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MARIJUANA ADVOCATE JAILED FOR ESPOUSING LEGALIZATION Marijuana legalization advocate Ed "njweedman" Forchion is in trouble with the law again. Forchion was jailed Monday night after he "alledgedly" violated the terms of the supervisory program in which he is enrolled, officials said yesterday. As a result, the Tom Bartlett, regional director for the Intensive Supervision Program, said Forchion violated provisions of the program by advocating marijuana use. Participants in the Intensive Supervision Program are released early from prison but must remain drug-free and abide by other regulations. "He agreed he was not going to
promote marijuana use," In a telephone interview from the
Burlington County Jail in Forchion said he simply expressed his opinions on free speech and the nation's war on drugs in the commercials. "This is Forchion has long maintained that his First Amendment rights are being violated because he cannot freely practice his faith as a Rastafarian or state his beliefs. Forchion was charged with
helping his brother and another man pick up a shipment of 40 pounds of
marijuana at Forchion was tried on charges of distributing marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in October 2000 but pleaded guilty to those charges and two unrelated charges during his trial. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in December 2000 and served 16 months in prison before he was admitted into the Intensive Supervision Program. Under the terms of the program, Forchion must refrain from smoking marijuana and must obtain a job. He also must provide regular urine samples to demonstrate that he is staying clean. Forchion also cannot advocate the legalization of marijuana. In each of the three, 30-second commercials that he taped, Forchion wears a shirt bearing a marijuana leaf and stands in front of an American flag. In one of the commercials, he advocates free speech. In another, he says that marijuana has medicinal benefits. In the third, he criticizes the government's war on drugs. Forchion tried to buy time from Comcast to televise the commercials, but the cable company declined to air them. Comcast spokeswoman Nissa O'Mara said
the commercials violated the company's advertising policy against
promoting drug use. |
SEE THE POLITICAL AD'S THAT WERE CENSORED YOURSELF!
 COMMERCIAL 1 |
 COMMERCIAL 2 |
 COMMERCIAL 3 |
After seeing the 8/15 and 8/17 TRENTONIAN stories (below) State ISP official Thomas Bartlett and ISP Officer Mike Ramirez presented an Arrest Petition and WARRANT before OCEAN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE GIOVINE and despite the obvious violation of a citizens right to “FREE SPEECH” he signed it. ( SEE WARRANT) – Then read the correspondence between Judge “JACK-ASS” GIOVINE and the WEEDMAN”! (GIOVINE LETTERS) |
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ATTY. MARK FURY, ESQ. (609) 518-8980 Is representing
"NJWEEDMAN" in his Federal case (02-cv-4942) against the State of ( SEE FEDERAL RULING - "RELEASING NJWEEDMAN" ) In this case Federal Judge Irenas ruled that I had the RIGHT to exercise free speech and the State of New Jersey was violating that RIGHT with my imprisonment to silence me and he ordered me released. My question to every lawyer, Politican, law enforcement Officer, Reporter and Editorial Board is why hasn't the New Jersey Attorney General or the U.S. Attorney charged these state officials with criminal deprivation of my "CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS". -- HYPOCRITES
s 37, 18 U.S.C.A. Statute 88 s 19 18 U.S.C.A. section 51- "If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate any citizen in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the U.S. Constitution or laws of the UNITED STATES, or because of his having so exercised the same, or if two or more persons go in disguise on the highway or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any a RIGHT or privilege so secured they shall be fined not more than $5000 and imprisoned not more than ten years, and shall, moreover, be thereafter ineligible to any office, or place of honor, profit, or trust created by the U.S. Constitution or laws of the UNITED STATES".
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About this illegal imprisonment |
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THE TRENTONIAN( 'Weedman'
TV Ad Yanked by Comcast
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IS THIS STILL
IT'S NOT GOOD
ENOUGH TO SAY YOUR JUST DOING YOUR JOB OR FOLLOWING
ORDERS! THAT'S WHAT THE NAZI'S CLAIMED, THAT'S WHAT COMMUNIST SOLDIERS CLAIM.
BUT IN
HELP OUT THE
"NJWEEDMAN"
Write or Call these local NJ state officals!
Be sure your mail indicates clearly to these authorities that "WE THE PEOPLE" ARE AWARE of Ed Forchions' plight and that WE CARE! Be sure to indicate that Americans still believe in the "BILL of RIGHTS" and the "War on some Drugs" is unjust and wrong and that we will not be puppets for the homeland. Everyone has the right to speak! WE as the beneficiaries of God's most favoured herb have a voice and unused, there is silence...The Constitution gives "we american's" the right to voice our dissent that's WEEDMAN was doing!
