Thursday, December 23, 2010
Missoula's "marijuana mutiny" reverberates
Posted by Matthew Frank on Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 1:30 PM
Gwen Florio's story in the Missoulian about the so-called "marijuana mutiny" in Missoula County District Court last week has inspired dozens of posts around the web pointing to the near jury-nullification as further indication of an increasingly liberal attitude toward the drug.
The New York Times is the latest to write about the incident, and its story includes this bold statement:
John Masterson, the founder and director of the Montana chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said smoking marijuana “is essentially a mainstream activity” in Missoula.“It’s something that people of all walks of life enjoy responsibly,” Mr. Masterson said.
Other outlets to cover the story include the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Atlantic and Slate.
Allen St. Pierre, director of NORML, says potential jurors nearly nullifiying a case because many of them refused to convict someone for possessing a small amount of marijuana suggests Montanans have rediscovered their right to buck an unjust law.
“Going back to the founding of this country," he tells the Indy, "if [someone is] sitting in judgment of fellow citizens, you as a juror always have the right and responsibility to either convict or not convict them—and not convicting them you can do if the law itself is a bad law, if it doesn’t make any sense."
St. Pierre adds: "It’s demonstrative of the fact—and this is what the governor and the attorney general and many elected politicians...will want to pay attention to with their finger in the wind—that if juries will not convict people of these sorts of charges, it really does bring the entire system to a halt. It speaks to an incredible institutional disconnect where the system says, ‘We can arrest you, we can prosecute you, we can bring you right up to the precipice of being incarcerated, but even though you are guilty of the crime, per se, you are not going to be convicted.’”
The Missoula County Attorney's Office declined to comment on whether it anticipates the "mutiny" affecting future cases.
Comments (5)
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The Missoula County Attorney's Office declined to comment on whether it anticipates the "mutiny" affecting future cases.
As long as police departments continue to get incentives from the Federal Government for quotas on marijuana busts, they will continue to enforce it whether or not they win or lose a few cases.
I am hoping that what was done in that courtroom, will be repeated again and again across this country. That the citizens who take the time out of their lives to be on a jury to feel empowered to stand up and question the real morality behind marijuana prohibition.
Thank you people of Missoula!
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The Fully Informed Jury Association has for many years been headquartered in Helena, Montana and has had an effect all across America, especially here in Montana. Google them to learn the full rights of a juror to judge both the law and the facts in the case according to his/her conscience. It was jury nullification which finally stopped the highly-unconstitutional Prohibition laws of the 1920s/30s - when juries simply refused to convict all over the country, the law was done away with. This is very likely to happen in America as more and more Americans who serve on juries discover the truth of jury power.
Regarding laws against marijuana in general, what lies at the heart of the matter is the question of "who owns your body"? If the government can tell one what one may or may not put into one's body, can that one be truly said to be "free"? And if the Republican neo-cons would use the force of the government to curb or control their good neighbors' behavior, even in private homes, can such Republican politicians truly claim to be "constitutionalists"? I think not.
There is no authority given in the U.S. Constitution for government to own any citizen's body, or control one's food intake or medicine intake. The government has been lying for many decades about marijuana, and I'm glad to see the public at large awakening to that fact and refusing to convict otherwise decent citizens over some silly fear-based law against marijuana consumption. I'm sure Willie Nelson would share my take on this. ;)
Salute!
Elias Alias, Three Forks
Elias, You had me on your side until it became obvious you're just copying the intentionally misleading Democrat line that it's Republicans who are the authors of drug prohibitions. Every federal drug prohibition was crafted by Democrat lead US Congresses. They even overrode a presidential veto to enact the Volstead Acts ban on use of the drug called alcohol. Democrats created the CSA & Nixon signed it into law. Why do Democrats meddle & create drug prohibitions? Because, prohibitions make for bigger big government. Taking away our rights gives them more power over or lives. Republicans have the bad habit of playing 'follow the leader' to get votes & this is what they did when they jumped on the Democrats prohibition bandwagon. But, Republicans also have the habit of suddenly waking up to public opinion when the voters decide they won't obey bad laws. Expect the GOP to flip on cannabis prohibition by 2012. It really angers me that the Democrats create meddling laws that take away our rights & they successfully blame the Republicans for it. It's time the Democrats excepted responsibilty for being two faced oppressors. Democrats always get a pass from their electorate & Republicans never defend themselves. What B.S. Lincoln freed the slaves from Southern democrats who split our nation & fought a very uncivil war to keep blacks enslaved. The GOP passed the 1st Civil Rights laws in 1875. A Democrat packed US Supreme court trashed it to keep blacks oppressed. Visit GOP.org & read the history section. Or, are you too shaky in your belief of the Democrat Party to learn the truth? It's time we took the GOP back to it's Libertarian roots with the Tea Party. Look at how Boxer was the Chairman against prop 19 in California. How Angle was for ending cannabis prohibition & how prohibitionists Harry Reid stole that election to keep our Draconian drug laws in force. Look at all the drug laws Joe Biden crafted that went horribly wrong. Biden created the ONDCP & coined the word 'Drug Czar'. How are Czars Democratic in anyway? Wake up America. The democrats will never end prohibition. it gives them $70 billion tax dollars yearly to squander. It gives them government jobs & the power to oppress us. Like taking our property without due process if a cop plants drugs in your vehicle or home. Don't research these facts if you want to remain a Democrat. Jury nullification rightfully scares Democrat RULERS as this act destroys the cage they have so intricately crafted to keep us oppressed with their drug laws.
Yea, both the Ds and Rs are afraid to end prohibition. If either came out in favor of doing so though, I suspect they'd win.
http://blog.montananorml.org/2010/12/09/wh…
Our Government will never admit they lied about marijuana,and thats what legalizing would amount to.The lawsuit's would be endless.How many people have served hard time for possession of small amount's? How many were well adjusted people until they were thrown in with violent offender's? I had a friend in Spokane that was arrested in the 70's for less than 1/4 ounce,spent 5 year's being sexually assaulted every day!He was a father of four kids. He will never be the same dad again. It's time we the people DEMAND a stop to this insanity!!! Send letter's to every politician in Washington DEMANDING a stop to this insanity! Copy and paste this to every comment board you go to.
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