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Prison Funding Gets OK ('Associated Press' Says Oregon Legislature's
Emergency Board Approved $151 Million For Bonds For 1,100-Bed
Facility In Wilsonville But Doesn't Say What Ultimate Cost Of Bonds Will Be
With Interest Or Why Legislators Weren't Called Into Special Session
To Authorize So Much Money Off-Budget For What Already Consumes
Largest Portion Of State's Budget)
By CHARLES E. BEGGS
The Associated Press
01/31/98 2:24 AM Eastern
SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Lawmakers on Friday approved financing
to build a $151 million prison at a controversial Wilsonville site
while also urging the governor to consider a newly proposed
alternate location in the city.
The Legislative Emergency Board voted 12-5 to authorize selling
debt notes to fund the 1,100-bed prison complex at the site of the
closed Dammasch state mental hospital.
The state Corrections Department hopes to begin construction and
have the prison operating by mid-2000.
But foes of the location unveiled a new option Friday, a smaller
site at the north of the city near Interstate 5. They say it would
remove objections over the Dammasch location being too close to
schools and homes.
Steve Marks, an assistant to Gov. John Kitzhaber, said the
governor would give the idea at least some consideration.
"It's an interesting proposal," Marks said. "It probably would be
responsible to get some review of this."
To formally consider the new option, the governor would have to
reactivate a special state prison siting council to hold hearings.
Marx said that could add 180 days to the project.
Marx said he was pleased the E-Board approved funding to so the
project can go ahead in any case.
But opponents say they plan to bring new legal challenges, which
could delay the work by making it difficult to sell debt certificates
to investors.
The Oregon Supreme Court last month rejected a challenge to the
siting decision, saying the state followed proper procedures in
choosing the location.
Wilsonville citizens have battled the prison plan on grounds it
would be disrupt a residential area and use land needed for
housing.
Some lawmakers said while the Dammasch site might be less than
idea, the Legislature has given the governor the job of deciding
where prisons should be located and that there always will be
dissension.
"No one really wants one in their back yard," said Sen. Neil
Bryant, R-Bend.
The prison mainly would be for women inmates and also include
an intake processing center for male and female convicts destined
for other prisons in the state.
The design will allow addition of up to 500 beds.
Lawmakers voting against funding the project were Sens. Eileen
Qutub, R-Salem, Gene Derfler, R-Salem, and Mae Yih,
D-Albany, and Reps. Larry Sowa, D-Oregon City, and Lynn
Snodgrass, R-Boring.
The E-Board handles budget matters between legislative sessions.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We welcome your feedback.
http://www.oregonlive.com/about/feedbk.html
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Police Mourn The Loss Of First Woman Killed In Line Of Duty
('Associated Press' Story On Funeral Of Portland Marijuana Task Force Officer
Killed Tuesday In Warrantless Raid)
By CARA GRIFFIN
The Associated Press
01/31/98 1:51 AM Eastern
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Flags flew at half-staff, blue ribbons
fluttered from cars and hundreds of police marched in line Friday
behind the family of the city's first female officer killed in the line
of duty.
Colleen Waibel, 44, was shot to death Tuesday as she and other
officers broke down the door of a suspected marijuana dealer.
Hers was the second death of a Portland police officer in less than
a year. Last July, Officer Thomas Jeffries, 35, was killed in a
shootout with a fleeing assault suspect.
Thousands of people joined officers from as far away as British
Columbia for the public memorial in New Hope Community
Church.
Friends, family and colleagues remembered Waibel as a dedicated
policewoman with an easy smile and the willingness to drop
everything for a friend.
"Being there for her friends and family was her life," Kathy
Moyer, Colleen's friend of 23 years, told the gathering. "We need
to remember her determination, honesty, and vitality. We need to
remember the fun."
Officer Cheryl McGinley rememberd Waibel's dedication to her
career.
"Night after night she worked hard to right the wrongs," McGinley
said. "We all knew, whatever Colleen was involved in, she was
giving it her all."
Officer Teresa Uttke offered an emotion-choked remembrance.
"Colleen and I grew up together -- not in childhood, but in police
work," Uttke said.
"You will be missed very much," Uttke told her fallen comrade.
"Thank you for allowing me to share in your life."
Pink and yellow light from the church's one stained glass window
illuminated the amphitheater crowded with uniformed officers and
civilians. One woman wiped tears from her cheeks with a dark
tissue pulled from her purse.
But the mourners laughed, too, when Lt. Cliff Jensen told a story
of Colleen and two fellow officers. Responding to an alarm call,
they saw someone lying unresponsive on the floor -- a moment
later they realized the body was a mannequin.
As he looked around the house, one of the officers stooped to test
the temperature of water in a hot tub, accidentally filling his boot
with water.
Jensen said Colleen responded with her characteristic one-liners: "I
don't know about you guys. One can't tell the difference between
a mannequin and a human being, the other thinks he can walk on
water."
Colleen's friend Elena Uhing called the slain officer her hero.
"She got up every day, put on her uniform and did a difficult and
dangerous job," she said. "That is my idea of a hero."
Waibel's brother, Father Phillip Waibel, led the service, asking
mourners "to recall the stories where Colleen came into your
life...to share with our family."
As the church emptied, baskets outside the amphitheater filled
with cards addressed to Colleen's family.
After the service hundreds of police cars streamed from the
church, lights flashing, and headed toward downtown Portland in
a procession across town to the cemetery where she was buried.
The rush-hour procession closed freeways, clogged city streets,
and drew thousands of spectators along the way.