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HARVEY
GOLDSTEIN |
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Assistant
Attorney General |
Assistant
Attorney General |
Lend Ed a hand by Writing these Politicians and asking them what
happened to
Freedom of Speech in
"Freedom
of Speech"!
Ed Forchion was locked away
for "supposedly" for violating the terms of (ISP) Intensive Supervised
Program, the crime: of produceing 3 anti-drug war
Television commercials,
THAT WERE
NEVER AIRED;
ALL ED
FORCHION DID WAS speak the TRUTH about the war on SOME
drugs.
SO WHO WAS
HARMED BY THESE EVIL TV SPOTS?
IF A TREE FALLS IN THE
Is it because as a BLACK-MAN he would have
great access and credibility before AFRICAN-AMERICANS; who are by a large the
greatest victims of this so-called war on drugs. Was this a
attempt to silence a future "POLITICAL FORCE"? THE TRUTH is everyone
including ‘convicted persons’ have the right of “FREE SPEECH”.
The
ISP Manager
(Harvey Goldstein) is stating that Ed violated the terms of his release however
Ed Forchion DID NOT advocate the use
of marijuana or any other illegal substance! He only advocates
the changing of the current Marijuana laws. How could that be illegal, isn’t
that how laws are changed in
THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY AND THE STATE JUDGE(s) IN ED'S CASE, ARE ALSO VIOLATING THE RIGHT TO A ‘SPEEDY TRIAL’ BY FILIBUSTERING THE AFTERNOON AWAY, SO ED COULD NOT PRESENT HIS DEFENSE THUS LEAVING HIM IN JAIL FOR LONGER!
In
The violation is against Ed Forchion's family
and his 1st Amendment right to FREE SPEECH!
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"THE-NJWEEDMAN" ARRESTED FOR DARING TO ATTEMPT TO AIR ANTI-DRUG WAR COMMERCIALS |
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DRUGWAR.COM No Freedom of Speech for Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion by
Political candidate and
outspoken marijuana legalization proponent Ed “NJWeedman” Forchion is under arrest again in At this time details about his charges are still a bit sketchy, as the Burlington County jail refuses to divulge any information about the case other than that he is in the jail, alleging that they are not allowed to "release any information to civilians.” (The Burlington Co. jail later amended this statement, telling Drugwar.com that we were entitled to have this information, but only from the warden, who has not returned repeated calls.) Forchion has a long history of fighting for the right to use marijuana, and of paying the consequences for battling prohibition. He’d had a couple of minor brushes with the law over petty offenses in his early years (but compared to many of the corporate crooks still sitting pretty without seeing the inside of a jail cell, he’s an angel of propriety). In November of 1997, having built up a thriving marijuana smuggling business while working as a truck driver driving his own rig, he was arrested in a sting operation as he and his brother were trying to pick up a FedEx package containing 40 pounds of marijuana. This lead to both brothers, along with a third friend, being the first people tried in New Jersey under the then-new Omnibus Crime Act, which allows for anyone convicted of trafficking over 20 pounds of pot, even their first offence, to do 20 years in prison. While awaiting trial,
Forchion undertook a campaign to bring marijuana reform into the public
consciousness, as well as the right to Jury Nullification (which is illegal in New Jersey) running
unsuccessfully for office in the US congress and for the office of Burlington
County Freeholder, as the sole member of the Legalize Marijuana Party.
