In the past both of you have had me arrested for exercising my free speech rights.

Its obvious to me that neither of you respect my opinions or agree with them, but as a matter of law and your obligation to enforce them you must ensure that not only are the elections fair but my RIGHT to express my political opinions are protected.

(1)   The New Jersey Attorney Generals Office fought to have me incarcerated for making “POLITICAL ADS” calling for the end of the RACIST DRUG WAR. It took a Federal Judge to order the State to release me after 5 months in the Burlington county jail. (August 19^th, 2002 – January 25^th, 2003)

      (FOR DETAILS SEE: http://www.njweedman.com/censorship )

(2)   The U.S. Attorney Generals Office had me arrested 3 times for publicly complaining about the U.S. Attorney’s Office not protecting my free speech rights from state officials who jailed me for making political ad’s. (August 4, 11 and 18^th 2003)

(FOR DETAILS SEE: http://www.njweedman.com/hypocrite.html )

The actions of the police are repugnant to me, I am an American and as such I take get offense at the loss of my “FREE SPEECH RIGHTS”. In the past Federal judge Irenas issued this ruling in: FORCHION Vs STATE OF NEW JERSEY, 240 F.Supp.2d 302

The First Amendment exists so as to promote debate on issues of public importance. In this case, the advocacy of the legalization of marijuana is a legitimate political position in this country. The Libertarian Party, whose presidential candidate received over 380,000 votes in the 2000 election, advocates the legalization of drugs. Libertarian Party website at http://www.lp.org/issues/relegalize.html and http://www.lp.org/campaigns/pres/. Many elected public officials have called for a liberalization of the nation's drug laws. Simply put, Plaintiff's place in this debate will do nothing to harm a public that is already itself debating the current state of our nation's drug laws.

I now ask/request that both of you take this action to ensure that a fair election process takes place. I ask/request that you both send a memo to each and every municipality in the state of New Jersey and inform them that I am a legitimate candidate and have the RIGHT to campaign for the office of the Governor and that I should not be accosted, harassed or intimidated while campaigning. Otherwise I can’t campaign. I can’t afford to be arrested every weekend or shot and killed by a “COP” who gets scared. This is my fear: “Cops kill citizens all the time and rarely are they ever held accountable, the police officers and law enforcement types who investigate the “crime of murder by cop” almost always side with the cop and justify the murder. (i.e) he had drugs in his system. There is no doubt in my mind that my dead body would test positive for marijuana thus my “murder would by deemed justified” by any law enforcement agency assigned to investigate.

The New Jersey Supreme Court and Appellate Court have clearly ruled on the issue of "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION" in the past.

"...where political speech is involved, our traditions insists that government allow the widest room for discussion, the narrowest range for its restriction."....."Political expression includes any fair comment on any matter of public interest, whether or not subject of an election campaign, whether or not embarrassing to local governing body, and whether or not irritating to one's neighbors.'' STATE of NEW JERSEY Vs MILLER, 83 N.J. 402, 416 A.2d 821 (1980) "...individuals, severally or in association, have a right to denounce public body, its officers, and its programs, in most searing terms, and even with wide margin of error." BOARD OF ED., BOROUGH OF UNION BEACH Vs NEW JERSEY ED. ASS'N, 53 N.J. 29, 247 A.2d 867 (1968).... "Constitutional Right of Free Speech and assembly can-not be abridged simply because others might take offense at what is being said or advocated and create a disturbance." FACULTY AD HOC OCT 15th VIETNAM MORATORIUM COMMITTE Vs BOUGH OF GLASSBORO, 111 N.J. SUPER, 258, 268 A.2d 75 (1970) -- HURWITZ Vs BOYLE, 117 N.J. SUPER. 196, 284 A.2d 190 (1971)

            Attorney Generals, I’m have no problems with the average citizen while campaigning publicly. They only problems I have are with “POLICE” who don’t respect my right to express my opinions or treat me as a second class citizen. I refer to this a the DRED SCOTT DOCTRINE on my website.  ( http://www.njweedman.com/dredscott ). Failure on your part to ensure that my right to campaign will either force me to abandon my campaign, which would be a disaster for “FREEDOM in AMERICA” or force me to defend myself when accosted by the police. I don’t want to end up dead or like “H. Rap Brown” or “Joann Chesimard” who defended themselves against police abuse.

