Author Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

‘Kids For Cash’ Judge Gets 28 Years In Prison

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 11, 2011 News

An angry mother confronts scumbag Judge Mark Ciavarella. The corrupt former judge was sentenced to 28 years in prison this week for taking almost $1 million in bribes to fill up a private, for-profit juvenile detention center with children.

Former Judge Took $1 Million In Bribes From Builder Of Private, For-Profit Juvenile Detention Centers

Should anyone really be surprised when a private, for-profit correctional system results in abuses like this?

A long-serving judge in Pennsylvania has been ordered to spend 28 years in prison for his role in a bribery scandal that resulted in thousands of juvenile convictions — many of them for marijuana — being overturned by the state supreme court.

Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr., 61, was sentenced on Thursday for taking $1 million in bribes from the builder of two juvenile detention centers in a case that became known as “kids for cash,” reports the Associated Press.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned about 4,000 convictions issued by Judge Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008, ruling that he violated the rights of the juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.

County Tax Official Caught Growing Marijuana In North Carolina

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 11, 2011 Growing, News

Photo: Asheville Citizen-Times

Chris Maney, 46, was charged with possession and felony “manufacturing” of marijuana after officers claimed they found eight plants during a raid

A tax administrator in Madison County, North Carolina was arrested after police raided his property and accused him of growing marijuana.

Chris Maney, 46, was charged with felony possession and manufacturing of marijuana after the raid by State Bureau of Investigation agents and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, reports Melissa Dean at the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Law enforcement had gotten a tip that Maney was growing pot next to his home, according to Sheriff Buddy Harwood. Detectives claimed they seized about 5.5 pounds of marijuana.

Eight marijuana plants in separate buckets were found in a field near the home, according to State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) spokeswoman Noelle Talley, reports North Carolina News Network. Cannabis seeds and “drug paraphernalia, including a scale,” were found inside the home, according to the cops.

Thieves Create Fake Marijuana Dispensary; Rob Pot Courier

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 11, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: KTLA-TV

Image from the surveillance video

A courier delivering medical marijuana to what he thought was a dispensary was mugged for $20,000 worth of cannabis by three men, according to police in Fullerton, California.

Police said the trio set up a fake medical marijuana dispensary in a commercial building in Fullerton, even painting a green cross on the outside wall of the building, reports Dennis Romero at LA Weekly.

“These suspects had spent some time putting this ruse together, putting the order in and finding a building that worked for what they were trying to do,” said Sgt. Andrew Goodrich of the Fullerton Police Department, reports Eileen Frere at ABC 7.

YEP or NAW? Two Pot Legalization Drives Active In Washington

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 10, 2011 Legislation, News

Photo: Courtesy Don Skakie

Don Skakie, Yes End Penalties WA: “Removing marijuana penalties will not conflict with federal law”

When it comes to cannabis law reform, what’ll it be, Washington? Your choices are YEP and NAW. (The respective acronyms stand for Yes End Penalties and New Approach Washington.)

The new kid on the block, Washington state cannabis reform group Yes End Penalties Washington (YEP WA), will announce a new marijuana legalization drive at 11 a.m. Thursday on the North Steps of the Legislative Building at the State Capitol in Olympia.

Initiative sponsor and Lacey City Councilman Ron Lawson will announce “Initiative to the Legislature 505,” which would remove cannabis-related civil and criminal penalties for adults in Washington state. Supporters of I-505 will speak at the event.

Yes End Penalties WA is inviting news media and interested members of the public to attend and compare YEP to NAW.

“Removing marijuana penalties will not conflict with federal law, avoiding preemption and empowering the people of Washington state to step away from the fear of speaking for cannabis reform and directing their legislators to create fair and evenhanded regulation that benefits the public, rather than special interest groups and based on fact and science, not misinformation or ‘reefer madness’ propaganda,” said YEP’s Don Skakie.

Montana Appeals Decision Blocking Med Marijuana Restrictions

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 10, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Photo: Billings Gazette

Flowering cannabis plants at Montannabis, Inc., Billings, Montana, March 16, 2011.