About 700 people, including family and friends, gathered earlier at
St. Mary's Cathedral for a funeral Mass attended by Chief Charles
Moose and other high-ranking police officials.
"She embraced her purpose, she understood her job, she
understood her fellow officers, she understood her community,"
Moose said.
Mayor Vera Katz canceled her State of the City address, which
had been scheduled for Friday, and declared a day of mourning.
Waibel worked in law enforcement about 20 years, beginning with
the Washington County sheriff's department before joining the
Portland police to work in the records division. After 11 years in
that job, she became a sworn officer six years ago.
She was married to Sgt. Mark Fortner, who learned about his
wife's death while he was home sick on Tuesday.
Waibel, who had two sons by a previous marriage, came from a
large Washington County family that includes her cousin, Janice
Waibel, a reporter for KPTV in Portland.
As a Portland officer, Colleen Waibel was active in neighborhood
issues and had served as a police liaison.
Officer Kim Keist, 39, remained hospitalized Friday in serious
condition after she suffered wounds to the chest and arm in the
Tuesday shooting. Keist also lost a kidney, but was expected to
make a full recovery.
Sgt. James Hudson, 42, was treated at the scene for the gunshot
wound to the hand.
The suspected gunman, Steven Dons, 37, remained in critical
condition Friday with chest wounds. Doctors say he may be
paralyzed from the waist down.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We welcome your feedback.
http://www.oregonlive.com/about/feedbk.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Farewell To A Fallen Hero - Thousands Honor The First Portland Policewoman
Killed In The Line Of Duty ('The Oregonian' Covers Funeral Of Officer Killed
During Portland Marijuana Task Force Warrantless Break-In)
oregonlive.com
January 31, 1998
letters@news.oregonian.com
Farewell to a fallen hero
Thousands honor the first Portland policewoman
killed in the line of duty
By David R. Anderson
of The Oregonian staff
As pink sunlight streamed from a stained-glass
window over her portrait and her flag-draped
casket, about 3,000 people packed New Hope
Community Church in Clackamas on Friday to
say goodbye to Colleen Waibel.
From Seaside to Boise,
from Victoria, British
Columbia, to Klamath
Falls, fellow officers from
334 police agencies paid
their respects, so many that
they filled the side aisles. They came to honor the
first Portland policewoman killed in the line of
duty, cut down by a hail of bullets in a Tuesday
drug raid at the age of 44.
They heard of the aunt, the sister, the wife and
the cop who could be both a warrior and a tender
soul.
The stories from fellow officers during the
80-minute public memorial service brought as
many laughs as tears. That's how Waibel, known
for her beaming smile, would have wanted it, they
said.
There was a story about Waibel running after a
drug user in The Grotto in Northeast Portland.
When the man tried to push past her, Waibel took
exception. She grabbed him by the collar, and his
shirt ripped off.
The man, half-naked, ended up stuck in
blackberry bushes.
"I think she won," Officer Cheryl McGinley said.
"Night after night, she worked hard to right the
wrongs."
She was a woman who could calm a screaming
baby with a gentle whisper and who eagerly
learned how to turn traffic stops into drug busts.
She trained new women officers to be a credit to
their gender. She was a hero.
"It was never about her," said Police Chief
Charles Moose. "She became a D.A.R.E. officer
to help kids. She became a police officer to help
others."
Her death was not fair.
"Many of us will forever wish it could have been
us on Jan. 27, 1998," Moose said. "Why is it
always the good people? Why is it always people
who reach out and make us all better?"
'Our loss is eternal'
And then Moose ended by handing Waibel's
husband, police Sgt. Mark Fortner, the Portland
Police Bureau's Police Star.
"Because Officer Colleen Waibel ... ," Moose
said, pausing to collect himself.
He started again. "Because Officer Colleen
Waibel died while taking proper police action. She
gave the ultimate.
"Our loss is eternal."
It was a moment that brought home the crushing
loss and brought tears to even the toughest cops.
Perhaps only one other moment challenged that
for sadness, when East Precinct Cmdr. Mark
Paresi said an officer had a message for Waibel to
give Officer Thomas L. Jeffries, shot and killed in
the line of duty in July.
"Tell Tom that his baby is beautiful," he said.
Friday morning, family and friends celebrated a
Mass of Christian burial in St. Mary's Cathedral.
More than 800 people gathered in the cavernous
Roman Catholic church in Northwest Portland to
celebrate Waibel's legacy of love, honor and duty
to Portland police.
Before the service, Waibel's casket sat in the
entryway. It was flanked by six officers in their
ceremonial blue uniforms, white gloves and
polished black shoes.
As organ music wafted over the crowd, officers
removed the flag and replaced it with a pall. The
slain officer's nieces and nephews escorted the
casket to the front of the church, followed by
Fortner and her parents. Then came a host of
other relatives.
Two of Waibel's siblings read religious passages
before her brother, the Rev. Philip Waibel, said
Mass. It, too, was a service tinged with humor.
As incense smoke rose above the coffin, Philip
Waibel said: "She never did like smoke. But since
she's 18 months older than me, I can say that it's
payback time."
He asked that his sister be remembered as a
"great lady" who dedicated her life to making the
world a better place for everyone.
"She was such a blessing to so many lives," he
said. "The pain that we all feel is going to be with
us for some time. In one sense, this pain has
value because it reminds us of the depth of our
loss."
