co-be
09-12-2002, 06:26 PM
teresaleecox@yahoo.com
forwarded this,
please send this along to friends at national or in Michigan, or just send
your prayers.
================================================== ====================
aleone@umich.edu wrote:
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 14:58:08 -0400
From: aleone@umich.edu
To: lmc2410@msn.com
CC: teresaleecox@yahoo.com
Subject: Message to SSDP
Greetings - Angelica here from University of Michigan Students for Sensible
Drug Policy. I sent this message out to about 150 local people, the Wayne
State SSDP in Detroit, and the national SSDP. I hope we can get you some
help.
--------
SSDPers,
I apologize in advance for the length of this message but it’s necessary to
convey the scenario. I talked to this woman, Lori Cool, last night about her
fiance Rick, whose trial starts next Tuesday 9/17 in Flint. Basically he is
up for his third marijuana-related charge which means the prosecutors are
trying to book him for life; he is known as a "career criminal."
This story is really sad. According to Lori: His first charge was decades
ago (he was busted for growing; I don’t know how much). For his second
charge he was under suspicion so his house was searched and Rick had no
marijuana but his teenage son who was living with him did – it was under his
roof so Rick got busted. For the third charge, some dealer got busted
himself and since sentences are basically always reduced if you get someone
else busted along with yourself, the dealer tried to sell to Rick’s friend…
Rick, knowing nothing of what was going on, happened to be driving over to
this friend’s house at the
time and got roped into the whole thing when the dealer arrived.
Apparently, Lori and Rick’s sister were also under suspicion (although they
weren’t living with him and don’t even smoke marijuana); somehow the cops
got a warrant to search their homes and did so in a very rough way ("they
busted everything up" says Lori). The ridiculous thing is that when they
searched Lori’s "home," they searched a house she merely owned (did not live
in) and had been renting out for years, so imagine the surprise of her
tenants to have their home raided.
It was very interesting to talk to Lori. She says she thinks the system is
corrupt. She herself is a nurse and "doesn’t do" marijuana, but she says
"they’re going about it the wrong way" and that education and rehab should
be the answer, not the type of stuff her family is going through. She is
searching for any type of help possible… even if it is just sitting in on
the case quietly, or distributing information at the trial about biased
prison sentencing.
Some of us SSDP members think it would be a good idea to try and help them
out. The trial will be next Tuesday through Friday, it starts Tues 9/17 at 9
am in Flint : (United States District Courthouse, 600 Church Street, Flint,
Michigan 48502 at the corner of Beech and Church) Unfortunately the trial is
during the week and many of us have work and classes. If there is anyone out
there who has the day off or anything and would be willing to drive to Flint
(it’s about 2 hours away from Ann Arbor) to attend the trial or just support
them, please email me aleone@umich.edu I will also asking the people at
Detroit SSDP if they could help her as well.
Now for my personal spiel… Regardless of whatever crimes this man has been
convicted of in the past, I think we probably all agree that he does not
deserve to go to jail for life for such non-violent, simple offenses (the
last two offenses being so sketchy). People know marijuana is illegal, and
people choose to break the law. Consequences must follow, no doubt,
according to the rules of our society. Yet, this is an example of an
excessive and destructive consequence, especially under such circumstances.
Laws like this cause more destruction than good; this man is not dangerous
and more depression, anger and pain (felt by his loved ones) will be the
result of his time in jail rather than any positive outcome or lesson
learned by him or anyone else (the lesson that marijuana is bad). The goal
of these laws is supposedly to improve society by cutting down on the huge
drug problem which pervades it, but the means of achieving that goal
(throwing people in jail for life), I think we can agree, are not
substantially related to the goal. The means are not a good enough reason.
We must speak out against them and try to find a more reasonable means to
improve society! -Angelica
FOR MORE INFORMATION: THESE ARE THE EMAILS I got from Lori and her friend:
(9/11/02)
Hi,
First of all I would like to Thank You for taking the time to listen and
possible help out in some way, shape or form in our time of need. I am not
sure how much of the case and situation you have been told so I will give
you some pointers. My fiance, Rick Newton, is facing Life in Prison with no
parole for a non-violent, victimless crime. This is his 3rd offense of
marijuana, you know, the drug that is on the verge of being legalized. They
would not even let him out on bond as they said that he was a "danger to
society".
