A Guide to Surviving as a Juror
counterpunch.org
by Clay S. Conrad
February 5, 2003
Government has a boundless appetite to inflict senseless pain on Americans, in the guise of the war on drugs, even at the cost of degrading Federalism and the needs and values of the American people. A recent case demonstrates this arrogance handily.
Ed Rosenthal was a medical marijuana supplier who, in compliance with the California Compassionate Use Act, had been growing marijuana for seriously ill people under a doctor's advice and care. Rosenthal was arrested in February, 2002 and accused of supplying marijuana to the Harm Reduction Center in San Francisco. Rosenthal had been deputized by the city of Oakland, California and made the official supplier of a city-sponsored medical marijuana dispensary. The Compassionate Use Act passed with 78 percent of the vote in San Francisco. It took a total of eighty jurors to find twelve willing to convict Rosenthal. Most of those summoned for jury duty said they would not be willing to brand someone a felon for growing or distributing medical marijuana...
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