All the egregious counts listed in the News report were simply that: charges. If we are truly innocent until proven guilty, then I believe Mr. Dons was smeared by Law enforcement to hide their egregious illegal and unconstitutional conduct, and to make people not care that he died.
Had Dons lived to see court, the outrageous procedural violations were sure to get a number issues tossed right out, and the Police Department was liable for criminal conduct in a way that makes me nauseous to even contemplate. But he is dead and smeared as a criminal and no cops have been indicted. He wouldnt be dead and labeled a criminal if cannabis wasnt illegal. His right to own those guns would not have been called into question or converted into trumped up felony charges because of the presence of the Plant.
I found no subsequent claims that he was a terrorist, or criminal above and beyond cannabis growing, or nut-job: nothing. And I would think they would have been glad to make it available had the evidence been there. He has been left to be covered by sediment.
Summary and Conclusion
Both Scott and Dons pulled guns they legally owned on intruders exploding into thier homes and were well within their rights as specified in 2nd and 4th amendments to bear arms and be secure in their homes from warrantless searches. Those rights were liquidated because of allegations of the presence of the Plant and they are both wrongfully dead men.
This places both these cases, as well as the Rainbow Farm Slayings (The most recent marijuana lynching known, 2 more non-threatening men shot to death because cannbis is illegal. link below), in the "Waco-Ruby Ridge" category. Rules are made for our protection and what starts off illegally has little hope of ending legally, would seem to be the lessons.
How can an apparatus as corrupt and contemptuous of the Bill of Rights be expected to properly and effectively provide "homeland security"? This is where I think the handgun issue will come into sharp focus as there will be attempts to present this as a safety measure for the "troops". And this is why I think its good to become versed and stay abreast in what transpires in the enforcement of cannabis prohibition and the war on drugs, lest handgun prohibition become the same industry drug prohibiton is.
xxdr_zombiexx
REFERENCE LINKS
1 : Victims of the Drug War
2 : Government Raid Victims
3 : Criminal Injustice
4 : Rainbow Farm
5 : The Oregonian
6 : WWeek
7 : Death Penalty News
8 : Oregonlive.com
9 : NORML report about Steven Dons Incident
10 : Peter McWilliams Mapinc story" http://my.marijuana.com/article.php?sid=4014&mode=nested&order=0&thold=-1
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Part II
Ending cannabis prohibition would save lives, free up tremendous law enforcement resources, and help defend the American Way.
The major point I hoped to make with this 2-part article was that the war on drugs is a trojan horse for dismantaling of the Bill of Rights and I wanted to make that point to people outside the Cannabis Community: little point in preaching to the choir, so to speak.
I chose the NRA because they are generally "outside", though I am sure 1 or 2 of the massive NRA membership secretly sparks up, at least from time to time. They are also the definitive 2nd Amendment advocates. This makes the NRA a perfect group to address.
In Part I I gave a brief overview of how cannabis prohibition is a mechanism for Law Enforcement to cut corners on upholding the constitution.
Since then, several things have occured that have provided clearer context for the argument I am making, and that need to be brought to peoples attention in general.
The RAVE act and Operation TIPS are 2 serious affronts to the 1st and 4th Amendments. I have linked the titles to articles that further explain what is going on.
The RAVE Act creates huge new loopholes to excuse Federal Agency Raids on people's private and business properties. Barbeques where a joint gets smoked, despite puffery from the AG office spokespeople to the contrary, WOULD be "reasonable suspicion" to search. Factor in the TIPS program, where the meter and cable people will be asked to keep an eye on things (you), and you have the makings of a serious affront to the Bill of Rights and property rights.
Oh, and they want to "review" the Posse Comitatus Act to allow the Military to engage in "police functions"
This does not inspire any confidence for me that "Homeland Security" will be managed any better than what we see with the police now and that it won't degenerate into something MOST un-American. I am again arguing that it is in the best interest of 2nd Amendment Supporters to see any weakening of ANY other amendment as unacceptable and to keep abreast of what is going on in the name of cannabis prohibition.
Anyway, on with the show......
The Bill of Rights
Amendment 2
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment 4
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
The Power of a Plant
An American can own a gun and is supposed to be able to not worry about "unwarranted" home invasions by thier Government. Seems pretty simple and clear, doesn't it?
