Will Foster is Back in Prison in Oklahoma and Needs Your Help
Will Foster’s nightmarish saga continues. Foster, you may recall, is the medical marijuana patient who was sentenced to 93 years in prison for growing a few plants in 1997. Thanks in no small part to a publicity campaign by Stopthedrugwar.org, Foster’s sentence was eventually reduced to 20 years, and he was paroled to California.
After three years on parole, California officials decided Foster no longer needed supervision, but Oklahoma officials disagreed. When Foster was arrested in California for driving on an Oklahoma drivers’ license, Oklahoma issued a parole violation extradition warrant, but Foster filed a successful writ of habeas corpus to quash that warrant.
Then, last year, Foster was arrested on bogus marijuana cultivation charges--those California charges were dropped after he spent a year in jail--and Oklahoma again sought his extradition as a parole violator. Oklahoma officials took Foster from the Sonoma County Jail in California, and he is now residing in prison in Oklahoma until 2011--or 2015, as Oklahoma parole officials are now claiming.
In Oklahoma, the governor ultimately decides on whether to revoke parole or not. Foster had an administrative hearing Tuesday, which unsurprisingly found he had indeed violated his parole (by refusing to sign paperwork agreeing that his sentence had been extended). An executive hearing will take place sometime in the next one to three months, then that decision goes to the governor for approval or rejection.
Foster and his supporters are urging the public to write to the parole board to ask it to recommend pardoning him or commuting his sentence, and to write or call the governor asking for the same thing. Key points:
* Foster is a non-violent medical marijuana patient seriously ill with rheumatoid arthritis;
* Foster plans to return to California and never set foot in Oklahoma again;
* The after-the-fact extension of his sentence from 2011 to 2015 is unfair and unwarranted;
* It does not make fiscal or budgetary sense for the state of Oklahoma to spend thousands of scarce public dollars to incarcerate Foster again for this non-violent offense.
I just spoke to the parole office in Oklahoma, and they don’t yet have the information in their system required to send letters to parole board members, so instead, fax your concise, respectful letters to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board at (405) 602-6437. Mention Foster’s full name, William Joseph Foster, and his prisoner number, ODOC #252271.
Fax your letter to Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry at (405) 521-3353 or, better yet, call his office at (405) 521-2342. In either case, mention Foster’s full name and prisoner number, and be polite.
Drug War Chronicle will continue following Foster’s saga. Look for a feature article on the latest twists and turns on Friday.
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out of curiosity how is this
out of curiosity how is this even legal? he served his time then did his parole in california. So unless they said explicitly X years on parole and California did less than that how can they retroactively extend the parole?
Pure vengeance
Oklahoma authorities are angry because Will Foster continued to grow and use marijuana (legally!) in California. In other words, they resent him because he exercised rights that do not exist in Oklahoma. I have no idea what the legal implications are in this kind of interstate case, but it makes both states look really bad--Oklahoma for senselessly kicking a sick man around, and California for betraying him. Foster's ordeal should have been over at least 5 years ago! If Brad Henry has a heart, he will put an end to this shameful situation and let Foster go wherever he wants to live out the rest of his life in peace.
At least there's one thing to celebrate regarding the Sooner State: BYU 14, OU 13
Chant in Unison! Loud & clear! Free Will Foster!
Free Will Foster and all other political prisoners immediately! May every product you have and the home you live in be made from the stems of giant medical cannabis hemp stems grown by dedicated organic farmers. Peace,love,happiness and prosperity to all. From James. P.S. Cannabis hemp provides green jobs, and since the Green jobs czar Van Jones had to resign,then we demand the resignations of both the drug czar and the f.d.a. chief immediately so that all life can improve.
what a bunch of garbage
Man, how sad to see a man chased around the west for nothing. I am disabled with Adhesive Arachnoiditis, as well as Hepatitis C, Severe Muscle Spasms, Migraine Headaches, Degenerative Arthritis and Depression. I get all of the pain medications allowed by law. Methadone, Oxycodone, Valium etc; and then there are another 8 medications I have to take as well, on a daily basis. When the hell is this country going to wake up, and stop bothering its citizens for NO REASON. Marijuana helps me at times when NONE of the pain meds can. It puts a smile on my face; and makes a life that has for all intents and purposes been stopped alive again... Wake Up America and stop hurting your citizens.
What happen to a free America
This is ridiculous, playing these political loopholes to sentence a man for something so minute in comparison to other crimes. We set terrorists free daily without further prosecution, but yet both state and federal governments, have chased and dragged this man all across the country side in order to prosecute him further on a charge and sentence he has already fully lived-out, and for the state to change the paper work to fit in their needs is just down right wrong, if anything this is more of a crime then smoking some cannabis, they should be punished for their injustice. I am a disabled Army war Veteran, and feel that our government as a whole has failed “Us the People” in more then one way, this is not an eye for an eye. Let the man go.
Lying A$$ government
If anyone believes that this government is looking out for your best,then you are wrong. They are dropping the hammer on this man because of what he represents not what he has done. Our government has spent all of our money,killed our brothers,and taught our kids that G-D isnt real. When we reached the point of not trusting them. They had a black man elected to the office of president. Knowing that such an election would keep the american people busy fighting. Thats how they work. Keep us fighting and we wont turn on them.
This man is in prison because he represents somthing bigger than the actual charges. Figure out what that is. Its the only true way to set him free. Its time to take our contry back,or to sucede and make our own country. I hope this man gets out before he dies. My brother was sent to jail for selling MJ and he died there. The government hasnt spent one dollar trying to find his killer. They only spend money on whats important to them. This man is important to them. WHY
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