After the service, officers replaced the pall with
the flag and wheeled the coffin to the waiting
hearse. The crowd gathered outside for a few
minutes, then slowly dispersed for the trip to New
Hope Community Church.
Governor, mayor attend
Waibel's death brought out public officials and
common folks, from Gov. John Kitzhaber and
Portland Mayor Vera Katz to parents who
watched the procession with their children on its
route from the Clackamas church to Mount
Calvary Cemetery.
Across Southeast Stevens Road from the church
entrance, dozens of onlookers -- many waving
small American flags -- stood in silence under a
bright blue sky as the funeral procession of at
least 750 vehicles began.
The police cars, each with its roof-mounted light
bar flashing brilliant beams of red, blue, yellow
and white, followed the hearse and its motorcycle
escort. The spectacle impressed Jennifer
Arelliano, 42, of Clackamas, who was there with
her 17-year-old daughter, Stacy.
"It's nice, Arelliano said. "It shows respect for an
officer, a fallen hero."
Scores of others along Southeast Stevens Road
south of the church and along Southeast
Sunnyside Road between Stevens and Interstate
205 -- the originally announced route -- waited in
vain to see the procession. As they learned that it
turned left instead of right, and headed north
instead of south, several were disappointed. But
they were not sorry they had come.
"It's OK," said Lynn Zapata, 32, of Vancouver,
Wash. "We still came."
Zapata stood near an entrance to the Sunnyside
205 shopping plaza on Southeast Stevens Road at
Southeast Sunnyside Road with her son Tyler, 8,
and daughters Jasmine, 11, and Brittany, 12.
Zapata's husband is Vancouver Police Officer
Laurence Zapata, who was shot at after a bank
robbery last fall.
Fortunately, she said, he and his fellow officers
were not injured in the shootout, in which two
suspects were killed. But living every day with the
knowledge that what happened to Waibel could
happen to her husband is tough.
"It's hard to accept," she said, "and it just makes
you think about what you have and how thankful
you are."
Jann Churchill, a flight nurse for the LifeFlight
Network, stood for three hours waiting for the
15-mile-long procession to reach Southeast
Washington Street where it passes I-205.
As the afternoon progressed, she was joined by
others, who arrived in twos and threes, until their
ranks filled the overpasses in both directions.
Churchill dipped an American flag she had bought
for the occasion in salute to officers as they
passed below. In turn, they waved and saluted.
Up and down the interstate, motorists pulled to
the side and stood in silent tribute as the
procession passed.
Jill Huckestein, 14, and three Fernwood Middle
School friends were walking home across the
Northeast 33rd Avenue overpass as they usually
do, when they heard about the funeral procession.
They decided to stop and watch.
"I think we should pay our respects," Huckestein
said. "I think it would be just rude to walk by."
Taking time out to pay respects
Mark Lee didn't happen by. He took time off
from his job as an electrician to watch the
procession.
"Sometimes you just have to stop and do these
things because I feel it's right," Lee said. "That's
one of the nice things about Portland. Even
though it's a city, it's got a small-town
atmosphere."
About 90 people, some in business suits, some in
sweat pants, watched quietly from different spots
near the end of the Fremont Bridge.
Tim Oakley closed his Portland design shop so he
and his employees could watch the procession.
"This really hit home, especially when it was the
first female on the force," he said. "It really
makes me sick."
Daniel Kuhn was returning from a funeral in
Vancouver when he saw police cars from
different cities converging on Portland and
decided to stop.
"It really speaks well of the people of Portland
that they are showing this kind of support," he
said. "I've seen processions in Los Angeles and
San Francisco, and I've never seen anything of
this magnitude."
Before the procession of flickering blue-red-blue
lights disappeared into the trees of the Northwest
Hills, the men and women following Waibel's
hearse got one last wave from the crowd lining
West Burnside Street.
"It's very moving," said Frank Byrnes, one of
several black-tie staff of the RingSide who lined
the curb in front of the steak restaurant. Byrnes,
who has waited tables there for 23 years, said he
recognized many faces in the procession. For the
entire length of the motorcade, he waved a white
napkin.
"They deserve it," Byrnes said. "It's the only time
we can all get together and salute them."
John Eklund and a friend, both seniors at
Portland State University planning to become
police officers, said the size of the crowd lining
the street surprised them.
"I think about, 'This could be me,'" Eklund said.
"I just get chills watching it go by."
Anne Anderson brought her two sons, Jeffrey, 3
months, and Jon, 4. Her husband is Sgt. David
Anderson, who was in the procession.
Anderson remembers making a similar trip with
Jon for Jeffries' funeral.
"First time I brought him, I thought, `This is a
rare thing,'" she said. "Now, to happen so soon.
What's he going to think - it's going to happen
every six months?"
Last sun at cemetery
The procession arrived at Mount Calvary
Cemetery at 4:45 p.m. and passed under a large
American flag suspended from an arch formed by
the aerial ladders from Fire Stations 13 and 22.
By then the weather had turned cloudy over what
had been a sun-dappled hillside two hours before.
As the graveside service got under way, the
clouds parted, and the day's last glimmer bathed
the casket and mourners in unearthly light. As the
sun set, the flashing lights of hundreds of police
vehicles illuminated the scene.
And it took an invocation by children who knew
Waibel, repeated earlier in the day, to put her to
rest.
"The children from Russell Elementary were
right," said Lt. Cliff Jensen: "Colleen was an angel
sent from heaven."
