tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31947746828557103832024-02-07T19:25:08.021-05:00Law Enforcement Against ProhibitionCops, prosecutors, judges and everyday citizens are joining together to fight back against the failed, dangerous and expensive "war on drugs." Help Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) reach our goal of a million members at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.comDavid Bratzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16356249815391506872noreply@blogger.comBlogger552125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-15182159918317661532017-05-16T16:52:00.000-04:002017-05-16T16:52:29.854-04:00We are the Law Enforcement Action Partnership<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHad0I27pOmDKGT_0kEzo5zc_XJIQItwcduLvRYKMk_3KKp3_BCY6a17PgnO2ZRH39fvqR1IE-_meG4Zl-f0a3SZlkc4N6YjqZHnwo1jjbeHqMi6RJp_4yNRwnnz404h5Y5DF_1uvrLXE/s1600/LEAP_LogoMAIN.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="97" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHad0I27pOmDKGT_0kEzo5zc_XJIQItwcduLvRYKMk_3KKp3_BCY6a17PgnO2ZRH39fvqR1IE-_meG4Zl-f0a3SZlkc4N6YjqZHnwo1jjbeHqMi6RJp_4yNRwnnz404h5Y5DF_1uvrLXE/s320/LEAP_LogoMAIN.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Dear Readers, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have some very exciting news to share. As many of you may already know, in January 2017, </span><a href="http://www.lawenforcementactionpartnership.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Law Enforcement Against Prohibition became the Law Enforcement Action Partnership</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For more than a year, our board and staff worked to expand into the broader field of criminal justice reform while maintaining a keen focus on our drug policy work. Not only is this expanded scope a natural fit for our speakers’ criminal justice expertise, but it’s also helping us to become even more effective at moving the drug policy reform conversation forward. </span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/587e2f6fe4b06992b1b60ae9?timestamp=1484665205200" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And, as I wrote on the Huffington Post earlier this year, when you care about something, you want it to be the best it can be</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. With the right criminal justice reforms, we can do better, for ourselves and for our communities. Our new name reflects the core of our organization: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Law Enforcement</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Our commitment to addressing criminal justice issues from a law enforcement perspective and restoring trust between police and the communities they serve remains steadfast.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Action</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: Working toward real, tangible solutions to justice and public safety issues has never been more important.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Partnership</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: We will continue to build our internal network of criminal justice experts speaking out for more practical, ethical criminal justice policies: our speakers, who are the heart of the organization. And we will continue to build on our invaluable alliances with fellow drug policy and criminal justice reform organizations, working together for a better criminal justice system and improved public safety. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By highlighting our positions on issues such as police-community relations, incarceration, harm reduction, and global issues, in addition to our longstanding work in drug policy, we are opening new doors and increasing our reach as the voice of law enforcement officers working for criminal justice reform. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><a href="http://www.lawenforcementactionpartnership.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Please visit our new website to read all about the issues we’re working on</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was a huge step for our organization, and we couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for your continued support – through your activism, encouragement, and </span><a href="https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5663/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=14828" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">investment in our efforts</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We look forward to working with you as the Law Enforcement Action Partnership grows!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="http://leap.cc/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Neillsig.jpg" height="75" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/VDjrZPE3hm2iF2-AOS7CpiM3R26jieOy28Ji2cC8rYk3J93Hr4GAfgCp6A2LiHcHeS8seBZDYwQQirnad4TuW3naDsHZTj9kTUNmwHvTAhvuMcN0M-OA3XwJAZMjp5uIXxOYtQ6hHFtr2fJUKA" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="150" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Major Neill Franklin (Ret.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Executive Director
The Law Enforcement Action Partnership</span></div>
Kristin Daleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06116874957268578831noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-16929482256613437192016-11-07T14:29:00.003-05:002016-11-07T14:29:28.479-05:00Press Release: LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION (LEAP) ENDORSES FL MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: background1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid white; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: background1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid white; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Mikayla Hellwich<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST
PROHIBITION (LEAP) ENDORSES FL MEDICAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Law Enforcement, Criminal