The man has never hurt anyone, owned a gun or weapon and is a vegetarian for
goodness sake! The FEDS have fabricated the case in so many ways as to just
get their conviction. They care nothing more about the human being, his
family, or what they are doing as far as sending away an innocent person to
prison as so they can warehouse him for profit while our tax dollars are
being thrown away on such nonsense. His trial is set to start on Monday,
Sept. 16th, but on this day we will only be selecting the jury. The actual
case will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 17th at 9:00 a.m. and I am told will
probably run through to
at least Thursday--possible Friday, depending on how long the jury
deliberates to make their decision.
I have been in touch with a few people and they tell me my best bet is to
not pack the courtroom but to have supporters standing outside, handing out
information on jury nullification and how wrong it is to
send one of their own people to prison for life when we don't even have a
victim. I am desperate and would appreciate any advice or help in this
matter.
We were suppose to be married this past summer, instead, he has been in jail
since January 11. Please write back with any information, advice or help
{even if it's only a prayer:)} as soon as possible.
Thank You in advice for all your help and for taking the time to read this.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.
Sincerely,
Lori
-----------
Hi,
I am writing on behalf of my friend Ricky Lee Newton. He is going before a
federal court on September 17,2002 for a 3x charge of conspiracy to deliver
- I believe is the charge. I am new to this part of legalizing marijuana. I
do not use it - but I do not believe that the government has a right to
prohibit anyone use. of it. Rick has been pacively fighting this battle
since we were in high school - I am 45. I am writing on his behalf.
His fiance has asked his friends to be there to support him. Everything
about this whole thing is wrong. He is a kind, gentle man. He has never been
in trouble for anything other than marijuana related issues. He wasn't
listed on the warrant, it was 2 counts - now it's like 21 - many things --
are just not right, so, I am carrying this a step further. My daughter told
me that if I wrote to you that some from your
group may be interested in helping pack the courtroom - and could possibly
help spread the word. I would like to show the judge that the people of the
United States DO NOT want people incarcerated for non-violent marijuana
related charges. If you can tell me of anyplace else I could write to get
additional support, I would be grateful.
Thank you,
Teri Cox
forwarded this,
please send this along to friends at national or in Michigan, or just send
your prayers.
================================================== ====================
aleone@umich.edu wrote:
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 14:58:08 -0400
From: aleone@umich.edu
To: lmc2410@msn.com
CC: teresaleecox@yahoo.com
Subject: Message to SSDP
Greetings - Angelica here from University of Michigan Students for Sensible
Drug Policy. I sent this message out to about 150 local people, the Wayne
State SSDP in Detroit, and the national SSDP. I hope we can get you some
help.
--------
SSDPers,
I apologize in advance for the length of this message but it’s necessary to
convey the scenario. I talked to this woman, Lori Cool, last night about her
fiance Rick, whose trial starts next Tuesday 9/17 in Flint. Basically he is
up for his third marijuana-related charge which means the prosecutors are
trying to book him for life; he is known as a "career criminal."
This story is really sad. According to Lori: His first charge was decades
ago (he was busted for growing; I don’t know how much). For his second
charge he was under suspicion so his house was searched and Rick had no
marijuana but his teenage son who was living with him did – it was under his
roof so Rick got busted. For the third charge, some dealer got busted
himself and since sentences are basically always reduced if you get someone
else busted along with yourself, the dealer tried to sell to Rick’s friend…
Rick, knowing nothing of what was going on, happened to be driving over to
this friend’s house at the
time and got roped into the whole thing when the dealer arrived.
Apparently, Lori and Rick’s sister were also under suspicion (although they
weren’t living with him and don’t even smoke marijuana); somehow the cops
got a warrant to search their homes and did so in a very rough way ("they
busted everything up" says Lori). The ridiculous thing is that when they
searched Lori’s "home," they searched a house she merely owned (did not live
in) and had been renting out for years, so imagine the surprise of her
tenants to have their home raided.
It was very interesting to talk to Lori. She says she thinks the system is
corrupt. She herself is a nurse and "doesn’t do" marijuana, but she says
"they’re going about it the wrong way" and that education and rehab should
be the answer, not the type of stuff her family is going through. She is
searching for any type of help possible… even if it is just sitting in on
the case quietly, or distributing information at the trial about biased
prison sentencing.
