NJ AUTHORITIES DESTROY 'FREEDOMS' AS SURELY
AS SADDAM
By Linn Washington Jr.
The curious case of Ed Forchion constitutes a classic clash between rights and rules in America.
Forchion faces a return to a 10-year prison sentence because New Jersey
Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) authorities claim Forchion's exercise of his constitutional rights has violated a number of their rules for parole.
These 'unwritten' rules include forbidding Forchion from talking to reporters.
Forchion - the self-defined 'NJ Weedman' - is an audacious advocate for
the legalization of marijuana and an ardent opponent of America's War on
Drugs.
Forchion has certainly irritated governmental officials but, as a federal judge recently noted, Forchion is 'not a menace!"
In many ways, ISP's campaign to cancel Forchion's parole and return him
to a prison cell is an important test case for the level of freedom that is really respected in America, particularly during this era when America wages wars abroad in the name of freedom.
The seminal First Amendment to the US Constitution protects freedoms of
speech, religion, press, and the right to protest government actions. The NJ State Constitution contains comparable rights in its Article 1 - Rights and Privileges section.
The First Amendment particularly protects the exercise of rights for
unpopular causes as long as exercise of protected rights does not cause
imminent danger or promotes illegal activity.
Evidence indicates Forchion's exercise of constitutional rights does not promote illegal activity and his peaceful protests certainly are not causing imminent dangers like riots.
NJ federal Judge Joseph Irenas recently indicated ISP's rule violation actions against Forchion strongly exhibit retaliation for Forchion's exercise of his lawful First Amendment rights.
Two weeks ago, Judge Irenas ordered NJ authorities to produce evidence
showing ISP is not retaliating against Forchion, during a hearing scheduled for Irenas' courtroom next week.
Marijuana is certainly an important public policy issue of our times extending beyond the law enforcement arena into areas like medical compassion and the very nature of democracy in America.
Nationwide, authorities spend $9-billion annually waging war on
marijuana at a time when authorities claim insufficient funds exist to provide adequate health care and/or extend meaningful tax cuts beyond the wealthy into the middle class.
In 2001 alone, authorities nationwide arrested 723,627 for marijuana law violations with 88% of those arrests being for simple possession of this substance that numerous federal reports state is not harmful.
Federal authorities are staging military-style raids on health clinics in states like California where voters have overwhelmingly approved referendums approving the medical use of marijuana for patients suffering painfully debilitating diseases.
In October 2002, a federal appeals court backed Congress blocking DC
residents from even voting on whether to legalize marijuana for medical uses.
These actions by Congress and the courts crushing fundamental voting
rights in the very headquarters of American democracy probably brought
smiles to those "evil-doers" who our leaders proclaim hate America because of its "freedoms."
Many - including law enforcement officials - support decriminalization of marijuana yet NJ's ISP authorities contend Ed Forchion has NO right to express similar sentiments.
The reason why Forchion is under ISP supervision results from his Sept
2000 guilty plea for a 1997 marijuana scheme. The reason why Forchion felt forced to plead guilty results from repeated violations of his fundamental legal rights from arrest through trial, according to a federal appeal prepared by Clifton, NJ attorney, John Vincent Saykanic.
This appeal contends police violated legal rules in their arrest procedures, prosecutors violated legal rules by improperly withholding evidence, and judges violated rules by threatening to place Forchion in a mental institution to force Forchion to accept a public defender instead of permitting Forchion his legal right to represent himself. Further, prosecutors, public defenders, and a judge denied Forchion his right to inform the jury of the jury's right to acquit irrespective of the evidence if the jury felt a conviction was unjust - a legal principle called jury nullification.
"This pattern of constitutional violations constitutes a farce and mockery of the judicial system," Saykanic's appeal states.
Forchion entered ISP in April 2002 after nearly 18-months in prison following prosecutors reneging on an alleged agreement to release Forchion into ISP after 6-months in prison.
The thirty rules in Forchion's written ISP agreement contain no prohibitions against talking to reporters, holding protests, or advocating changes in drug laws. Yet, ISP authorities jailed Forchion on August 18, 2002 for violating
their unwritten rules despite his compliance with ISP's written rules like not using drugs…which Forchion claims violates his religious right to use marijuana as part of the ritual of his Rastafarian religion.
This Friday Forchion's case takes another turn with a scheduled ISP hearing where state judges will rule on the validity of those parole violations.
Forchion did not receive his originally scheduled September 17, 2002 ISP hearing because of an 'inadvertent mistake' that left him in a cell while other ISP violators in the Burlington County jail were taken to that hearing.
In the larger scheme of things, Forchion's constitutional freedoms fight with ISP arguably is one flea on a large elephant. However, the 12-million marijuana arrests since the late 1960s coupled with the escalating billions spent ineffectively fighting to preserve inappropriate prohibition shows this elephant suffers a serious flea infestation.
The Drug War's blatant disregard for constitutional rights forms a litany of wrongs that renders America hypocritical in the eyes of many.