It appears you have the right to own guns until The Plant is involved: that Right is then able to be liquidated. I say this factor is unconstitutional because a law was made that infringes upon the 2nd Amendment. It punishes exercise of the right in the presence of the plant therefore it infringes upon it without anything necesarrily being dierctly stated in writing.
There is no right per se to touch cannabis (other than the guarantees of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.), so the laws against it are not directly unconstitutional. Needless and mean, but constitutional. Using that as reason to undermine the 2nd and to short-circut the 4th amendments IS unconstitutional
The War on Cannabis is characterized by relentless assaults on the Bill of Rights in the form of "Drug Raids" - paramilitary assaults by the police - end in the deaths of civilians, innocent by-standers, children, and police officers themselves. It also shows up in all the Police Department scandals, from Miami to L.A. This is what I mean when I say Law enforcement's priorities are "warped" by the war on drugs.
In researching material for what I had envisioned as a more limited, totally different article, it became clear hundreds of people would still be alive if cannabis was not prohibited, and if that prohibition was not so zealously pursued. It hadn't really dawned on me in that way. Children, the elderly, priests, blacks, mexicans, hippies, gays, even white millionaires, all dead at the hands of Law Enforcement because of drug raids.
While it is true that some drug raids are against people who are outrageous menaces to society, this has absolutley nothing to do with cannabis itself. The legalization of cannabis will aid in improving use of law enforcment resources, as in sorting out those who violate real laws (there really are plenty of them). True criminals are not made because some men enact a law. Conversely, the Plant cannot really be made "illegal" - it is an unnatural contrivance of Men.
I have gathered three separate incidences here which shows some of the issues that are on-going with Law Enforcement that demonstrate the Cannabis Prohibition and the "War on drugs" impairs Law Enforcement judgement, encourages violations of the Bill of Rights, wreckless conduct, and results all to often in mayhem, injuries and deaths. I don't believe these stories got the attention they should have because of this.
Jaqueline Paasch
Ms. Paasch's story, as told in Shot in the Dark is a microcosm of the problem. In it we see common elements:
shaky warrants,
unnecesary use of force - damage, mayhem, trauma.
denials by police,
attempts to "smear" the "suspect-victim" to cast attention away from the police.
Ms. Paasch is alive, but maimed for life.
"The fact that this can happen to me and my family has made me realize that it can happen to anyone. And that's really frightening because the police are the ones you're supposed to count on to protect you."
very brief mainstrem media story
related story: SWAT Reform.
A Tale of 2 Dons
Don Scott and Steven Dons were two different guys who were killed in totally separate incidents in the 1990's by the police for reasons directly related to enforcement of the War against Cannabis. Conversely stated that would read: "If cannabis possession was not illegal neither of these two men would be dead at the hands of Law Enforcement." And neither event ever took up space in the mainstrem media.
Donald Scott
was a millionaire who owned some fabulous California land. Our Federal Government coveted that property dearly. He reportedly "didn't trust" the Government and refused to deal with them. I have read somewhere that he was something of a cannabis activist, but could not find that in print before I completed this article.
(synopsis of incident from FEAR website.)
On October 2, 1992 Malibu California millionaire Donald Scott was shot to death inside his own home, during a raid by Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and agents from five federal law enforcement agencies. The Scotts were awakened by the sound of the police breaking down their door.
Scott's wife, Frances, ran downstairs to find her house swarming with men with guns aimed at her. She screamed "don't shoot me, don't kill me." Donald Scott, recovering from recent cataract surgery, got his gun and ran to the defense of his wife. When he emerged at the top of the stairs, holding his gun over his head, the officers told him to lower the gun. As he did, they shot him to death.
The warrant was for evidence of the cultivation of marijuana, but no illegal activity was discovered at the Scott ranch. The report of the Ventura County District Attorney, Michael Bradbury, concluded that the police lied to obtain the search warrant, that there had never been any marijuana cultivation on the property, and that the raid was motivated by a desire to forfeit the multi-million dollar ranch.
Despite the DA's dramatic conclusions, no officer was ever indicted, or even lightly disciplined for the lies or the killing.
(entire article @ FEAR website: F.E.A.R.