Forchion also undertook civil disobedience, lighting up joints in the New
Jersey State Assembly and at the Liberty Bell, among a dozen or so very
public places. Two years, 15 hearings, and three judges later, Forchion
accepted a plea bargain of 6 months in jail and 27 months in New
Jersey’s Intensive
Supervised Parole program, after refusing to rat out his marijuana
connections. Reporting to the Riverfront Prison in Camden, NJ, on Jan. 12,
2001, (where prison guards immediately found 10 joints secreted within the
sole of his sneaker), Forchion was informed he was not yet eligible for ISP,
due to his “extensive” criminal history. He did 15 months inside
before finally getting released on “I'm still fighting this conviction,” Forchion wrote Drugwar.com in an email a few hours before his arrest Monday. “My parole officer (Tom Bartlett) also ordered me not to talk to the press. Which I regarded as a illegal order. Because I knew such a order not to talk to the press was illegal I gave a few interviews anyway. On May 27th, I stood outside the Burlington County Courthouse and protested my not being able to see my daughter because of the Religion [Rastafari] I have chosen. I passed out fliers and was interviewed by the Burlington County Times and the Trentonian.” On the following day he was placed under house arrest, then was arrested on June 6 and sat in jail for four days for speaking to the newspapers. “I was livid,”
writes Forchion, “this was totally un-American. So I contacted Peter
Christopher of http://www.nextplayvideo.com/
(Activist video) and asked him if he could help me by making a couple of
First Amendment commercials for me. He did, we made three. I went to Comcast
here in Mt Laurel, NJ, and presented them. They ( “In our standard advertising contract, there is a paragraph that prohibits habit forming drugs and illegal products from appearing in advertising spots. so it is a cut and dried situation for the company,” said David Shane, Comcast's vice-president of corporate communications. “The spots clearly violate the agreement that he signed, so as a result we returned his $100 deposit, and the company is not running the spots.” When it was noted that Comcast takes money from, and airs commercials by both the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s National Anti-Drug Media Campaign, and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Shane said, “They don’t promote the use of habit forming drugs or drug paraphernalia. Let me read you the contract, the clause in the contract. ‘The following material is explicitly prohibited. Drugs/illegal products, including habit forming drugs, drug paraphernalia, or establishments that promote these products. Also included is advertising for a product of service which is illegal or has no legitimate use in the country, state, or municipality where systems franchise area [sic] are located.' So it’s pretty clear these spots violate that portion of the contract.” Although it is clear that marijuana has many different legitimate uses despite the US prohibitionist rhetoric and laws to the contrary, and may or may not be habit forming for some people, Shane stuck to his guns, but did not mention whether or not pharmaceutical companies which market habit forming drugs on Comcast have to abide by this same agreement. He did note that “Anybody who advertises on Comcast signs this standard advertising contract. Again, anything promoting the use of habit forming drugs or drug paraphernalia are prohibited on Comcast.” “I’m so fucking mad I could spit,” Peter Christopher told Drugwar.com when contacted about Comcast‘s decision and Forchion’s subsequent arrest. “We’re trying to get activists to do stuff like this. Sponsor some public access, shoot their own video. It took about 4 hours one afternoon at Ed’s house. I’m almost embarrassed to tell you how quickly I edited them. We wrote them for 30 seconds slots, timed them, and tried them. Actually the commercials were written and edited by a friend of mine. We’re trying to influence people to come out and work with us. I think they will.” Christopher points out how the system has really gone after Forchion, because he represents the counter-culture, he is very loud about his beliefs, and is not afraid of the repercussions that have resulted for standing up for what he believes is right. “These things go unchallenged every day,” says Christopher. “Guys get tossed around, nobody does anything about it. Why? I think a lot of it is fear. I’m going to tell you this, and you think about it. It may have never occurred to you. The problem is the system has turned too many people. Four out of five people tell them everything they want to know. How can you go from that situation to being an activist? How can you look other people in the face and help them change the laws when you’ve told on them? Eighty percent of the people arrested tell all. Those are the statistics, they don’t lie.” But Forchion himself refused to roll over and tell all. On Monday night, Forchion
reported for his weekly parole meeting. At the end, everyone was told they
could go except Forchion, according to Christopher, who spoke at length with
Forchion later that night. Forchion was taken into custody, during which his
new commercials were mentioned as the reason his parole was being violated, then taken to the Forchion does not yet have a lawyer assisting him. He is also seeking help in obtaining enough money to run the commercials in any venue he can get them on. “The War on Drugs is being fought by two sides, the Government side and the winning side,” Forchion points out. “Apparently Comcast only wants the government side’s opinions expressed. This is absolute censorship. Yes, I had a shirt on with a "weed-leaf". Comcast airs far worst! They aired my campaign commercials three years ago and in those I had a bong and a fake weed leaves hanging out my suit jacket pocket. It wasn't the shirt, it was the words they didn't like. I was questioning the War on Drugs and what it is doing to the principals of freedom this country was founded on. This is an example." |