David Austin, Steven Amick, Jennifer Bjorhus,
Ashbel S. Green, Stuart Tomlinson, Peter
Farrell, Cara Rubinsky, Angela Cara Pancrazio
and Steve Nehl of The Oregonian staff
contributed to this story.
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Paid Petitioning Costs Vs. Volunteer Petitioning (Paul Stanford
Of The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Initiative Campaign Seeks Funding,
Quotes Probable Oregon GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Bill Sizemore Saying,
'I Would Have Signed' Recriminalization Bill, Too)
From: "D. Paul Stanford"
Reply-To: "stanford@crrh.org"
To: "'Restore Hemp!'" ,
Subject: Paid petitioning costs vs. Volunteer petitioning
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 15:42:43 -0800
Organization: CRRH
Sender: owner-cannabis-commonlaw-l@teleport.com
I did a radio show with a local news talk station this morning and listened
for a bit afterwards. Later this morning they had Oregon initiative
activist Bill Sizemore as a guest, where he basically said he is announcing
he will run for governor next Thursday.
According to Bill Sizemore, who has put several initiatives on the ballot
here in Oregon with his group, Oregon Taxpayers United, "Volunteer
petitioning costs 50 percent more than paid petitioning. There are more
costs for mailing, printing, phone bills and contacting people. You give a
paid petitioner 100 petition sheets and you'll get 100 full sheets back
with thousands of signatures. If you give volunteers 100 sheets you'll get
1 sheet back with 3 signatures. Paid petitioning is a good thing. It saves
money."
We are working diligently to raise money to pay petitioners. More as it
develops.
We just got a business reply envelope approved this week, so people can
mail back to us without hesitation. Want one? If you have some petitions
out there, get them in right away! Please help if you can. Give till it
hurts; we are.
I called in and asked Sizemore about HB 3643 to recriminalize marijuana,
now Ballot Measure 57. Sizemore said, " Governor Kitzhaber signed the bill
and I would have signed it too." He seems headed unopposed to the
Republican nomination for Governor, to run against Dr. John next November.
We should have another beautiful night tonight to petition at the last
Rolling Stones show. We are meeting under the big marquee sign at the
corner of Wheeler and Multnomah streets, by the Max train stop at the east
end of the Steel Bridge. I hope to see you there at the Rose Garden. If
not, please send money.
Yours truly,
D. Paul Stanford
We need your help to put this important issue on the ballot in Oregon!
November 3, 1998 ballot question on the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, certified
by the Oregon Supreme Court: " 'Yes' vote permits state-licensed
cultivation, sale of marijuana for medical purposes and to adults."
Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp
CRRH
P.O. Box 86741
Portland, OR 97286
Phone: (503) 235-4606
Fax: (503) 235-0120
Web: http://www.crrh.org/
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Medical Marijuana - How Can We Deny Relief Of Pain To Devastatingly Ill
Citizens? (Letter To Editor Of 'Seattle Times' About Failure Of Washington
Senate Bill 6721)
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 23:55:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Robert Lunday
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net
cc: editor@mapinc.org
Subject: HT: LTE - Seattle Times - 1/31/98
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Pubdate: 1/31/98
Source: Seattle Times LTE
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Medical marijuana
How can we deny relief of pain to devastatingly ill citizens?
I just finished reading "Chances slim for marijuana bill," as well as
"Medical pot advocate dies."
I am appalled that once again the opportunity to pass legislation in
our state allowing the terminally ill, and those suffering from painful,
serious illnesses will not have a chance.
The "marijuana bill" article indicated that many legislators as well as
opponents of the bill wanted more "clinical research" before approving the
bill. There are many studies currently set up to do exactly that, however,
the federal government refuses to allow these agencies to obtain the
marijuana to study.
It appears to be a "Catch 22" at the expense of people like Ralph
Seeley. The real crime in all of this is that the Legislature, as well as
the residents of our fair state, are allowing, no, demanding, that people
like Mr. Seeley die as criminals. Let's be realistic, medical use of
marijuana does not, and will not lead to use of "heavier street drugs." As
far as any message we may be sending our children, the message should be
compassion for those suffering.
Marijuana has, by far, less toxic side affects than prescription drugs
currently available, and it isn't vomited up like pills or liquids often
are. Let's get past the hysteria surrounding this issue and allow
individuals like Ralph Seeley to spend their last days in peace, not
having to use every last bit of energy fighting this issue.
The bottom line is that people with terminal illnesses, as well as those
suffering from multiple sclerosis, lupus, arthritis and glaucoma as well
as other, very serious diseases deserve the best medicine available to
fight their pain and nausea and often that medicine is marijuana.
How can we, as a society, deny our most devastatingly ill citizens that
right?
Rhonda McCormack
Issaquah
-------------------------------------------------------------------
State Marijuana Law Upheld In Split Ruling ('Honolulu Advertiser'
Says Hawaii Supreme Court Rejects Constitutional Challenge
To Marijuana Laws Based On 1978 Privacy Amendment)
Date: Wed, 04 Feb 1998 07:32:52 -0500
From: "R. Lake"
Subject: MN: US HI: STATE MARIJUANA LAW UPHELD IN SPLIT RULING
To: DrugSense News Service
Reply-to: rlake@mapinc.org
Organization: http://www.mapinc.org
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Don Topping
Pubdate: 31 Jan 1998
Source: Honolulu Advertiser
Author: Ken Kobayashi
Contact: 76322.2016@compuserve.com
FAX: (808) 525-8037
Editor's note: If someone would verify the contact info it would be
appreciated. Does this, or any, Hawaii newspaper have a web site?
rlake@mapinc.org
STATE MARIJUANA LAW UPHELD IN SPLIT RULING
The Hawaii Supreme Court yesterday rejected a key constitutional challenge
to state marijuana laws and ruled that it is still illegal to smoke the
drug.