Some of us SSDP members think it would be a good idea to try and help them
out. The trial will be next Tuesday through Friday, it starts Tues 9/17 at 9
am in Flint : (United States District Courthouse, 600 Church Street, Flint,
Michigan 48502 at the corner of Beech and Church) Unfortunately the trial is
during the week and many of us have work and classes. If there is anyone out
there who has the day off or anything and would be willing to drive to Flint
(it’s about 2 hours away from Ann Arbor) to attend the trial or just support
them, please email me aleone@umich.edu I will also asking the people at
Detroit SSDP if they could help her as well.
Now for my personal spiel… Regardless of whatever crimes this man has been
convicted of in the past, I think we probably all agree that he does not
deserve to go to jail for life for such non-violent, simple offenses (the
last two offenses being so sketchy). People know marijuana is illegal, and
people choose to break the law. Consequences must follow, no doubt,
according to the rules of our society. Yet, this is an example of an
excessive and destructive consequence, especially under such circumstances.
Laws like this cause more destruction than good; this man is not dangerous
and more depression, anger and pain (felt by his loved ones) will be the
result of his time in jail rather than any positive outcome or lesson
learned by him or anyone else (the lesson that marijuana is bad). The goal
of these laws is supposedly to improve society by cutting down on the huge
drug problem which pervades it, but the means of achieving that goal
(throwing people in jail for life), I think we can agree, are not
substantially related to the goal. The means are not a good enough reason.
We must speak out against them and try to find a more reasonable means to
improve society! -Angelica
FOR MORE INFORMATION: THESE ARE THE EMAILS I got from Lori and her friend:
(9/11/02)
Hi,
First of all I would like to Thank You for taking the time to listen and
possible help out in some way, shape or form in our time of need. I am not
sure how much of the case and situation you have been told so I will give
you some pointers. My fiance, Rick Newton, is facing Life in Prison with no
parole for a non-violent, victimless crime. This is his 3rd offense of
marijuana, you know, the drug that is on the verge of being legalized. They
would not even let him out on bond as they said that he was a "danger to
society".
The man has never hurt anyone, owned a gun or weapon and is a vegetarian for
goodness sake! The FEDS have fabricated the case in so many ways as to just
get their conviction. They care nothing more about the human being, his
family, or what they are doing as far as sending away an innocent person to
prison as so they can warehouse him for profit while our tax dollars are
being thrown away on such nonsense. His trial is set to start on Monday,
Sept. 16th, but on this day we will only be selecting the jury. The actual
case will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 17th at 9:00 a.m. and I am told will
probably run through to
at least Thursday--possible Friday, depending on how long the jury
deliberates to make their decision.
I have been in touch with a few people and they tell me my best bet is to
not pack the courtroom but to have supporters standing outside, handing out
information on jury nullification and how wrong it is to
send one of their own people to prison for life when we don't even have a
victim. I am desperate and would appreciate any advice or help in this
matter.
We were suppose to be married this past summer, instead, he has been in jail
since January 11. Please write back with any information, advice or help
{even if it's only a prayer:)} as soon as possible.
Thank You in advice for all your help and for taking the time to read this.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.
Sincerely,
Lori
-----------
Hi,
I am writing on behalf of my friend Ricky Lee Newton. He is going before a
federal court on September 17,2002 for a 3x charge of conspiracy to deliver
- I believe is the charge. I am new to this part of legalizing marijuana. I
do not use it - but I do not believe that the government has a right to
prohibit anyone use. of it. Rick has been pacively fighting this battle
since we were in high school - I am 45. I am writing on his behalf.
His fiance has asked his friends to be there to support him. Everything
about this whole thing is wrong. He is a kind, gentle man. He has never been
in trouble for anything other than marijuana related issues. He wasn't
listed on the warrant, it was 2 counts - now it's like 21 - many things --
are just not right, so, I am carrying this a step further. My daughter told
me that if I wrote to you that some from your
group may be interested in helping pack the courtroom - and could possibly
help spread the word. I would like to show the judge that the people of the
United States DO NOT want people incarcerated for non-violent marijuana
related charges. If you can tell me of anyplace else I could write to get
additional support, I would be grateful.
Thank you,
Teri Cox