-THE END-
Linn Washington Jr. is an award-winning writer who teaches journalism at
Temple University.
The curious case of Ed Forchion constitutes a classic clash between rights and rules in America.
Forchion faces a return to a 10-year prison sentence because New Jersey
Intensive Supervision Program (ISP) authorities claim Forchion's exercise of his constitutional rights has violated a number of their rules for parole.
These 'unwritten' rules include forbidding Forchion from talking to reporters.
Forchion - the self-defined 'NJ Weedman' - is an audacious advocate for
the legalization of marijuana and an ardent opponent of America's War on
Drugs.
Forchion has certainly irritated governmental officials but, as a federal judge recently noted, Forchion is 'not a menace!"
In many ways, ISP's campaign to cancel Forchion's parole and return him
to a prison cell is an important test case for the level of freedom that is really respected in America, particularly during this era when America wages wars abroad in the name of freedom.
The seminal First Amendment to the US Constitution protects freedoms of
speech, religion, press, and the right to protest government actions. The NJ State Constitution contains comparable rights in its Article 1 - Rights and Privileges section.
The First Amendment particularly protects the exercise of rights for
unpopular causes as long as exercise of protected rights does not cause
imminent danger or promotes illegal activity.
Evidence indicates Forchion's exercise of constitutional rights does not promote illegal activity and his peaceful protests certainly are not causing imminent dangers like riots.
NJ federal Judge Joseph Irenas recently indicated ISP's rule violation actions against Forchion strongly exhibit retaliation for Forchion's exercise of his lawful First Amendment rights.
Two weeks ago, Judge Irenas ordered NJ authorities to produce evidence
showing ISP is not retaliating against Forchion, during a hearing scheduled for Irenas' courtroom next week.
Marijuana is certainly an important public policy issue of our times extending beyond the law enforcement arena into areas like medical compassion and the very nature of democracy in America.
Nationwide, authorities spend $9-billion annually waging war on
marijuana at a time when authorities claim insufficient funds exist to provide adequate health care and/or extend meaningful tax cuts beyond the wealthy into the middle class.
In 2001 alone, authorities nationwide arrested 723,627 for marijuana law violations with 88% of those arrests being for simple possession of this substance that numerous federal reports state is not harmful.
Federal authorities are staging military-style raids on health clinics in states like California where voters have overwhelmingly approved referendums approving the medical use of marijuana for patients suffering painfully debilitating diseases.
In October 2002, a federal appeals court backed Congress blocking DC
residents from even voting on whether to legalize marijuana for medical uses.
These actions by Congress and the courts crushing fundamental voting
rights in the very headquarters of American democracy probably brought
smiles to those "evil-doers" who our leaders proclaim hate America because of its "freedoms."
Many - including law enforcement officials - support decriminalization of marijuana yet NJ's ISP authorities contend Ed Forchion has NO right to express similar sentiments.
The reason why Forchion is under ISP supervision results from his Sept
2000 guilty plea for a 1997 marijuana scheme. The reason why Forchion felt forced to plead guilty results from repeated violations of his fundamental legal rights from arrest through trial, according to a federal appeal prepared by Clifton, NJ attorney, John Vincent Saykanic.
This appeal contends police violated legal rules in their arrest procedures, prosecutors violated legal rules by improperly withholding evidence, and judges violated rules by threatening to place Forchion in a mental institution to force Forchion to accept a public defender instead of permitting Forchion his legal right to represent himself. Further, prosecutors, public defenders, and a judge denied Forchion his right to inform the jury of the jury's right to acquit irrespective of the evidence if the jury felt a conviction was unjust - a legal principle called jury nullification.
"This pattern of constitutional violations constitutes a farce and mockery of the judicial system," Saykanic's appeal states.
Forchion entered ISP in April 2002 after nearly 18-months in prison following prosecutors reneging on an alleged agreement to release Forchion into ISP after 6-months in prison.
The thirty rules in Forchion's written ISP agreement contain no prohibitions against talking to reporters, holding protests, or advocating changes in drug laws. Yet, ISP authorities jailed Forchion on August 18, 2002 for violating
their unwritten rules despite his compliance with ISP's written rules like not using drugs…which Forchion claims violates his religious right to use marijuana as part of the ritual of his Rastafarian religion.
This Friday Forchion's case takes another turn with a scheduled ISP hearing where state judges will rule on the validity of those parole violations.
Forchion did not receive his originally scheduled September 17, 2002 ISP hearing because of an 'inadvertent mistake' that left him in a cell while other ISP violators in the Burlington County jail were taken to that hearing.
In the larger scheme of things, Forchion's constitutional freedoms fight with ISP arguably is one flea on a large elephant. However, the 12-million marijuana arrests since the late 1960s coupled with the escalating billions spent ineffectively fighting to preserve inappropriate prohibition shows this elephant suffers a serious flea infestation.
The Drug War's blatant disregard for constitutional rights forms a litany of wrongs that renders America hypocritical in the eyes of many.
-THE END-
Linn Washington Jr. is an award-winning writer who teaches journalism at
Temple University.