In a 4-1 decision, the court affirmed the petty misdemeanor conviction of
Lloyd Mallan, who was caught smoking marijuana in his car at the Waikiki
Shell parking lot in 1990.
But the significance of the case goes beyond upholding Mallan's $50 fine.
The decision is the first to analyze Hawaii's 1978 privacy amendment of the
state constitution as to whether it should allow people to possess
marijuana.
Marijuana advocates had hoped the privacy amendment would pave the way for
the legalization of the drug by protecting an individual's private conduct
from government interference.
In a case that splintered the high court's five justices into three separate
opinions, four of the five justices upheld Mallan's marijuana conviction.
The controlling opinion by Associate Justice Mario Ramil, who was joined by
Chief Justice Ronald Moon, held that the right of privacy under the
amendment does ot mean a person has a right to possess and use marijuana.
But their 36-page opinion contained a footnote that said their ruling only
addresses the use of marijuana for recreation, which was what Mallan was
doing. They pointed out that they were not deciding whether the amendment
covers marijuana smoking for other reasons.
SEPARATE OPINION, DISSENT
In a separate opinion, Associate Justices Robert Klein and Paula Nakayama
agreed that the conviction should be upheld but did not entirely agree with
the reasoning of Ramil's opinion.
In a 110-page dissent, Associate Justice Steven Levinson wrote that the
marijuana possession law violates the constitutional right of privacy. He
wrote he would have thrown out the conviction.
"It's not unexpected," said Deputy Public Defender Edward Harada, who
represented Mallan, a free-lance writer who was running for Congress as a
Libertarian at the time of his arrest. "To have a constitutional right to
possess marijuana would seem against the weight of common sense for an
appellate court. It's not something you see every day."
But he said the footnote leaves the door open for a future challenge
permitting the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
City Deputy Prosecutor Lori Nishimura said she was pleased. She said the
decision will make it harder for other challenges based on the right of
privacy.
But she said the next challenge may be based on medical or religious uses of
marijuana.
The privacy amendment was cited in a 1988 Hawaii Supreme Court ruling that
struck down sstate laws banning the possession and sale of pornographic
materials. The court reasoned that a person has the right of privacy to
purchase and review those materials in one's home.
DIFFERENT FROM FREE SPEECH
Ramil wrote that the right to use marijuana is not as fundamental as the
right to review materials, which are protected by the First Amendment rights
of free speech and press.
"Inasmuch as we are convinced that the (1978 Constitutional Convention)
delegates who adopted the privacy provision did not intend to legalize
contraband drugs, we also believe that the voters who laater ratified the
privacy provision did not intend such a result," he wrote.
The high court had the Mallan case for more than four years, longer than any
other pending appeal. The length of time and the three opinions, rare for
the court, indicate that the justices had a difficult time dealing with the
case.
Possession of up to an ounce of marijuana is punishable by up to 30 days in
jail and up to $1,000 in fines. Possession of more than that amount is a
misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail. Stiffer penalties apply to
selling and growing marijuana.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
When Justice Is Too Blind ('Washington Post' Notes Two Different
Justice Systems In US For Rich And Poor, As Shown By Contrasting Cases
Of Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton And A DC Mother Of Nine
Facing Mandatory Minimum)
Date: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 16:33:50 -0500
From: "R. Lake"
Subject: MN: US DC: When Justice Is Too Blind
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-to: rlake@mapinc.org
Organization: http://www.mapinc.org
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Richard Lake
Source: Washington Post
Author: Colbert I. King
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Pubdate: Saturday, January 31, 1998
WHEN JUSTICE IS TO BLIND
I wouldn't blame Karen Blakney of Southeast Washington if she's been
following with a bit of cynicism the Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton show
downtown. Blakney shouldn't even be blamed if she's feeling pangs of
jealousy as she watches Linda Tripp and Lucianne Goldberg do their thing.
Because there is one absolute certainty about the ultimate outcome of this
latest White House scandal. Whether the coming months produce impeachment,
moral condemnation, exoneration or veneration, everybody who's anybody in
this sex, lies and audiotape saga will end up at some point down the road
free as birds and financially better off than ever before. America's social
and moral codes of the '90s were made for these folks.
And perhaps that's the part that makes Karen Blakney most heartsick of all.
Because Blakney, a mother of nine children, has been having her own go-round
with the American system of justice. And it sure ain't like what's being
served up in the headlines these days.
Though both Blakney and Monica Lewinsky are women of Washington, their lives
couldn't be farther apart. Blakney's getting by on welfare and food stamps
with a little extra help from her youngest child's father and from her
oldest daughter, who's working while going to school. Lewinsky, of Watergate
and product of an affluent Beverly Hills lifestyle, has probably never had a
serious hunger pang in her life. The only thing they may have in common,
besides gender, is one experience with law enforcement.
Lewinsky's came as she sat for lunch in an upscale Virginia hotel with
friend-turned-traitor Linda Tripp. As you know, dear reader, unbeknownst to
Lewinsky, the FBI also had joined them at the table in the form of a body
wire worn by Tripp that recorded every word being said about Lewinsky's
alleged sexual affair and coverup plot involving the president of the United
States.
