Dear Jurors—Guilty? Seriously? You want the state to spend
money each day for the next several years to lock up and/or monitor my
dumbass client because he had a few baggies of pot and a scale and the
state said that he “planned” to sell it to some other potheads at some
unspecified point in the future? You didn’t even think about the costs
of your decision, did you? Show some fucking guts and acquit every
time, in every drug case. And don’t try to justify your verdict with
some stupid “I’m just following the law” bullshit. Unjust laws should
not be supported, respected, or condoned by a jury. And all arguments
about cognitive liberty and the moral reasons to end prohibition
aside, this type of crime and punishment just doesn’t make financial
sense for you and your community. I hope you feel good about your
decision when the budget crisis really hits and your kids’ schools
scale back and the government spends your kids’ teachers’ salary to
give three squares a day to this non-violent drug “dealer.” Acquit. In
every drug case. Seriously, don’t be a
jackass.—Anonymous
I, Anonymous
Guilt Trip
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Wow, this needs to be called I,boring.
Wow this must be a new column: I,Boring.
But you don’t have to pay prisoners minimum wage to make cheap crap do you? It makes perfect sense for the (business) community. It’s virtually free labor; kind of like back in the good ol days when cotton was king. 1 in 100 Americans are in jail. That means more “Made in the USA” products at your local Walmart!
Sueno-prisioners do not make products sold in stores. Once upon a time they tried this with a work jean called Prision Blues. Everyone went nuts because prision labor is cheap and clothing manufactures couldn’t compete with that. So no you will not be able to buy products made a OSCI at your local Walmart.
You will have to come up with some other conspiracy theory, Merc style.
Since when is the justice system dependent on “profit?” There’s little profit in punishing anyone after the crime has been committed. This guy is going to jail, despite the cost, because we don’t want him or his drugs in our community.
Take a look in the mirror, for a second. 12 people just decided to put this guy away. Instead of thinking “Wow, I guess my opinion of drugs is a tiny minority!” you decided they were “jackasses” with “no fucking guts.” How can you look at that and NOT think you’re an asshole?
Reminds me of the arguments of the writers and producers of The Wire in Time magazine a while back:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,…
The cost of processing this guy through the court system and putting him away for a year is about the same as a year’s salary + benefits for a public school teacher….many who have been laid of recently because of the aforementioned state budget crisis. That is whacked.
Reymont,
Don’t count me in your “we.” I don’t give a flying fuck if this guy is in my community. I’m pretty sure the condo next door is a growing house, and you know what? They’re the quietest neighbors we’ve ever had. What I would like to see is this guy in my community with his product being taxed to pay for your spawn’s school rather than this guy in jail sucking my tax dollars.
I was being slightly facetious but Jury Foreskin was right in that they didn’t sell Prison Blues at Walmart (just Nordstrom). But I can’t find any info about them stopping making Prison Blues; as of 2007 they were still making them (not quite once upon a time). Does anyone know when/if OSCI stopped this program?
With some (quick, maybe not reliable) internet research I have found instances of prisons in other states making a whole range of products that are sold in the US from circuit boards for IBM to graduation caps/gowns.
Furthermore the inmates are routinely used for fire crew and disaster relief (like in the Katrina cleanup) and I doubt very much they get adequate pay.
granted, pot is illegal. so is running a red light. and a stop sign. and jaywalking. so is 17.75 years olds looking at porn. grow the fuck up portland, pot is legal here because everyone smokes it.
Locking people up for pot is a great way to disguise the true scope of unemployment in this country. Plus, keeping an activity that is harmless & common illegal provides slimy officials additional benefits – an excuse to gut the Bill of Rights & use traffic laws to do searches that violate the spirit of the constitution; dampening social connections by sowing paranoia [is this person asking for buds for normal use or because the cops told them it’s the only way to avoid prosecution?], and giving people who are motivated towards social change an issue to work on that won’t result in increases in social justice or the material well-being of the masses.
Meanwhile, it’s legal to marry someone convicted of killing their last spouse, skydive, eat fugu fish& buy an ATV for any age child for purposes of “family fun”.
P.S. To all the hippies who told me since the 1970s “pot will be legal within 5 years”. Thanks so much for not getting off your fat asses and making sure it happened, and just assuming the magical marijuana legislation fairy would make the government live up to the spirit of the founding of this country: Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of *Happiness*. Good work.
Hey Foreman, you’re the asshole for thinking it’s alright to lock up someone else for years for making a choice that didn’t affect you. You may not like the substances someone puts in their body, but ultimately you have no moral right to punish them for them. It’s no different than locking someone up for the food they eat, the music they listen to or how they have sex. As long as it doesn’t hurt someone else, it’s not your fucking business, you right wing asshole.
Oops, display problems. I mean Reymont, you’re an asshole.
“Unjust laws should not be supported, respected, or condoned by a jury.”
This guy is a lawyer? What bar exam did he pass? He can’t win a case based on merit so he blames the “unjust” law and the jury. Grow the eff up, please.
“Acquit. In every drug case. Seriously, don’t be a jackass.”
Seriously, you need a new profession. What an asshole…
The justice system doesn’t make a profit, but get serious, incarcerating people makes billions (somewhere near 6 billion $ a year). It is a for profit industry, and guess what, the industry’s favorite inmates are marijuana offense people because they’re non-violent and easier to control than violent offenders. Many State prison send inmates to private prisons where the staff is untrained, inmates with cancer and diabetes are called malingerers (to save money on medical costs, of course), solitary confinement is the answer to mentally ill prisoners, and rape is prevalent, sometimes with the sanction of the prison staff.
So tell me how there’s no profit involved.
You might consider reading “American Furies” by Sasha Abramsky, if you think the escalating trend of incarcerating people for non-violent crimes has nothing to do with a profit margin.
The public is woefully uneducated, uninformed and vindictive. I wouldn’t call them jackasses, but I believe they are tools of the prosecutors more often than not.
Many civilized European countries have liberal marijuana laws. I believe this is partially due to the fact that their
justice systems and governments have no vested interest in locking everyone up to feed a for profit prison industrial complex.
Start reading and letting some light in…
What can I do to help legalize marijuana today? Should I write to my state legislators? Is there a plan?
“Acquit” “In every case” Dude that’s brilliant ! If your client was convicted for that it speaks more to your lack of ability than the state of the legal system. I particularly like your bit about not following the law too. Epic advice. Your client broke the fucking law and you coud’nt get him off the hook, bottom line.
Exactly, Showstopper.
Possession w/intent to sell is illegal. The lawyer knew that going in. So either (a) change the law, or (b) learn how to properly defend your client. All the whining and name-calling isn’t going to change the fact that your client broke the law and you’re a dumbass.
Oh, and the defense that “everyone smokes pot in Portland” means “acquit in every case” CLEARLY indicates you know nothin about law. I feel sorry for the guy who hired you, as well as your future clients.