Ed and the magical plant.

June 5, 2003 3:44 AM

Medical marijuana grower Ed Rosenthal sentenced to one day in prison. Very interesting. Is Ed too high profile to be given an average sentence, unlike other non-violent drug offenders? Is this damage control for a very controversial case involving tightly-controlled information for jurors and state vs. federal rights? Regardless, Ed continues the fight and is appealing his conviction and is also asking for Judge Breyer to step down. Previous mefi discussion here.
posted by skallas (6 comments total)

States' rights and small government my arse, BTW.
posted by magullo at 4:33 AM on June 5, 2003

"High" profile. Teehee!
posted by agregoli at 6:34 AM on June 5, 2003

Well, I for one am thrilled that the federal judge did what he could to minimize Breyer's idiocy. I'm also glad that Rosenthal is continuing to fight the verdict despite being relieved of a long jail sentence. That trial was a joke, and he should have been acquitted - would have been, if the original judge hadn't supressed key evidence.
posted by hilatron at 8:11 AM on June 5, 2003

I for one am thrilled that the federal judge did what he could to minimize Breyer's idiocy


Wasn't it the same judge in both cases?
posted by cell divide at 10:41 AM on June 5, 2003

skallas: Yeah, I'm sure it was the high-profile nature of the case that got him off easy, and not, say, that 7 of the jury members recanted their verdicts only minutes after the trial was over, when they were told that Rosenthal was growing pot as a paid contractor by the state, and his defense was forbidden to reveal this to the jury?

I find it funny that Martha Stewart is being vilified and possibly incarcerated for a $47,000 possible case of insider trading, while Ken Lay is scott free after blatant swindling amounting to $7 billion, in violation of California law.
posted by kfury at 5:27 PM on June 5, 2003

Meanwhile, in Montana, the DEA is enjoying their new powers under the Rave Act:

"An agent of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) used threats of RAVE Act prosecutions to intimidate the owners of a Billings, Montana, venue into a canceling a combined benefit for the Montana chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (http://www.norml.org) and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (http://www.ssdp.org) last week."
posted by homunculus at 4:48 PM on June 6, 2003