                                                                        RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

                                                                        EDWARD FORCHION

                                                CANDIDATE FOR THE OFFICE of the GOVERNOR

CC- Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier Post, Asbury Park Press, Atlantic City Press, The Trentonian, TIMES of TRENTON, Star Ledger, and various internet websites.

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Since neither of the Attorney Generals bothered to even respond to my complaint I've been forced to stop campaigning. I'm not going to withdrawl from the ballot but I can't campainge out of fear of being shot by a cop who is over zealous!

I believe this is a blow to "FREEDOM IN AMERICA" when a LION like me stops roaring then things have gotten bad for the sheep!
(CLICK PICTURE)

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PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER 8/13/2005  Reefer madness? High times over for NJ Weedman By Monica Yant Kinney Inquirer Columnist New Jersey voters will have almost a dozen choices for governor this fall, but none of the candidates cuts a figure quite like Ed Forchion. Forchion is the dreadlocked Rastafarian free-speech activist better known as the "NJ Weedman." Like always, he's running on the Marijuana Party ticket. Slight problem: "The Weedman has become the Weedlessman," he tells me. "I haven't smoked a joint in almost three months." Not only is Ed not actively campaigning, but for the first time in years, he's not planning any future run. He might even cut his hair. The media missed the news about the Weedman's going straight, but it's not exactly their fault. Most of the political reporters in the state have spent the last week fretting over Doug Forrester's campaign finance fiasco and Jon Corzine's expensive love life. Ed used to hold news conferences on the Statehouse steps whenever he felt his right to talk about toking was being trampled - which was often. These days, you have to catch him on the road on his mobile. The Weedman's got a new mission. This one's about money and, maybe, making things up to his wife and kids. Talking about toking Those who think he's just a loudmouth loser miss the point. For starters, Ed's the most lucid stoner I've ever met. Even judges who've ruled on his self-fought cases give him props for polished presentations and sound legal arguments. It was never as much about pot for Ed as it was the right to talk about a subject others would prefer he not. Sort of like the military moms protesting outside President Bush's ranch? "During the buildup to the war, when the President was lying about weapons of mass destruction," Ed explains, "I was in jail for making commercials about marijuana." Every time he got busted speaking out, he raised his voice a little louder. He distrusts cops but came to respect the civil court system, where, Ed says, "you can get vengeance without being a vigilante." When the parolee got thrown in jail for proselytizing about pot, he sued and won, arguing that the real crime was locking him up to shut him up. When New Jersey passed a law requiring parolees to submit DNA to a criminal database, he sued and won, arguing that it amounted to an after-the-fact punishment. Other stunts fell flat, such as his bid to legally change his name to NJWeedman.com. A judge said the name would promote a criminal enterprise. Ed knows about crime. In 1997, he got busted hooking his brother up with a dealer who shipped 40 pounds of pot to Jersey by FedEx. Ed took a plea, but still got 10 years. It cost him his truck-driving career, a house and his place in the middle class. Now, he wants back in. Ramblin' on It gets old getting arrested every time you talk. And, expensive. Last year, the chronically underemployed Weedman got a job as a courier making $600 a week, only to lose it after his bosses saw him protesting Gov. McGreevey on TV. He's still fighting a federal case over lighting up at the Liberty Bell. But after two recent arrests for campaigning in Trenton and Seaside Heights, Ed says he's sick of suing. "I'm a patriotic pothead," he insists, "but I'm tired of being a one-man show. It gets old." Other activists think he's "a wacko." And ultimately, either he failed or "the courts failed me." This spring, Ed fixed his driving record and got another trucking job. I caught up with him by phone hauling bottled water from Maine to Allentown. It's good money, and there's plenty of it to be made. With a relative's help, he put a down payment on an 18-wheeler. Driving a big rig brings big risk, responsibility and random drug tests. So he doesn't dare smoke. "Imagine if I had an accident," he says. "Imagine the headline: 'The Weedman kills driving high.' " Anyway, now that he's trucking again, Ed wants to focus on work and repay his wife, who juggled two jobs to support the family and his habits. "My daughter just turned 10," Ed explains. "Her whole life, I've been the Weedman and we've been poor." Maybe if he keeps a low profile as "just Ed" for a while, the Forchions' fortunes will improve. Contact Monica Yant Kinney at 856-779-3914 or myant@phillynews.com. Read her recent work at http://go.philly.com/yantkinney.