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MARIJUANA ADVOCATE JAILED FOR ESPOUSING LEGALIZATION OF DRUG Marijuana legalization advocate Ed "njweedman" Forchion is in trouble with the law again. Forchion was jailed Monday night after he violated the terms of the supervisory program in which he is enrolled, officials said yesterday. As a result, the Tom Bartlett, regional director for the Intensive Supervision Program, said Forchion violated provisions of the program by advocating marijuana use. Participants in the Intensive Supervision Program are released early from prison but must remain drug-free and abide by other regulations. "He agreed he was not going to promote
marijuana use," In a telephone interview from the Burlington
County Jail in Forchion said he simply expressed his opinions on free speech and the nation's war on drugs in the commercials. "This is Forchion has long maintained that his First Amendment rights are being violated because he cannot freely practice his faith as a Rastafarian or state his beliefs. Forchion
was charged with helping his brother and another man pick up a shipment of 40
pounds of marijuana at Forchion was tried on charges of distributing marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in October 2000 but pleaded guilty to those charges and two unrelated charges during his trial. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in December 2000 and served 16 months in prison before he was admitted into the Intensive Supervision Program. Under the terms of the program, Forchion must refrain from smoking marijuana and must obtain a job. He also must provide regular urine samples to demonstrate that he is staying clean. Forchion also cannot advocate the legalization of marijuana. In each of the three, 30-second commercials that he taped, Forchion wears a shirt bearing a marijuana leaf and stands in front of an American flag. In one of the commercials, he advocates free speech. In another, he says that marijuana has medicinal benefits. In the third, he criticizes the government's war on drugs. Forchion tried to buy time from Comcast to televise the commercials, but the cable company declined to air them. Comcast spokeswoman Nissa O'Mara said the commercials violated the company's advertising policy against promoting drug use. |
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TRENTONIAN Day 5 of WEEDMAN hunger strike! Ed "NJWEEDMAN" Forchion, sitting in
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THE
The Weedman lands back in the pokey for questioning pot laws. JONATHAN VALANIA (jvalania@philadelphiaweekly.com) Ed Forchion, aka the New Jersey Weedman, is back behind bars for allegedly violating the terms of his parole by trying to get a series of anti-drug-war commercials aired on CNN. As per the terms of his parole--a sort of double secret probation called Intensive Supervised Parole (ISP)--Forchion is prohibited from publicly advocating the use or marijuana. Last April Forchion was released from prison, where he was serving a 10-year sentence on marijuana distribution and possession charges, and placed on ISP. Forchion's latest incarceration--the second time this summer he's been put behind bars for speaking to the media or airing his views on drug laws--stems from his attempt in early August to book airtime with Comcast Cable for a series of commercial spots that question the constitutionality and scientific validity of the criminalization of marijuana. Forchion
was hoping to run the ads locally during CNN's In the spots, Forchion never encourages or advocates the recreational use of marijuana. Instead, he argues that the war on drugs is unconstitutional. In all three spots, Forchion stands before an American flag, goateed and dreadlocked, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with marijuana leaves. Prior
to Comcast's refusal to air the spots, Forchion, who has been effective in
advancing his opinions through the media, told both the Trentonian and
the Burlington County Times that the ads were set to run. It was
through these newspaper stories that Tom Bartlett, regional director of the
ISP program, learned about the commercials and promptly had Forchion arrested
on Aug. 19 and sent to "He
agreed that he would not promote marijuana use," An ISP parole hearing is scheduled for Sept. 17. "This is like Alice in Wonderland: sentence first, ISP hearing later," says Forchion's attorney, John Vincent Saykanic, who has filed a motion for bail. Forchion began a hunger strike on Aug. 26 and vows to continue it till his release. He told PW through an intermediary that he's concerned that prison officials will start force-feeding him.
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TRENTONIAN A FEDERAL CASE: "WEEDMAN" seeks releif from higher court The case of Ed "NJWEEDMAN" Forchion is headed to federal court. Believing that he is being held in jail unconstitutionally,
Forchion petitioned the federal district court in Judge Joseph Irenas accepted Forchion's petition, and now the state has until Oct. 28 to explain to the judge why Forchion is sitting in the clink "The judge clearly saw something legitimate," said John Furlong, a local lawyer and expert in these matters. "He [Forchion] made it through the door, which puts him head and shoulders above everyone else." Furlong explained that the federal courts are deluged with writs of habeas corpus, and very few get accepted. "He's moving in the right direction," Furlong said. "He's got a leg up." Forchion has been stewing the Burlington County Jail for a month. He was arrested Aug. 18 after filming three commercials that the state claims advocated the use of marijuana. The commercials, as seen by The Trentonian, dealt with First Amendment issues and the war on drugs, and did not explicitly advocate the use of marijuana. But that's what members of the Intensive Supervisory Program said he did. ISP is a heightened state of parole Forchion was put into it after 17 months in prison for transporting 25 pounds of pot into the state. As part of Forchion's deal, ISP allegedly forbade him from advocating the use of marijuana, though Forchion claims no paperwork on such a restriction exists. Tom Bartlett, the On Tuesday, Forchion was supposed to appear before a three-judge
