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Topic: Prepare to be Outraged: Charlie Lynch sentencing (Read 483 times) |
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MoEnzyme
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Prepare to be Outraged: Charlie Lynch sentencing
« on: 2009-04-23 01:50:41 » |
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Prepare to be Outraged later today. Charlie Lynch is scheduled to be sentenced for running a legal medical marijuana dispensary in California.
Quote:Charlie Lynch is a California resident who owned and operated a medical marijuana dispensary that was fully legal under a Golden State law.
In 2007, federal agents and San Luis Obispo sheriffs raided his home and dispensary and in 2008 he was found guilty in federal court of five counts of distributing drugs.
Because he was tried in a federal court, Lynch's defense team was not allowed to argue that its client was fully complying with state law.
On Thursday, April 23, 2009, Lynch is scheduled to be sentenced. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and, despite some positive statements from the Obama administration's Justice Department about respecting state laws regarding medical marijuana, Lynch's future is darker than midnight. Indeed, the simple letter of the law dictates he go to prison.
The polite term for Lynch's predicament is Kafkaesque. He is a guiltless man who genuinely helped the sick in his community and is being punished for caring. Now he faces at least five years—and potentially much more—in one of the most sickening and barbaric displays of how the drug war is carpet-bombing huge swaths of American life. Indeed, to call Lynch's plight Kafkaesque is to hide the brutality of America's longest-running and most-destructive war behind an aesthetically comforting phrase. |
full article and an informative short video about Charlie Lynch at: http://reason.com/blog/show/133038.html
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I will fight your gods for food,
Mo Enzyme
(consolidation of handles: Jake Sapiens; memelab; logicnazi; Loki; Every1Hz; and Shadow)
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MoEnzyme
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Re:Prepare to be Outraged: Charlie Lynch sentencing
« Reply #1 on: 2009-04-23 10:55:59 » |
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http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/04/obama_refuses_to_help_charlie.php
Obama Refuses to Help Charlie Lynch
Last month the federal judge in the trial of Charlie Lynch, who was convicted of running a medical marijuana dispensary that was in full compliance with state and local law, asked the DOJ to weigh in before he sentenced Lynch. I said at the time that it sounded like the judge was looking for a little political cover to give Lynch a particularly light sentence. Unfortunately, the Obama DOJ has decided to let Lynch go down in flames.
The response brief they filed to the court's inquiries is an appalling document. Not only do they not think Lynch should get a light sentence, they proclaim that his conviction is entirely in line with the new administration's policy on medical marijuana:
Quote:| Nevertheless, at the request of the USAO, in response to the Court's inquiries, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General has reviewed the facts of this case and determined that the investigation, prosecution, and conviction of defendant are entirely consistent with the policies of DOJ and with public statements made by the Attorney General with respect to marijuana prosecutions. Accordingly, the USAO has been instructed to proceed with the sentencing recommendations previously filed in this case. A letter from DOJ in Washington D.C. confirming these points is attached hereto. |
[Mo] More material, useful intext links, and author background at the URL.
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/04/obama_refuses_to_help_charlie.php
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I will fight your gods for food,
Mo Enzyme
(consolidation of handles: Jake Sapiens; memelab; logicnazi; Loki; Every1Hz; and Shadow)
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MoEnzyme
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Re:Prepare to be Outraged: Charlie Lynch sentencing
« Reply #2 on: 2009-04-24 09:33:48 » |
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From the last I heard, the court postponed the sentencing on this again. I don't have the time to chase down the links right now, so help yourself and share if you've got some time.  -Mo
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I will fight your gods for food,
Mo Enzyme
(consolidation of handles: Jake Sapiens; memelab; logicnazi; Loki; Every1Hz; and Shadow)
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