Condenced version of 64 page Bradbury Report)
When the shooting happened NORML tried to get press coverage, to no avail. Why would the murder of a white millionaire by the Federal Government not be newsworthy?
If thats not outrageous enough, the Sheriff Deputy who shot and killed Scott tried to sue the DA who released the report linked above. (Libel Suit Dismissed) That report concludes the shooting of Mr. Scott was essentially justified, despite holding the Deputy responsible. I totally disagree that any portion of the shooting was justified because the ONLY reason they were there was to snatch $5,000,000 worth of property. What do you think?
Steven Dons
was the subject (victim?) of a "knock and talk" operation that resulted from some patently unconstitutional activities on the behalf of Mr. Dons' local Police and Marijuana Task Force, and resulted in ugly tragedies.
News report
Friday, Feb. 6, 1998 OREGON: A Multnomah County grand jury has indicted Steven Douglas Dons on 13 counts of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and assault in a shooting last week that killed a Portland police officer and injured 2 others.
Prosecutors have not presented evidence to the grand jury related to weapons or marijuana plants found in Dons' house, but James McIntyre, a Multnomah senior deputy district attorney said that "the investigation is continuing, and additional charges probably will be presented later on."
Investigators are looking into Dons' background to see whether he can be charged as a felon in possession of a firearm; in addition, a grenade launcher found at the scene could lead to federal charges. Investigators will ask for help from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Dons, 37, is scheduled to be arraigned today, probably in the hospital. He is being held in a locked and guarded facility, and he remains in fair condition, according to a hospital spokeswoman. McIntyre said prosecutors would press the case against Dons as a death penalty case, but that won't become an issue unless Dons is convicted.
********
(Source: Death Penalty News)
13 counts of aggravated murder? I see where he is alleged to have killed only 1 person. Looking for all the charges they can find because it won't become a death penalty case until he is convicted? What about the pot they had alleged was being burnt providing them with "probable cause" for thier "dynamic entry? in the first place"? Why is there no more mention of the Plant?
Dons never saw court. He was dead 19 days after that report. Note the reference to being held in a "locked and guarded facility where he remains in fair condition" above as you read the following:
On January 27, 1998, officers of the Marijuana Task Force, Portland, Oregon Police Department, broke down 37 year-old Steven Dons' door on a tip from a Confidential, Reliable Informant (CRI) that Dons had a marijuana growing operation going on inside his home. Dons met their assault with a hail of gunfire, killing 44 year-old Officer Colleen Waibel instantly. Officer Kim Keist was seriously injured and another male officer, James Hudson, was also wounded in the exchange. Dons was partially paralyzed from a gunshot wound to the chest.
On February 25, 1998, Dons is said to have committed suicide in his cell. According to reports, Dons fastened a ligature around his neck, tied the end to the bed frame above his head, and then used the lift mechanism of the bed to strangle himself to death. Toothpaste had been smeared over the lens of the ceiling surveillance camera in his cell, something Dons would have been physically incapable of doing in his paralyzed condition, but suicide is the "official" finding to date.
(Source: Police Gone Bad
see also "suspicious suicide")
I had remembered initial news accounts of the Dons Raid and remembered Dons portrayed as some sort of career criminal, probably because of reports like the one cited above. However, in researching this story I could find little evidence of Dons being a menace to anybody. He did own a lot of guns and a grenade launcher, but thats all legal ( I guess the grenade launcher isnt, but he wasnt being raided for it, was he? even in the first report they only reportedthe possiblity of Federal Charges. Wouldn't that be ironic? can have a grenade launcher, but not the plant.).
Even if Dons was no saint, which is entirely beside the point, the officer who died did so because of by-passing established procedures. Rules are made for our protection, I am often told: the MTF violated those rules and police officers died. And other police officers killed Dons. Everybody seemed to have forgotten about the marijuana on his property, that their raid was illegal from the word go, they got away with it.
All the egregious counts listed in the News report were simply that: charges. If we are truly innocent until proven guilty, then I believe Mr. Dons was smeared by Law enforcement to hide their egregious illegal and unconstitutional conduct, and to make people not care that he died.