panel in The hearing was meant to determine if Forchion did in fact break the terms of the ISP deal. Witnesses were in court, Forchion's lawyer was ready to go, and the judges said they would hold the hearing for last, supposedly so they could get a firmer handle on the case. The only problem with the hearing was that it never took place
-- the state failed to arrange transportation for Forchion from "It was an honest mix-up," No new date for the ISP hearing was announced. |
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DRUGWAR.COM11/20/2002 The Return of the Star Chamber-
by incarcerated
posted at DrugWar.com (for background on Forchion's case, please see No Freedom of Speech for Ed "NJWeedman" Forchion) Although most Americans don’t know it,
many of the rights we as Americans have were derived as a result of the
English trial in 1670 of William Penn. Eventually, not only was
Penn’s acquittal upheld but the jury was freed and Today in America the War on Some Drugs and Users has eroded most of these rights. We now even have illegal religions. I belong to one, Rastafari. The 4th Amendment is null and void, and the 6th and 7th Amendments are unrecognizable in the criminal justice system due to forced plea bargains. The 6th Amendment right to assistance of counsel for defense has been voided by State appointed lawyers who protect the State from citizens instead of how they were originally mandated: to protect citizens from abuse of government. The 6th and 7th Amendment rights to a speedy trial by a jury of one’s peers are now a rarity. In my original trial in 2000, I used Jury Nullification as a weapon and was successful to a point. I forced the State to offer me a light sentence, with the threat that my jury wouldn’t convict me. I was offered 3-6 months in prison, followed by 16 months in a program called Intensive Supervision Parole. A month into my 3-6 months, ISP informed me I was ineligible: The State had pulled a “bait and switch.” I was now stuck in prison with a 10 year sentence. From prison I began fighting
for a new trial, trying to withdraw my plea since the State had renigged on its end of the so-called bargain. The local
press began reacting to my letters from prison, writing stories based on my
claims. Suddenly on Immediately upon getting into ISP, I discovered that instead of using ISP as the Intensive Supervision Program, the State intended to use it as the Inmate Silence Program. I was ordered not to talk about my religion, not to talk to the press, or petition for redress. I felt like a modern day William Penn. My ISP officer ordered me to dismantle the sanctuary I had built in my home. I viewed this as akin to William Penn having his church boarded up the English government. Similar to William Penn I defiantly refused to shut up, and was rearrested for complaining about my unconstitutional treatment. I was held for 5 days, from June 6-10, until I agreed by threat not to espouse my beliefs again publicly. Upon release though, I decided to go even more public, similar to how Penn held a public sermon after being told not to. Following the philosophy of the Great Rastafarian prophet and reggae singer Bob Marley, who said “stand up for you rights, don’t give up the fight, keep up the fight,” I made 3 anti-Drug War commercials that didn’t directly espouse my beliefs but did call for the end of the War on Some Drugs and Users which makes my religion as illegal as Quakerism was for William Penn. When the Trentonian newspaper
conducted an interview with me on August 15-17 about these commercials, I was arrested again
on The state is holding me to prevent me from espousing my beliefs or teaching the public about Jury Nullification. I have little doubt that today’s Star Chamber (ISP panel) will send me to prison. I have filed a “Writ of Habeas Corpus”
with the Federal Court in |
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STAR-LEDGER 'WEEDMAN' FAILS IN EFFORT TO GET OUT OF JAIL The
self-proclaimed " The
three-judge Intensive Supervision Program panel that met yesterday
The panel did
not announce when the matter would be resumed, but until Forchion had
been admitted to the ISP in April after serving 16 months of Forchion,
accompanied by two lawyers, public defender Craig Pierson and Thomas Russo,
representing the program, said Forchion was charged with 16 "I
dispute the allegations that I violated numerous conditions of my ISP,"
"I
enrolled in the program, I wish to remain in the program, but the Thomas
Bartlett, a regional supervisor for the ISP, said Forchion agreed In
cross-examining Forchion says
he never espoused the "use" of marijuana after his release
"Do you
believe the First Amendment does not apply to convicted felons?"
"I
believe you entered a voluntary program and agreed to abide by the
The New
Jersey Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a Forchion, of
Pemberton Township, Burlington County, pleaded guilty in Forchion, who
is a Rastafarian, has said he used marijuana for religious Forchion was
once escorted from the Copyright
Newark Morning Ledger Co.
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CANNABIS CULTURE MAGAZINE ARTICLE |
HIGHTIMES MAGAZINE ARTICLE |
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Subject: Notice
of Ed's hearings |
____________________________________________
The
This is a violation against Ed Forchion's and his 1st Amendment right to FREE SPEECH, this is about the "BILL of RIGHTS" not marijuana! Ed Forchion is Hoping that Protesters against the FAILED DRUG WAR, the Prison-Military-Industrial Complex which uses inmates as slaves, or anyone who cares about FREEDOM of SPEECH, and the right as an adult to choose which medicine or drug one ingests into their own bodies, to show up in force!
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FEDERAL CASE BEGINS ( |
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