Justice Experts Support Amendment 2 to Protect Patient Rights<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition (</span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">), a nonprofit group of police, judges, prosecutors, and
other criminal justice professionals advocating for marijuana reform, endorses Amendment
2 as a means of protecting the rights and safety of sick, elderly, and disabled
patients. Amendment 2 will allow patients with debilitating conditions, as <a href="http://www.unitedforcare.org/ballot_language">outlined by the bill</a>,
to purchase marijuana from licensed, regulated dispensaries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">“Florida is known as a comfortable place for retirees,
many of whom battle with painful and debilitating conditions,” said Special
Agent Ray Strack (Ret.), a veteran U.S. Customs agent and speaker for LEAP. “Passing
Amendment 2 will be fantastic for people, no different from our parents and
grandparents, who are suffering and will benefit from safe and regulated access
to medical marijuana.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">Amendment 2 is endorsed by The Miami Herald and other
major newspapers, ACLU of Florida, Florida NAACP, Teamsters 2011, Palm Beach
County Democratic Black Caucus, United Teachers of Dade, and U.S. Reps. Corrine
Brown, Joe Garcia, Alcee Hastings, and other state legislators. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Twenty-five states and D.C. have legalized
some form of medical marijuana access. Florida is one of four states voting to
reform medical marijuana laws this election. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP is
committed to ending decades of failed marijuana policies that have damaged the
lives of countless Americans and their families, slowed the justice system at
every level, and eroded trust between communities and police. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">###<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-32425586589610053612016-10-27T13:05:00.001-04:002016-10-27T13:05:34.898-04:00Press Release: LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION (LEAP) ENDORSES QUESTION 2, THE INITIATIVE TO REGULATE MARIJUANA LIKE ALCOHOL IN NEVADA<div>
<div>
For Immediate Release: October 27, 2016</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Contact: Mikayla Hellwich<div>
Media@leap.cc</div>
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240.461.3066</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION (LEAP) ENDORSES QUESTION 2, THE INITIATIVE TO
REGULATE MARIJUANA LIKE ALCOHOL IN NEVADA<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Criminal
Justice Experts Say Question 2 Will Promote Public Safety<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (</span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">), a nonprofit group
of police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals, today
announced its endorsement of Nevada’s ballot </span><a href="https://www.regulatemarijuanainnevada.org/question2/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Question
2</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> to regulate marijuana</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
as a means of refocusing the justice system on more pressing crimes and improving
the relationship between communities and police. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The proposed initiative would allow adults 21 and older to
possess up to one ounce of marijuana and up to one eighth of an ounce of
marijuana extract. Question 2 would also establish the framework for a responsibly
regulated system of licensed marijuana retail stores and cultivation, manufacturing,
and testing facilities. The initiative would place a 15% excise tax on wholesale
marijuana sales. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Responsibly regulating marijuana will help to drive out the
risky and untaxed illegal marijuana market – thus reducing the power of gangs
and improving public safety for Nevada’s residents and law enforcement officers</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">,”
said </span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maj. Neill Franklin
(Ret.),</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> LEAP’s executive director. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Police will then be able to refocus
valuable resources to help bring justice to victims of serious crimes.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">If passed, <a href="https://www.regulatemarijuanainnevada.org/question2/"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Question 2</span></a></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> will ensure protection for patients enrolled in Nevada’s
medical marijuana program. Consuming marijuana in public and driving while
impaired on marijuana will remain illegal. Taxes and fees will first be used to
pay for state and local implementation and enforcement, and all additional
money will support K-12 education. According to a Suffolk University poll, </span><a href="https://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/sep/30/poll-nevada-voters-support-clinton-gun-measure-and/"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">57% of Nevadans</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> support the measure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">California,
Maine, Massachusetts, and Arizona are also voting to legalize marijuana for
adult use through the ballot initiative process this November. Marijuana is
legal for adult use in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and the District
of Columbia. Twenty-five states and D.C. have legalized some form of medical
marijuana access. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed marijuana
policies that have damaged the lives of countless Americans and their families,
slowed the justice system at every level, and eroded trust between communities
and police. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-12392216334296662962016-10-12T11:13:00.001-04:002016-10-12T11:13:38.978-04:00PRESS RELEASE: LEAP endorses MA marijuana legalization, Question 4<div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