THE TRENTONIAN 8/16/2005     TRENTON -- The Weedman is going straight. No more hits on a bong. No more toking on a joint. No more marijuana.   That’s right Robert Edward "Weedman" Forchion, 41, of Pemberton, says he has quit smoking pot and is headed for the straight and narrow. "I am Weedlessman now," Forchion said in a telephone interview yesterday. "And it doesn’t have anything to do with me changing my mind on the substance, but I got a job I really like now." Forchion says he has cut out his marijuana use since getting a job back in May. At first he quit to take a drug test for the job, but then he decided to just quit altogether. "It’s been more than two months since I smoked (pot), but I had slowed down before that," he said. Forchion explained his wife and children played a big role in his decision. "A lot of this has to do with my family," Forchion said. "Every time I get arrested my wife has to come bail me out. It’s been a lot on my family." Forchion, a Rastafarian by faith and a pro-marijuana legalization activist, was fired from a job about this time last year after, he says, his bosses mistakenly thought he took part in an anti-gay protest against former Gov. Jim McGreevey outside the State House, and became aware of his religious beliefs and political views. Those that adhere to the teachings of the Rastafarian religion believe that smoking marijuana is a sacrament similar to the Jewish and Christian use of wine. Although still very much a follower of the Rastafarian religion, Forchion now says he is concerned about keeping the job he has come to love with an understanding that arrests and other run-ins with the judicial system all take a financial toll. "I need to make money," Forchion said. "I’ve been poor for a long time." He says the turning point in his decision to quit smoking came after his arrest at the State House by New Jersey State troopers after he reportedly refused to leave the building when his request to go to Press Row was denied. Forchion was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and defiant trespass. He is now in the midst of a legal battle with the arresting State Police officer. A few weeks later, Forchion had another run-in with police officers at the Jersey Shore. He was distributing information on the boardwalk for his Legalize Marijuana Party. An officer told him to move because the boardwalk was not public property. Forchion said he disagreed, but moved to a nearby street corner but police were not satisfied and arrested him. Forchion has made frequent runs for public office in the past, and now has his sights set on another office. He wants to be governor of New Jersey and admits that cutting out the marijuana use will help his candidacy. "How can I campaign if every time I go out the police are coming after me," Forchion said. "I’m not going to take my name off the ballot, and I’m still going to give the finger to the system." Forchion says he will continue to push for his political views, but will also remain concerned about his own safety. "I know I’m right, but I don’t want to end up dead right," Forchion said. "I’m afraid one of these cops is going to shoot me, and then what? Oops. "Most police officers understand free speech, but there are a few who don’t. Those are the ones who worry me." Forchion’s run-ins with the law have made headlines over the years. In 1997, Forchion was arrested for possession of more than 40 pounds of pot. He served 17 months of a 10-year prison sentence and was released in April 2002. He was thrown back in jail four months later after he produced a pro-marijuana commercial but was released because a judge determined the commercial was protected by his First Amendment rights. In 2000, Forchion took his cause to the state’s General Assembly and made a point by lighting up a joint inside the Assembly Chamber as the legislative body was in session. He was never prosecuted. "I think I’m pretty much done with it," Forchion said. "I’m not going to give the police reason to arrest for no reason." -- Charles Webster is the State House reporter for The Trentonian. He can be reached at cwebster4@trentonian.com. ©The Trentonian 2005 _______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK MY BEING AFRAID OF BEING SHOT IS EXTREME READ THESE LINKS: (1) http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1287/a06.html?105217 (2) http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1139/a02.html?105217 (3) http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1262/a05.html?105219 I've been lucky so far none of the police have killed me, Its time to stop temting them!