Had Dons lived to see court, the outrageous procedural violations were sure to get a number issues tossed right out, and the Police Department was liable for criminal conduct in a way that makes me nauseous to even contemplate. But he is dead and smeared as a criminal and no cops have been indicted. He wouldnt be dead and labeled a criminal if cannabis wasnt illegal. His right to own those guns would not have been called into question or converted into trumped up felony charges because of the presence of the Plant.
I found no subsequent claims that he was a terrorist, or criminal above and beyond cannabis growing, or nut-job: nothing. And I would think they would have been glad to make it available had the evidence been there. He has been left to be covered by sediment.
Summary and Conclusion
Both Scott and Dons pulled guns they legally owned on intruders exploding into thier homes and were well within their rights as specified in 2nd and 4th amendments to bear arms and be secure in their homes from warrantless searches. Those rights were liquidated because of allegations of the presence of the Plant and they are both wrongfully dead men.
This places both these cases, as well as the Rainbow Farm Slayings (The most recent marijuana lynching known, 2 more non-threatening men shot to death because cannbis is illegal. link below), in the "Waco-Ruby Ridge" category. Rules are made for our protection and what starts off illegally has little hope of ending legally, would seem to be the lessons.
How can an apparatus as corrupt and contemptuous of the Bill of Rights be expected to properly and effectively provide "homeland security"? This is where I think the handgun issue will come into sharp focus as there will be attempts to present this as a safety measure for the "troops". And this is why I think its good to become versed and stay abreast in what transpires in the enforcement of cannabis prohibition and the war on drugs, lest handgun prohibition become the same industry drug prohibiton is.
xxdr_zombiexx
REFERENCE LINKS
1 : Victims of the Drug War
2 : Government Raid Victims
3 : Criminal Injustice
4 : Rainbow Farm
5 : The Oregonian
6 : WWeek
7 : Death Penalty News
8 : Oregonlive.com
9 : NORML report about Steven Dons Incident
10 : Peter McWilliams Mapinc story" http://my.marijuana.com/article.php?sid=4014&mode=nested&order=0&thold=-1
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
By CLAIR JOHNSON
Billings Gazette Staff
The U.S. Marshals Service gave more than $65,000 to local law enforcement agencies Thursday in return for their help with criminal drug investigations.
Marshal Dwight MacKay said the asset forfeiture and tracking program is an example of how the federal government works with state and local agencies to fight crime.
The presentations were held in the lobby outside MacKay's office in the James F. Battin Courthouse in Billings. Officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation, the two agencies that do the majority of the asset seizures in Montana, passed out the checks.
Barry Lucero, resident agent in charge of the DEA, gave a $4,543 check to the Montana Highway Patrol for its help with a methamphetamine case in Roundup. The patrol helped in seizing a total of $5,750 and received the full 80 percent available to share after expenses from the forfeiture.
He also presented checks of $19,943 each to Billings Police Sgt. Scott Forshee and to Yellowstone County Undersheriff Jay Bell. Lucero said the agencies were an integral part of an investigation involving meth labs and the seizure of $50,000.
Dan Vierthaler, FBI supervisory agent, said that about a year ago, the Eastern Montana Drug Task Force joined the agency in a drugs and guns investigation on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation that resulted in seven defendants all pleading guilty to charges.
Chip Burrus, FBI special agent in charge of the Salt Lake City Division, presented a check for $21,358 to Rosebud County Sheriff Tim Fulton, who is on the task force. The task force, which represents nine counties and two cities, requested and received half of the $42,920 seized in the case.
Fulton said the money will be go back into more drug investigations and will be used for drug buys, equipment and other expenses.
Forshee said the Police Department's check, along with the county's, will go to support a joint special investigations unit. Forshee said the unit needs about $100,000 year to pay for drug buys, supplies and equipment.
MacKay said that in the past 19 months, the marshal's office has seized 69 assets totaling more than $3.5 million and has made similar payments to other local law enforcement agencies in the state.
When local agencies help in arrests or cases, they may request a share of the money up to 80 percent of the cash value of the asset. Sometimes they can request the actual asset, like a vehicle, for official use. The percentage is based on participation in the case. The remaining 20 percent is used by the Department of Justice to run the asset forfeiture program.
http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2002/07/27/build/safety/drugloot.php?nnn=5
Saturday, July 27, 2002
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878