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<strong>Contact: Mikayla Hellwich</strong></div>
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<strong>Media@leap.cc</strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><strong>LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION (LEAP) ENDORSES MA MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, QUESTION 4</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Criminal Justice Experts Support Campaign to Legalize Marijuana to Promote Public Safety</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">The Massachusetts Secretary of State has announced that an opportunity to legalize marijuana, Question 4, will be on the November ballot. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a href="http://www.leap.cc/" style="color: #0074ab; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LEAP</a>), a nonprofit group of police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals advocating for marijuana legalization, endorses the measure as a means of refocusing the justice system on more serious matters and improving the relationship between communities and police. Question 4 will allow adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants in a secure area of the home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">“Just because fewer people are arrested for marijuana in Massachusetts now doesn’t mean the illegal market disappeared,” said<a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/pat-heintz/" style="color: #0074ab; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Officer Patrick Heintz (Ret.),</a> a retired corrections officer, substance-abuse counselor, and LEAP speaker. “Underground marijuana dealers are still out there – profiting from a product we relegated to their control. Regulation ensures profits are directed to licensed business owners who pay taxes instead of potentially dangerous criminals. I’m voting Yes on Question 4.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Question 4 is endorsed by Parents for Addiction Treatment and Healing, ACLU of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Moms for Regulation and Taxation, and Union of Minority Neighborhoods, and assorted state legislators, doctors, nurses, academics, and faith leaders.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Marijuana is legal for adult use in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia. Twenty-five states and D.C. have legalized some form of medical marijuana access. Measures to legalize marijuana for adult use are also on the November ballot in Maine, Arizona, California, and Nevada.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed marijuana policies that have damaged the lives of countless Americans and their families, slowed the justice system at every level, and eroded trust between communities and police.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Campaign Contact: Jim Borghesani</span></div>
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<a href="mailto:jim@regulatemass.com" style="color: #0074ab; cursor: pointer; font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">jim@regulatemass.com</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"> - </span><a href="tel:617.833.9327" style="color: #0074ab; cursor: pointer; font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">617.833.9327</a><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"> </span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-54916035692982321492016-10-12T11:12:00.000-04:002016-10-12T11:12:38.932-04:00PRESS RELEASE: LEAP endorses AZ marijuana legalization, Prop. 205<div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
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<strong style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;">Contact: Mikayla Hellwich</strong></div>
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<strong>Media@leap.cc</strong></div>
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<strong>240.461.3066</strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><strong>LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION (LEAP) ENDORSES AZ MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, PROP. 205</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Criminal Justice Experts Support Campaign to Legalize Marijuana to Promote Public Safety</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">The Arizona Secretary of State has announced that an opportunity to legalize marijuana, Proposition 205, will be on the November ballot. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a href="http://www.leap.cc/" style="color: #0074ab; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LEAP</a>), a nonprofit group of police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals advocating for marijuana legalization, endorses the measure as a means of refocusing the justice system on more serious matters and improving the relationship between communities and police. Prop. 205 will allow adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana, grow up to six plants in a secure area of the home, and allocate an estimated $55 million from marijuana sales taxes and licensing fees for K-12 education and full-day kindergarten programs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">“Marijuana arrests are damaging the lives of good people all over Arizona,” said <a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/tonyr/" style="color: #0074ab; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Lt. Tony Ryan (Ret.),</a> a LEAP speaker, 36-year veteran of the Denver Police Department, and Arizona resident. “Marijuana prohibition makes people distrust police for enforcing laws that take away education, job, and housing opportunities, as well as the rights of good parents. Prohibition is harmful and counterproductive. I'm voting Yes on Prop. 205.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">The <a href="https://www.regulatemarijuanainarizona.org/" style="color: #0074ab; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Campaign To Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol</a> collected 258,582 signatures, over 100,000 more than the state required. The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office certified the measure on August 11th.