Montana on Tuesday appealed to the Montana Supreme Court a judge’s ruling which blocked tight new restrictions on medical marijuana on the state, and will argue there’s no constitutional right to sell cannabis for a profit. The new restrictions have been described by some patient advocates as a de facto repeal of Montana’s medical marijuana law, passed by 62 percent of the state’s voters in 2000.

The Montana Justice Department will ask the state’s high court to overturn portions of Helena District Judge James Reynolds’ decision from June 30, which suspended enforcement of several provisions of the tough new law passed the the Republican-dominated 2011 Legislature to crack down on the state’s growing medical marijuana industry, reports Mike Dennison at the Billings Gazette.

Marijuana Dispensary Owner Nabs Smash-and-Grab Suspect

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 10, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: DAVC

Don’t try to rob these guys at DAVC, or they will chase your dumb ass down and “detain” you until the cops arrive.

A California man accused of breaking into and burglarizing three medical marijuana dispensaries is now behind bars after being nabbed by a collective owner.

Jose Ramon Vidrio, 20, of Redlands, was arrested on suspicion of trying to smash the front window of Disabled American Veterans Collective cannabis dispensary in French Valley, reports Maggie Avants at the Temecula Patch.

The dispensary owner told deputies that around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Vidrio tried to smash the window with a concrete block. After he screwed that up — he was unable to break the glass — he allegedly tried to flee the area in his car.

Michigan Attorney General Goes After Medical Marijuana Law

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 10, 2011 Legislation, Medical, News

Photo: Voice of Detroit

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette hates medical marijuana, and he thinks you’re faking to get it.

Michigan’s attorney general has been busily trying to dismantle the state’s medical marijuana law ever since it was passed by voters. Attorney General Bill Schuette announced legislative proposals on Wednesday targeting patients he claims are “exploiting” the law.

Schuette is not a fan of the law, passed by an overwhelming 63 percent of Michigan voters in 2008. In the sort of political gymnastics also favored by Republican attorneys general in other states (examples: Rob McKenna of Washington state and Tom Horne of Arizona), Schuette claims to be a “states’ rights conservative” — unless the “state’s right” we’re talking about is a medical marijuana law.

In that case, the rules are different, and in Schuette’s mind, it’s open season on medical marijuana patients, because, in a brief he filed back in June in support of the City of Livonia — which is trying to ban medical marijuana use and sales — the attorney general claims the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act is preempted by federal law.

Most Americans Want To Legalize Marijuana: New Poll

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 9, 2011 Culture, Legislation, News

Graphic: Misplaced In The Midwest

Just give me the ganja. A new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found that a majority of Americans continue to believe that marijuana should be legalized, but don’t support the legalization of other drugs.

In the online survey of a representative sample of 1,003 American adults, 55 percent of respondents support the legalization of cannabis, while 40 percent oppose it.

Democrats are the group most supportive of legalizing cannabis in the United States, with 63 percent in favor of ending the war on marijuana. Almost as many Independents, at 61 percent, also support the move.

Republicans were out of step with the majority on the legalization issue, with just 41 percent supporting marijuana legalization and 56 percent opposed.

Marijuana legalization enjoyed big majorities among men (57 percent) and respondents aged 35 to 54 (also 57 percent).

Northern California Pot Wars: 632,058 Marijuana Plants Seized

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 9, 2011 Culture, Growing, News

Photo: California Department of Justice

Local, state and federal personnel were involved in the three-week Operation Full Court Press, which wasted taxpayer money across six Northern California counties.

Operation Full Court Press, an incredibly expensive, mind-numbingly futile, and ultimately quixotic multi-agency anti-marijuana operation in Northern California, has wound up its three weeks of fun this year, claiming the seizure of 632,058 marijuana plants.

The operation, which covered Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Tehama and Trinity counties, targeted large-scale illegal marijuana grows in and around the Mendocino National Forest. It involved more than 300 personnel from 25 local, state and federal agencies, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The conclusion of this phase of Full Court Press, in addition to the plants, resulted in the seizure of 1,986 pounds of processed marijuana; $28,031 in U.S. currency; 38 weapons and 20 vehicles.

Arrested were 132 individuals, 118 of whom were booked on various federal and state charges including marijuana, firearm, and immigration violations. Fourteen of those arrested were foreign nationals and were detained on administrative immigration violations. They will be processed for removal from the United States.

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