Julian
Heicklen:
Penn
State
Protest
Update
5/3/98
Penn State Professor Emeritus Julian Heicklen, in the fourth month of a weekly civil disobedience campaign in which he and a group of supporters smoke marijuana in front of the University gates each Thursday afternoon, was arrested on April 20 for failing to appear at his arraignment on charges of marijuana possession from the Feb. 12 demonstration. Heicklen had earlier announced that he would not attend the Arraignment because he was not indicted by a grand jury, as specified in the Fifth Amendment for a "...capital or otherwise infamous crime..." Pennsylvania abolished the Grand Jury procedure for most crimes in the 1970's. Heicklen was arrested by two Centre County Deputy Sheriffs and taken directly to the county prison and held overnight. The next day, Prof. Heicklen, wearing a prison uniform, handcuffs and leg shackles, was taken to his arraignment before Judge Charles Brown Jr., Presiding Judge of the Centre County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Brown ignored Heicklen's demand for a Grand Jury and proceeded with the arraignment. Heicklen refused to participate and would not sign the arraignment plea form that was presented to him. Heicklen was taken back to the prison, where he was released at 2:50pm. At the April 23 rally, Heicklen said that he would continue to fight for a Grand Jury proceeding, taking it to the US Supreme Court if necessary. Commenting on his first night in jail since the civil disobedience campaign began, he said, "I wish to thank the citizens of Centre County for their hospitality on April 20, 1998. I was provided free room, board, health club, around-the-clock police protection and the opportunity to see some old friends and make some new ones..." Prof. Heicklen also announced that Prof. Lynn Zimmer and Dr. John Morgan, authors of MARIJUANA MYTHS, MARIJUANA FACTS: A REVIEW OF THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE, have agreed to testify as expert witnesses at his trial. Zimmer and Morgan were at Penn State on April 7 where they talked about the flawed studies and drug war propaganda that are the basis of the war on marijuana. Prof. Zimmer said that the sanctions against marijuana are increasing and that there is "...good reason to be involved in trying to turn this thing around." Heicklen also said that he had recently addressed 300 students at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where organizational plans and legal help are being prepared for a similar civil disobedience campaign that will start in the fall. Heicklen is willing to help activists anywhere in the country and can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected] "It's now appropriate to take this to all the counties in the state... ultimately as we win in the counties the Federal Government has to decide what to do. They'll have to come after us and we'll do the same thing with the Federal Courts. Slowly as more of these things go on, people will give up fighting it." Professor Heicklen warns his supporters not to expect quick results and that the process may take a number of years, but he also says he's in this for the long haul. "I'm retired. I've got nothing else to do." At the April 30 rally, Heicklen said that he has now been charged with a total of four counts of possession for marijuana confiscated on February 12, March 19, March 26 and April 2. Although he continues to smoke every Thursday, the police have not been there to witness it since the April 2 rally. On April 9 they showed up at the end to clear the protest away from a restaurant entrance, where the rally had moved for shelter from the rain, but for the last three weeks the police have been conspicuously absent. At this week's demonstration, Heicklen received the support of Ken Krawchuk, the Pennsylvania Libertarian gubernatorial nominee, who said he would grant pardons to all those convicted of drug offenses and other victimless crimes and return seized assets if he wins the November race.
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