Sentenced To Shut Up

(Source for all quoted segments)

Bob Newland, the director of the South Dakota chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, founder of South Dakotans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana group, and publisher of Hemphasis, was sentenced to one year in the Pennington County Jail, with all but 45 days suspended. During that year, he is forbidden to publicly advocate marijuana legalization.

I posted this a while back, before the alt. sub. forum was created and it got removed, but I stumbled upon it again, and decided to post it. (thanks again to all involved for giving us a place to discuss these sorts of issues )

According to the Rapid City Journal, Judge Delaney told Newland, who will turn 61in jail, "You are not going to take a position as a public figure who got a light sentence." The judge also told Newland that he didn't want the advocate to be in a position to encourage minors to consume intoxicants.

This is one of the most blatant violations of the First Amendment I've had the displeasure of reading about in quite a while. Under no circumstances should anyone be kept from speaking his or her mind. The authorities responsible for this trampling of the right to free speech are using (or more accurately, misusing) the justice system as a means to suppress opposition to their political agenda.

R.I.P The First Amendment: another casualty of the "War on Drugs."


TA

[edit on 27-3-2010 by TheAssociate]

Certainly disturbing but there really is nothing to say. We need to go to our representatives in our respective state legislators and demand that this be brought up for a vote. If I was this guy I would take this to the SCOTUS, it is a blatant disregard for our rights as citizens but I would expect no less in the current political system.

reply to post by ventian

it is a blatant disregard for our rights as citizens but I would expect no less in the current political system.

Very true.

I'm not exactly astonished my this move, either. If you give them an inch, they take a mile; it was more or less inevitable that the violation of one's right to consume whatever substance he or she sees fit would lead to violations of other rights.

Thanks for the reply, post starred.


TA

the gov loves to make examples to set precedent
this gentleman is no different

As a former South Dakotan this doesn't surprise me. I was on the other side of the state but both sides are pretty much equally as bunk as the one to its side.

On a side note just in case anyone is interested in these things just about every cop in my hometown I encountered had a K-9 with it. So cross your t's and dot your i's when you hit Exit 1. LOL