Blakney experienced a government "gotcha" of her own. It came courtesy of
two undercover federal agents posing as drug buyers. Not that Blakney, also
known as "Cookie," was doing any of the selling when the agents revealed
their identities.
The drugs were being peddled by two traffickers. A drug-addicted bit player,
Blakney was hired (in keeping with her nickname) to cook powder cocaine into
crack, for which she received the whopping sum of $100. Nonetheless, it was
enough to get her busted -- a then 29-year-old junkie in handcuffs for
trying to feed a bad habit. Today, eight years later and following three
years behind bars, Blakney is still fighting the nightmare of that arrest.
Blakney's criminal justice experience makes Bill Clinton's crisis look like
high tea in the White House Rose Garden.
She was caught cooking powder cocaine into crack. Because there's a 100-to-1
disparity between sentences for crack and powder cocaine offenses, Blakney
faced a mandatory sentence several times worse than if she had been found
packaging the powder. It's a difference enshrined in law -- a law that is
sending a generation of young black men and women like Blakney to jail for
long stretches. Why? Most powder cocaine users are white. And the 90 percent
of defendants in crack prosecutions? You got it -- they're black. This could
have changed in 1995, when Congress and Clinton took a look at the
sentencing disparities. But it was before an election year, and the
Republicans -- not needing us -- and Clinton -- owning us -- agreed that the
law could stay the way it is. After all, why should they care?
So at the time of her sentencing in federal court, Blakney faced a mandatory
minimum of 10 years in jail. However, Senior U.S. Judge Louis Oberdorfer, a
brilliant and compassionate jurist and a conscientious foe of arbitrary
mandatory minimum sentences, ruled that a compulsory sentence of 10 years
for a minor player like Blakney would be a "cruel and unusual" application
of the law in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
Now, Oberdorfer's no softie. He sentenced the drug traffickers in the same
case to life in prison without parole. When it came to Blakney, however,
Oberdorfer imposed 33 months, the sentence she would have faced in a powder
cocaine case.
You think independent counsel Ken Starr's a junkyard dog? Check out our own
U.S. attorney's office in the District. Prosecutors there became apoplectic
at the thought of a pipehead not spending a decade behind bars as prescribed
by law. So with dozens of unprosecuted D.C. government corruption cases
collecting dust in their office, federal lawyers rushed off to challenge
Judge Oberdorfer's ruling. They struck pay dirt when a three-judge panel at
the U.S. Court of Appeals here reversed the ruling and kicked it back to
Judge Oberdorfer for resentencing.
To his everlasting credit, Judge Oberdorfer tried to hang tough, sentencing
Blakney to the 33 months she had already served by the time he took up her
case for resentencing. He had good reasons for not sending her back to jail.
Since her release, Blakney had turned her life around.
She didn't have someone from the social A list like Clinton's sidekick,
Vernon Jordan, looking out for her -- you see, she's a "nobody" from east of
the river. Nor does Blakney have the benefit of a rich father or a
fashionable mom who can fix her up with a place in the Watergate or a New
York apartment. But she does have grit -- and since that incarceration, she
does have God.
After jail, Blakney successfully completed a drug-treatment program and
knocked off the illicit drugs -- as random drug testing continues to show.
She's involved in her church's Outreach Ministry Program and has become a
leader in turning youth and others in the community away from drug
addiction. "Exemplary" is the way Senior U.S. Probation Officer Verdale
Freeman described Blakney's post-jail adjustment. And best of all, according
to court papers, Blakney is on good terms with her young family and keeping
it on the straight and narrow.
But guess what? Prosecutors said to hell with Blakney's reforming herself.
The law says we've got to take her from her family and lock her up for seven
more years. So what if her kids become public charges of the city's
much-maligned foster-care system?
The appeals panel, agreeing that Blakney's successful rehabilitation and
community service are irrelevant, threw in with the prosecutors and vacated
Judge Oberdorfer's resentencing decision. It's all too much for Judge
Oberdorfer, who has recused himself from the case. Blakney's fate is now in
the hands of U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler, who has set a status
hearing for Feb. 10. That's when Blakney may find out when she has to kiss
her kids goodbye.
And that, my friends, is a glimpse of American justice as administered away
from the front pages and evening news. Blakney's among the thousands of
faceless Americans who -- unlike Lewinsky, the Clintons and the rest of that
ilk -- pay a steep price for being poor. Go ahead, get worked up and choose
sides in the Clinton-Lewinsky controversy if you must. But remember people
like Blakney who go through this life without a margin of safety. That is
the face of justice nobody sees.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor Can't Get Arrested For Marijuana In Public ('Marijuananews.com'
Recounts Case Of Protesting Penn State Professor)
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 22:54:17 EST
Reply-To: ai256@chebucto.ns.ca
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Chris Donald
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: US: Prof can't get arrested for mj in public
http://www.marijuananews.com
A Personal Newsletter on the Cannabis Controversies / Date: 01/31/98
Richard Cowan, Editor and Publisher
The Professor Still Can't Get Arrested For Smoking Marijuana at Penn State Gates --
Says: "I'm not an advocate of marijuana. I am an advocate of freedom."
University Park , PA
January 30, 1998
See: [17] Police Refuse to Arrest 65-year-old Penn State Chemistry
Professor Taking Part In Smokeout
Once again, 1,500 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges
yesterday – as every day – but once again Professor Julian
Heicklen was not one of them. And Lord knows, he tried. At a high-noon
marijuana smokeout at Penn State University's gates the 65-year-old
professor emeritus of chemistry could not get arrested even though two
Penn State police officers did confiscate his cigarette.
