So the other day I was wanking to animal porn on the internet when I came across a little tidbit of info that kind of disturbed me. That is that a mandatory 5-year sentence would be imposed on anyone who passed a joint to someone who had been enrolled in a drug treatment program.
That is one of the conditions of the bill H.R. 1528, also known as the Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005. I refer to it as Congress Post-Napster. The basis of the mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years for this violation is that congress is trying to crack down on drug dealers that target junkies fresh out of the clinic.
This is a very effective management tool with hyper-addictive drugs such as heroin, crack, and animal porn, but by using a mandatory, focused punishment on something as vague as Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection completely kills the dwindling usefulness of the United States court system.
A heroin dealer targeting newly recovered addicts, though a cutthroat business tactic, is extremely unethical in my mind. However, it should still be the judge or jurors’ discretion as to how the criminal be dealt with. By imposing a mandatory minimum sentence, the courts ability to choose a just punishment is taken away, definitely. Someone who passes a joint to a person who has completed a drug treatment program, regardless of what it was for, how long ago it was, or whether or not the person smokes pot anyway, is not deserving of a 5 year stretch at all. They are knowingly distributing a drug, but not exactly targeting someone’s weaknesses to “get them hooked on pot.” So even if the judge thinks that the person passing the joint is only deserving of a citation, that person still has to go to jail for an additional 5 years and pay the fine.
Why? The judge can decide who is targeting someone not able to help themselves and who was merely performing a friendly gesture.
Upon noticing that this bill was still in the house, I emailed my district’s representative, F. James Sensenbrenner telling him how both the American Bar Association and myself oppose minimum sentencing.
His reply letter stated that he “supports mandatory minimum sentencing. Mandatory minimum sentencing and the federal sentencing guidelines have helped to keep criminals off the streets, and consequently the violent crime rate is at a 30-year low.” So fucking what? If Sensenbrenner kept his head out of his ass he would be able to see that possession and distribution of ANY illegal drug is NOT A VIOLENT CRIME therefore his basis for supporting H.R. 1528 and mandatory minimum sentencing in general is of no substance.
Perhaps the reason I am so fervent on this topic is because I am a victim of bullshit mandatory sentencing. Back in early February 2005 my girlfriend and I were arrested with 30 grams of marijuana and one piece of drug paraphernalia. After our initial appearance on July 1, 2005 we got the paraphernalia dropped, were ordered to pay $459.00 dollars each, and our driver’s licenses were suspended for 6 months. The fines were chosen at the discretion of District Attorney Peter J. Cannon, but the license suspension is mandatory with the possession of any controlled substance, at no discretion of anyone. Even if you get caught with a quarter while walking down the street, no license for 6 months. What do my driving privileges have to do with a little pot? And what do our local judiciary leaders think of this law? Straight from the lips of Mr. Cannon, “It’s bullshit, I know.”
Is that a relevant punishment? Hell no. Is there anything I can do about it? Not at this point. (And for those of you idiots thinking “but you got off by being a fucking narc!”, I got nothing dropped for that, it was a little revenge on the person who got me busted in the first place.) If society didn’t want me to get stoned then they should stop causing me worry about how I’m going to get to work. Fuck, I mean I have to go to work. There is no public transportation, I live to far away to walk or ride a bike, the taxi system in Washington County is expensive as hell, especially with a half hour drive to work and back, they can’t even guarantee to arrive on time. I live to far out in the boonies for my friends to come and get me and I can’t catch a ride with my girlfriend because SHE’S IN THE SAME BOAT THAT I AM. THANKS A FUCKING LOT! So I drive anyway, at the cost of losing my license indefinitely. All of this shit for a little pot, despite having 0 points and no severe disabilities.
Again, mandatory minimum sentencing renders the court system powerless. It’s only aim is to piss me right the fuck off, so I smoke more pot and lose my license for six more months with more fines to pay and maybe even a little jail time to let my anger stew until it releases in either homicide or suicide, and I’m way to cool to die.
In closing I will leave you all with a few facts to ponder.
On November 16th, 2004, Weldon Angelos of Utah was sentenced to 55 years in prison for selling marijuana to 16 undercover police officers. This is more time than he would have received if he had hijacked an airplane, beaten someone to death in a fight, and raped a 10 year old child – combined.
In 2003, 755,186 people were arrested on marijuana charges, 88% of them for solely possession.
*Both facts taken from the MPP Newsletter, and were originally gathered from booking records and court blotter.
So until the next time I talk to you fucks, SMOKE WEED!