Man killed by Sunrise police in drug raid had 2 ounces of marijuana By Brian Haas & Kevin Smith Staff Writers Posted August 10 2005   SUNRISE -- Police seized 2 ounces of marijuana at the home of Anthony Diotaiuto after shooting him 10 times, according to information on the drug raid released Tuesday. Also Tuesday, while many friends and relatives of the 23-year-old bartender and student mourned him at a Davie funeral home, others appeared at a Sunrise City Commission meeting to demand an explanation for the fatal raid. "Do 2 ounces of marijuana constitute a death warrant?" asked Sunrise resident William de Larm, a friend of Diotaiuto's. Earlier, police officials released a summary of the information they used to obtain the search warrant, listed what was seized from the house, and detailed what police say happened between Diotaiuto and SWAT officers Friday morning. Neighbors and family dispute those details. Diotaiuto, 23, was killed hours after he got home from work by a SWAT team looking for drugs. Friends and family say Diotaiuto worked two jobs, went to church regularly, and was dedicated to giving himself and his mother, Marlene Whittier, a better life. Lt. Robert Voss, spokesman for the Sunrise Police Department, gave this account of the raid: The SWAT team knocked on Diotaiuto's door and "announc[ed] their presence" before smashing in his door about 6:15 a.m. They found Diotaiuto in his living room and ordered him to "freeze" and get on the ground. Instead, Voss said, Diotaiuto fled to his bedroom and "armed himself" with a loaded handgun. Voss said it is unclear whether Diotaiuto pointed the gun at officers. Officers Sean Visners and Andre Bruna shot Diotaiuto dead. They shot him 10 times, leaving wounds to his head, chest, torso and limbs, according to Broward Medical Examiner Joshua Perper. In addition to the marijuana, Voss said, officers seized plastic bags and weight scales from Diotaiuto's home. Possession of 2 ounces of marijuana is a felony, according to state statutes. The officers' personnel records were not available Tuesday, but Visners has been with Sunrise since 1997 and on the SWAT team since 1999, Voss said. He was Officer of the Month for May 2000. Bruna has been with the department since 1999 and on the SWAT team since 2001. Voss said both officers have no history of disciplinary problems, and neither has been involved in any previous shootings. They are on paid leave pending an investigation. Neighbors who said they were up at 6:15 a.m. when the raid occurred said they heard the crash of the front door being smashed, but no yelling announcing the presence of police. Rudy Strauss, Diotaiuto's next-door neighbor, came to his window when his wife noticed the SWAT team descend on the house in the sleepy Sunrise Golf Village. No words were exchanged outside Diotaiuto's home, he said. "I heard this loud bang, and I saw a flash," Strauss said Tuesday. "I never heard them say `Police.' If somebody were pounding on the door, I would definitely hear that, or if they yelled, `Police, police!'" The Police Department also gave a brief description of the information that led to the search warrant. Voss said that the department had the house under surveillance and made at least one "controlled" drug purchase there. Voss did not have more details about the search warrant. The police version did little to allay anger at the department's handling of the raid. "Nothing adds up," Brian Kickbush, Whittier's boyfriend, said during the visitation at Fred Hunter Funeral Home. "If they announced themselves, I guess all the neighbors are all liars." At the Sunrise meeting, 15 people stood, many wearing black armbands adorned with a golden heart, as de Larm told the five-member commission about how Diotaiuto was planning his first real vacation. The trip would have included a visit to his 91-year-old grandmother. "Now, she has to come to Florida to bury her 23-year-old grandson," de Larm said, as family members and friends wept behind him. Saying the shooting made him ashamed to be a Sunrise resident, de Larm said the officers had too much aggression and too little judgment, using a search warrant and Diotaiuto's weapon permit to create an encounter far too likely to have the tragic outcome it did. Mayor Steve Feren declined to address the allegations directly, saying the incident has yet to be fully investigated. The response was not what Diotaiuto's family had hoped to hear. "We did not get what we expected," said Sarah Spivey, a cousin of Diotaiuto's who came to Florida from Washington state after the shooting. "We wanted our side of the story to be heard. Anthony was a good person and he's being portrayed as a criminal." Her cousin would never have responded the way police said he did if the officers clearly identified themselves, she said, and the information released by the department left her with little faith in whatever investigation the Sunrise police might conduct. "They had their minds made up about my cousin before they even went into the house," she said. Voss said that people should be patient as the Police Department and the Broward State Attorney's Office investigate the matter. "The department grieves for the family. We grieve for our officers, too. Taking a human life isn't easy to do," Voss said. "It will be investigated." Brian Haas can be reached at bhaas@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4597.