DdC

Dionne Warwick's Charges Dropped in Plea Bargain
Drug charges against Dionne Warwick were dropped Wednesday after a Miami-Dade County judge agreed to a plea bargain deal, which included a drug treatment program.

Indictments of Federal Drug Policy
Rand and American Enterprise Institute Studies -
Although marijuana is a much smaller contributor to crime than heroin or crack, 58 percent of treatment admissions where the primary drug of abuse was marijuana were criminal justice system referrals. By comparison, only 13 percent of heroin treatment admissions and 26 percent of crack admissions were criminal justice system referrals. The likely explanation for the higher marijuana figure is the large number of young individuals who enter treatment programs as part of a plea bargain or pretrial negotiations.

No More Bargaining Away Our Rights
Norm Pattis at Crime & Federalism has a good post today detailing the perils of plea bargaining, which allows defendants to waive their right to a jury trial in exchange for prosecutors seeking a lesser sentence. But, prosecutors routinely abuse the system by using trumped-up charges and threats of decades in prison to coerce defendants into waiving their rights.

2 Stories and Infinite Irony
Courts: Barred From Using Medical Necessity Or State Initiative As Defense,
Two Accused Pot Growers OK Plea Bargain.

Schaeffer: A Neuropsychological Evaluation; A Case History
"...I.Q.'s of Zion Coptics increased after they began to use ganga"

Dr. Heath/Tulane Study, 1974
The Hype: Brain Damage and Dead Monkeys (Jack Herer)

Panama Canal Zone Report, 1925:
"There is no evidence... that any deleterious influence on the individual using [cannabis]"

"I got tired of seeing otherwise innocent young kids from all walks of life getting criminal records for, in effect, doing nothing more than millions of other people in society were doing with alcohol"
Detective Chief Inspector Ron Clarke,
former member of Greater Manchester Police Drugs Squad:

Police officials lied to toughen laws...

"The only solution to the drugs problem is the legalisation of all drugs"
Sergeant Gordon Payne, Southampton Police

"This study indicates that there is little correlation between the use of ganga and crime, except insofar as the possession and cultivation of ganga are technically crimes"
Jamaican Study 1970

"Marijuana is not the determining factor in the commission of major crime....The publicity concerning the catastrophic effect of marijuana smoking in New York City, is unfounded"
The LaGuardia sub-committee of New York 1944

Police officers launch drive against pot decriminalization
Janice Tibbetts Vancouver Sun Monday 28 May 2001
Group cites 'weakening' moral values.
OTTAWA -- Canada's police officers will counter a growing movement to decriminalize marijuana by making a public call today for possession of the "gateway drug" to remain a criminal offence.

Fully Informed Jury Association
Erowid Freedom Vault : Jury Nullification
Trial by jury — Cato Institute

"It is not only his Right but his duty to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment and conscience, though in direct opposition to the direction of the court"
John Adams Second USA President

Canadian Jury nullification

"The jury has the right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy"
Chief Justice John Jay USA

How FIJA Saved My Life! By D. Paul Stanford*
Source: CRRH* December 19, 1999

"The use of marijuana does not lead to morphine or heroin
or cocaine addiction and no effort is made to create a market for these narcotics
by stimulating the practice of marijuana smoking"
The LaGardia sub-committee of New York 1944

Our American Common Law

Juror Dismissed “For Handing Out Constitutional Propaganda”

Marijuana does not lead to physical dependency,
although some evidence indicates that the heavy, long-term users
may develop a psychological dependence on the drug"
The Shafer Commission of 1970

Jurors Tell Ed Rosenthal They're Sorry
Ed Rosenthal Trial Pics/News

"The jury has the right to determine both the law and the facts"
Samuel Chase, US Supreme Court Chief Justice 1796

Juries: Just Say No!

"The Jury has the power to bring a verdict in the teeth of both law and fact"
Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

An Essay on the Trial by Jury — Lysander Spooner

"The law itself is on trial quite as much as the case which is to be decided"
Judge Harlan F. Stone, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1941-1946

Jury rights quotes — Lone Star FIJA

"If we continue as we have for the past 20 years in California,
in the year 2020, everybody in the State will either be in prison or running one"
Judge James Grey, Orange County Superior Court, Santa Ana, CA, at the DPF
Conference, November 1996

Prison Profit and Slave Labor

Slave labor means big bucks for U.S. corporations

The Real Price of Prisons

'Relax Your Muscles as Much as Possible'