Newsbrief: University of Vermont to Pay $15,000 to Students Arrested for Marijuana Advocacy 11/26/04

Drug War Chronicle, recent top items

more...

recent blog posts "In the Trenches" activist feed

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!!!


https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/364 /vermont.shtml

Two University of Vermont students arrested in April at an on-campus "420" rally because they advocated legalizing marijuana will be paid $7,500 each by the university for violating their First Amendment rights, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported. The university agreed to the payments to avoid a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union on the students' behalf.

Over the years, Vermont students gathered on campus at 4:20pm on April 20 (4/20) to rally for marijuana legalization, but in the last three years the university has attempted to squelch the rally by flooding it with police and by scheduling alternative events. Last year, for the first time in years, there was no 420. "Due to the nature of how the event evolved over time, it became our goal to stop this 420 event from taking place," Enrique Corredera, the university's communications director, told the Chronicle.

The rally, which attracted up to a thousand people, had become "one big party," said university police chief Gary Margolis, who viewed the gatherings less as a political event than an excuse for massive law-breaking. "There is a difference between a political rally and an all-out party with purposeful violation of the law," he told the Chronicle.

But Margolis apparently doesn't know what that difference is. When Vermont student Thomas Wheeler organized a revival of the rally this year, five or six hundred students and 20 university police officers showed up. Wheeler and another student, Nikolai Sears, were quickly arrested by university police and charged with disorderly conduct.

Apparently having a firmer grasp of the Constitution than Chief Margolis, local prosecutors dropped the charges, but the university continued its efforts to persecute Wheeler and Sears. A disciplinary hearing found the pair innocent of any charges related to the rally, but suspended Wheeler for a year for an unrelated noise violation.

That attracted the interest of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which threatened to file suit against the university for violating their First Amendment rights. "The students had been unlawfully arrested," Vermont ACLU director Allen Gilbert told the Chronicle. "There should be no university action taken against them."

Wheeler and Sears asked for $15,000 each, a formal apology, and the revocation of Wheeler's suspension, but agreed to split the $15,000 and gave the university the option of either formally apologizing or shortening Wheeler's suspension from one year to one semester. The university chose the latter.

As for Wheeler, he plans to celebrate his return to the halls of academe with another 420 next spring, when his suspension expires. "This one was a good start in revitalizing the tradition," he said. "I got arrested, but later my rights were protected. People will notice this; the seed has been planted." So to speak, of course.

-- END --
Link to Drug War Facts
Please make a generous donation to support Drug War Chronicle in 2007!          

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank you.

Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Issue #364 , 11/26/04

Drug War Chronicle, recent top items

more...

recent blog posts "In the Trenches" activist feed

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!!!

Editorial: Epic and Turbulent Times | DRCNet Event: Rep. Barney Frank to Keynote for Perry Fund Forum/Fundraiser, December 9, 2004, Boston | Seeking Political Traction, Britain's Blair Marches Boldly Backwards on Drug Policy | SSDP Does College Park: Sixth Annual National Conference Shows Off a Maturing Organization | Newsbrief: Pennsylvania "Treatment and Jail" Sentencing Reform Gets Governor's Signature | Newsbrief: Polls Find Canadian Majority Favoring Marijuana Legalization | Newsbrief: More Support for Medical Marijuana from Connecticut Nurses and Texans | Newsbrief: Rep. Souder Busily Fighting the "Good" Fight | Newsbrief: University of Vermont to Pay $15,000 to Students Arrested for Marijuana Advocacy | Newsbrief: Federal Appeals Court Says Police Can Take Hair Samples Whenever They Feel Like It | Newsbrief: Philippine Drug Doc Calls for Marijuana Decriminalization | Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories | This Week in History | Apply Now to Intern At DRCNet! | Criminal Justice Policy Foundation Seeking Executive Secretary or Administrative Assistant | DrugWarMarket.com Seeking Information, Affiliations, Link Exchanges | The Reformer's Calendar


This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
Out from the Shadows HEA Drug Provision Drug War Chronicle Perry Fund DRCNet en Español Speakeasy Blogs About Us Home
Why Legalization? NJ Racial Profiling Archive Subscribe Donate DRCNet em Português Latest News Drug Library Search
special friends links: SSDP - Flex Your Rights - IAL - Drug War Facts

StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet)
1623 Connecticut Ave., NW, 3rd Floor, Washington DC 20009 Phone (202) 293-8340 Fax (202) 293-8344 [email protected]