"We took whatever he was smoking and we are going to test it. If it's
not marijuana, nothing will happen. If it is, we'll forward the
information to the district attorney," said Penn State police Officer
Mark Stringer.
If arrested, Heicklen said he would plead not guilty and ask for a
jury trial, then ask the jury to nullify the laws that make smoking
marijuana illegal. Heicklen said he will also "lean on the district
attorney" to do something about the police taking his cigarette, which
he said was theft. Spoken like the true libertarian that he is!
"Now let's make it clear," Heicklen said. "I'm not an advocate of
marijuana. Today you are seeing me smoke the second marijuana
cigarette of my life. But I am an advocate of freedom."
"Our purpose is to enforce the law but not to further someone's
political purposes," Stringer said. "I think we accomplished that
purpose." Heicklen was not treated differently than a student would
have been because of his age and position, he claimed. The Penn State
officer also said the odor doesn't mean marijuana was being smoked,
and that other herbs, such as sage, smell the same as the marijuana
when burned. Remember that the next time the police say that the odor
of marijuana is probable cause. It is, if they want it to be.
Arbitrary police power.
"If somebody expected us in a crowd to cuff him and take him away,
that wouldn't happen regardless of who that person was," Stringer
said. "We'd have treated anyone the same way." When police left,
someone handed Heicklen a burning joint, which he smoked. Heicklen
told the crowd he would be back again next Thursday. "The more times I
come out here and don't get arrested, the harder it will be to arrest
everyone else," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Police, Marijuana-Sniffing Dog Sweep Through Madison High
(Nine Madison, Wisconsin, High School Students Face Disciplinary Action,
According To Cleveland's 'Plain Dealer')
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 12:56:59 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service
From: Richard Lake
Subject: MN: US OH: Police, Marijuana-sniffing Dog Sweep Through Madison
High
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: rlake@mapinc.org
Source: The Plain Dealer
Author: Maggi Martin, Plain Dealer Reporter
Pubdate: Saturday, January 31, 1998
Website: http://www.cleveland.com/news/
Contact: Unknown/unverified. If anyone can send me a verified contact for
this major (440,000 circulation) newspaper, it will be appreciated.
rlake@mapinc.org
POLICE, MARIJUANA-SNIFFING DOG SWEEP THROUGH MADISON HIGH
MADISON - Nine Madison High School students face disciplinary action after
a drug-sniffing dog yesterday found small amounts of marijuana in lockers
and cars at the school.
One female student, whose age was not available, was arrested, after Marco,
a trained police dog, found two marijuana cigarettes in her car in the
school parking lot.
Eight male students, whose ages also were not available, face possible
expulsion or suspension for either leaving school or having traces of
marijuana in their lockers or cars. School officials will conduct hearings
next week.
Richard Mongell, Madison Township police detective, and Eastlake Patrolman
Richard Greer, who is Marco's handler, assisted school officials in a sweep
through the school and the parking lot, said Superintendent Stan Heffner.
Heffner said lockers are school property, and students are warned they may
be searched at any time. Students also are warned that the parking lot is
patrolled.
"Zero tolerance means zero tolerance," Heffner said. "If a student is going
to be stupid enough to bring marijuana to school, they will have to pay the
price. Students who don't break the law have nothing to worry about."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Vanderbilt Man Wants Drug Counts Dropped ('Tribune Review' Recounts Case
Of Western Pennsylvania Man Popped For Three Pounds Of Pot Received By Post)
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 22:50:57 EST
Reply-To: adbryan@onramp.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: adbryan@onramp.net
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: ART: Vanderbilt man wants drug counts dropped
>From the 1-31-98 Tribune Review (Western PA)
http://tribune-review.com/
letters@tribune-review.com
Vanderbilt man wants drug counts dropped
By S.K. Musisko
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
An intensified effort to catch those sending drugs through the mail from
Tempe, Ariz., resulted in the arrest of a Fayette County man. Friday,
Uniontown attorney Samuel Davis asked the court to suppress evidence
against his client, Marion Steven Hill, 23, of Box 100, Vanderbilt RD1.
Hill is charged with drug possession and possession with intent to
deliver. The hearing was held before Common Pleas Judge John Wagner Jr.
Tempe Police Officer John Bier told Assistant District Attorney Lee
Demosky that police contacted all package delivery services in that area
and asked them to report suspicious parcels.
Last July 18, a delivery service reported a package smelled of
marijuana. Bier said his drug-sniffing dog reacted when he smelled the
box, which was addressed to the defendant and sent by "J. Langley." The
officer got a search warrant and opened the package, finding about three
pounds of marijuana.
Trooper Brian Crouch of the Belle Vernon barracks said after being
contacted by Tempe police, he received the box and placed a device in it
designed to go off when opened.
Trooper Danny Moy testified he dressed in a United Parcel Service
uniform, but drove a blue Mustang to Hill's home on Route 201 on July
22. Moy said he went to the door and Hill asked him, "What's the matter,
did you lose your truck?" Moy replied that because of the UPS strike, he
was using his personal vehicle. Moy said Hill then told him, "I've been
waiting for this package."
Officers moved in as the device sounded minutes later. The phone rang as
officers arrested Hill, and the call was traced to William Bishop in
Tempe. Hill told officers that Bishop sent the package to him, Crouch
said. Bier said Bishop was arrested but isn't yet charged in the case.
