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Clinton Library releases Kagan papers
The Clinton Library has released a huge volume of writings by Elena Kagan, which are available here for free download.
Blog
DEA + DOJ + FDA = PTSD
I have posted before Anon. No longer.
Blog
10 Things to Talk to the Police About...
10 Things to Talk to the Police About While Being Questioned for a Crime You Didn't Commit While You Wait for Your Lawyer to Show Up
Blog
Marc Emery in Solitary Confinement in American Federal Gulag; Podcast of Prison Phone Call Broke BOP Rules
Canadian "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery hasn't even been formally sentenced yet, but he's already being punished for what he does best: opening his mouth for the cause of marijuana legalization. Emery's wife, Jodie, told Canada's CNews Saturday that Emery is now in solitary confinement for violating prison rules.
According to Jodie Emery, she recorded his calls from prison and played them as a podcast on the couple's Cannabis Culture magazine web site. That violated a prison rule that phone calls can only be made between a prisoner and the intended recipient and cannot be directed to a third party.
Jodie Emery said Marc had read the prison rules and did not think the podcast would be a violation. Now he will spend at least a week in solitary pending a hearing to determine the full extent of his punishment.
Emery, Canada's most famous legalization activist, pleaded guilty May 24 to one count of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, the culmination of a five-year battle between Emery and Canadian and US authorities to extradite and prosecute him for selling pot seeds over the Internet. Two of Emery's employees arrested along with him, Greg Williams and Michelle Rainey, earlier copped pleas and received probationary sentences to be served in Canada.
Emery plowed the profits from his business back into the legalization movement, earning the wrath of drug prohibition establishment in both countries. When Emery was busted in 2005, then DEA administrator Karen Tandy gloated in a press release that it was "a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the US and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement."
Under federal prison rules, Emery is allowed 300 minutes of phone calls a month and he can communicate via email through a closed computer system called CorrLinks, under which he can log onto a computer and compose a message that is read by prison officials before they send it over the Internet. Emery had used CorrLinks to post numerous dispatches from the gulag, but now, he is denied those privileges and could lose them for up to two months.
Emery will remain in the Seattle-area federal detention facility until his formal sentencing September 10. Then he will be transferred to the federal prison at El Reno, Oklahoma, where prison officials will decide where he will be sent to serve his time.
Emery's campaign to avoid extradition has now shifted to a campaign to persuade Canadian authorities to allow him to serve his sentence there, as has typically been the case with Canadians convicted of offenses in the US. But the Conservative government has in recent years begun to refuse to accept Canadians imprisoned on drug charges in the US.
Chronicle
Weekly: This Week in History
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years past.
Chronicle
Marijuana: Legalization Has Majority Support in Washington State, Poll Finds
A signature gathering campaign underway in Washington state to put a marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot should get a boost from a new poll. It uses the same language as the initiative and finds 52% of registered voters say "Legalize it!"
Chronicle
Sentencing: South Carolina Governor Signs Reform Bill, Will End Mandatory Minimums for Some Drug Offenses
You know times are tough when even GOP-dominated legislatures in the Deep South are passing sentencing reform bills. It's not so much bleeding hearts as bleeding wallets.
Chronicle
Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
This week we have three cops whose drug habits got them into trouble. It is Chronicle policy not to include police officers whose only offense is drug possession in this column. Dope-snorting cops may be hypocrites -- depending on whether they personally do drug possession arrests -- but that doesn't make them corrupt. But in all three cases below, officers who used drugs also did something crooked.
Chronicle
Marijuana: Detroit Possession Legalization Initiative Approved
Detroit led the way in approving medical marijuana in Michigan. Now, it's poised to lead the way in legalizing the possession of up to an ounce by adults.
Chronicle
Imprisonment: US Jail Population Declines for the First Time in Decades
For years, the annual Bureau of Justice Statistics jail population report has had the same bottom line: The jail population is up again. Not this year.
Chronicle
Feature: Arizona Medical Marijuana Initiative Will Be on November Ballot
Arizona voters have already approved medical marijuana twice, only to have it taken away by the legislature in 1996 and shot down by bad drafting language in 1998. Now, they have a third shot at it, and organizers say they've gotten everything right.
Chronicle
Feature: Schwarzenegger Trying to Gut California Methadone Funding in Budget Move
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to help balance the budget by cutting out almost all Medi-Cal funding for more than 35,000 methadone maintenance patients. The nicest thing opponents can say about that idea is that it's penny wise but pound foolish, and the legislature seems to agree. But the Governator can still wield the line-item veto, so the fight isn't over yet.
Chronicle
Appeal: 2010 is Important in Drug Policy -- And So Are You
2010 is a critical year in the effort to end prohibition and the war on drugs. The StoptheDrugWar.org (DRCNet) "Changing Minds, Changing Laws, Changing Lives" campaign is asking for you to pitch in -- your support is more important now than it has ever been before!
Chronicle
Marijuana Legalization: California Tax and Regulate Has Eight-Point Lead in Latest Poll, But Still Under 50%
A ballot initiative needs 50% plus one vote to win, and California's "Tax Cannabis" measure isn't there yet. But the latest poll shows it eight points ahead, meaning only one out of five undecided voters needs to go for it to push it over the top.
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