Troopers found the empty box in an upstairs bedroom and the marijuana
under a bed. Investigators also collected drug paraphernalia.
Davis argued there was no evidence Hill knew the package contained
marijuana. "The way this was done, if permitted, would lead to a
horrendous application of the law," Davis argued. "The case is woefully
weak. That could be you, your honor, or anyone else."
"And if I possessed it, I would have been in violation of the law,"
Wagner responded.
The judge will issue a ruling soon.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Buyers Clubs Illegal - Medicinal Marijuana Still Falls Outside Law, Police,
Politicians Say ('Ottawa Citizen' Notes Responses To Yesterday's Announcement
By Ontario Activists That They Would Open Clubs To Force Politicians To Act)
Resent-Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 20:26:41 -0800 (PST)
Old-Return-Path:
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 23:26:33 -0500 (EST)
To: mattalk@islandnet.com
From: Michael Foster
Subject: Buyers Clubs Illegal
Ottawa Citizen, Saturday, January 31, 1998
BUYERS CLUBS ILLEGAL-Medicinal marijuana still falls outside law, police,
politicians say
By Mike Shahin
Medicinal marijuana buyers clubs are likely to remain in the grey zone of
politics and the law for awhile-judging by reaction to a brash attempt to
force the issue.
A group of Ontario activists is promising to openly supply cannabis to
people whose doctors advise them to use it for illness. The activists have
asked the federal health and justice ministers to exempt them from the law,
but say they will run the clubs in eight southwestern Ontario cities even
without an exemption.
Pierre Gratton, spokesman for Justice Minister Anne McLellan, said she
had not yet seen the request, but doubted an exemption could be granted
"before public policy changes take place. You can expect that it will take
some time to respond," Mr. Gratton said. Ms. McLellan has said recently that
she supports a public debate on the legalization question.
Meanwhile, law enforcers say they don't intend to turn a blind eye to the
buyers clubs-nor will they go after them with all their might.
Toronto police Det. Rick Chase, of the city's drug squad, let out a laugh
when told of the plan to run buyers clubs. One club is already open for
business in Toronto.
"There are some very stupid people out there, aren't there?" Det. Chase
said. "The unfortunate thing is, until the law is changed, it's still
against the law to possess this stuff."
Still, he said, the police have "worse problems" to deal with such as
"heroin and crack addicts dropping on a daily basis." His squad will
investigate if it receives a complaint and the address of a buyers club, but
it won't comb the city just to make an example of the operation.
'I don't believe that we will be going out on a witch-hunt," said Cpl.
Marc Richer of the RCMP. "If you tell me there's a pot (club) on the corner,
and 350 grams of heroin next door-guess where we're going?"
Reform MP Jim Hart said he hopes to talk to Health Minister Alan Rock
next week about the buyers clubs and about furthering the marijuana debate
in general. Mr. Rock has expressed support for legalization, but has said
that the onus is on others to convince the government, with hard evidence,
that marijuana is beneficial as a medicine.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Overdose Strategy - Intranasal Naloxone ('British Medical Journal' Proposes
Dispensing Emergency Resuscitation Drugs To Heroin Addicts
And Their Close Contacts - Would Prevent 'A Thousand Deaths
From Heroin Overdose Each Year' In Britain - In Emergency,
Watch 'Pulp Fiction' And Use Travolta's Technique)
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 22:51:22 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: adbryan@onramp.net
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: UPDATE - BMJ Report - Overdose strategy - intranasal naloxone (?)
(---- Begin Included Message ----)
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 16:39:30 +1000
From: Andrew Byrne
To: ADCA Listserve
Subject: UPDATE> BMJ Report - Overdose strategy - intranasal naloxone (?)
Sender: owner-update@wilma.netinfo.com.au
Reply-To: Andrew Byrne
BMJ No 7128 Volume 316
News Saturday 31 January 1998
Deaths from heroin overdose are preventable
A thousand deaths from heroin overdose each year could be prevented in
Britain if emergency resuscitation drugs were supplied to addicts and their
close contacts, according to a report presented to the Royal College of
Psychiatrists' winter meeting last week.
Professor John Strang, director of the National Addiction Centre at the
Maudsley Hospital in London, suggested that premature deaths from drug
overdoses account for the increased mortality among opiate addicts. A survey
of heroin addicts in south London showed that over half of those undergoing
treatment had overdosed in the past. These overdoses, however, were rarely
suicide attempts.
Professor Strang's team plans to involve addicts, and a nominated partner, in
therapeutic training programmes, which will teach basic resuscitation
techniques and the correct way of administering naloxone. Up to now, drug
user communities have relied on unproved and potentially dangerous methods
of resuscitation, such as injecting salt, placing the person in a cold bath, and
injecting adrenaline through the breast bone as demonstrated by John Travolta
in the film Pulp Fiction.
In overdose, opiates cause pinpoint pupils, respiratory depression, and coma.
Doctors in casualty departments regularly use naloxone, a specific antidote, to
reverse the effects of a heroin overdose. As it is short acting, repeated
injections and continuous infusions of naloxone are often needed. Now that
naloxone is available as a nasal spray, Professor Strang's team hope to
distribute it to heroin addicts as part of a pilot study.
Dr David Best, research coordinator at the National Addiction Centre, said:
"So many overdoses occur in the presence of friends and partners. If
naloxone was available in drug user communities, when somebody
overdosed, friends could place the patient in the recovery position, administer
naloxone, and call for an ambulance."
Kamran Abbasi
BMJ
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to 1998 Daily News index for January 29-February 4