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Prop. 205 is also endorsed by over a dozen conservative, liberal, and libertarian officials and organizations, including the Arizona Libertarian Party, the Arizona Democratic Party, The La Paz County Republican Committee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Marijuana is legal for adult use in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia. Twenty-five states and D.C. have legalized some form of medical marijuana access. Ballot measures to legalize marijuana for adult use are on the November ballot in Maine, Massachusetts, California, and Nevada.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed marijuana policies that have damaged the lives of countless Americans and their families, slowed the justice system at every level, and eroded trust between communities and police.</span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-76536770713098916682016-07-14T08:29:00.000-04:002016-07-14T08:29:31.582-04:00Press Release: LEAP Declares Support for Maine Marijuana Legalization Initiative<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left;">
<strong><span data-mce-style="font-size: small; font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Contact: Mikayla Hellwich</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span data-mce-style="font-size: small; font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><a data-mce-href="mailto:media@leap.cc" href="mailto:media@leap.cc">media@leap.cc</a> - </span></strong><strong><span data-mce-style="font-size: small; font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">240.461.3066 </span></strong></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><strong>For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 14, 2016</strong></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><strong>LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION (LEAP) THROWS SUPPORT BEHIND MAINE MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION, BALLOT QUESTION</strong><strong> 1</strong></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Criminal Justice Experts Endorse Maine Campaign to Legalize Marijuana to Promote Public Safety</strong></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap has announced that <a data-mce-href="https://www.regulatemaine.org/we-are-question-1/" href="https://www.regulatemaine.org/we-are-question-1/">Question 1</a> on Maine’s November ballot will be an initiative to legalize marijuana. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a data-mce-href="http://www.leap.cc" href="http://www.leap.cc/">LEAP</a>), a nonprofit organization of police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals advocating for marijuana legalization, endorses the measure as a means of refocusing the justice system on more serious matters and improving the relationship between communities and police. As summarized by the Maine Secretary of State, Question 1 will "allow the possession and use of marijuana under state law by persons who are at least 21 years of age, and allow the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of marijuana and marijuana products subject to state regulation, taxation and local ordinance."</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">“Legalizing, taxing, and regulating marijuana is already proving successful in other states,” said Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.), LEAP’s executive director. “We have a duty to ensure law enforcement prioritizes public safety above the responsible behavior of otherwise law-abiding adults.”</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">The campaign collected <a data-mce-href="https://www.regulatemaine.org/maine-marijuana-initiative-qualifies-ballot-court-ordered-petition-review/" href="https://www.regulatemaine.org/maine-marijuana-initiative-qualifies-ballot-court-ordered-petition-review/">more than the 61,123 signatures</a> required to qualify for the ballot.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Question 1 would allocate marijuana taxes to Maine’s General Fund to bolster local budgets.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Marijuana is legal for adult use in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia. Twenty-five states and D.C. have legalized some form of medical marijuana access.</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed marijuana policies that have damaged the lives of countless Americans and their families, slowed the justice system at every level, and eroded trust between communities and police.</span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-42665165316338834822016-07-13T14:51:00.000-04:002016-07-13T14:51:07.219-04:00Press Release: LEAP Declares Support for California Marijuana Legalization, Prop. 64<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><br />Contact: Mikayla Hellwich<br /><br />media@leap.cc<br /><br />240.461.3066</span><div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;"><strong>LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION (LEAP) THROWS SUPPORT BEHIND CALIFORNIA MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;"><strong>Criminal Justice Experts Across California and the U.S. Endorse AUMA to Promote Public Safety</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">On July 1st, <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-pot-law-that-could-be-deal-breaker-for-the-drug-war-20160705" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced</a> that the Adult Use of Marijuana Act (<a href="http://www.letsgetitrightca.org/now?sc=tp.leap.fb1" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">AUMA</a>), an initiative to legalize marijuana in the state, is now on the November ballot. AUMA, designated as Proposition 64, would allow adults 21 and older in California to grow up to six plants in a secured area at home and possess, gift, and transport up to one ounce of marijuana and up to eight grams of extract. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a href="http://www.leap.cc/" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">LEAP</a>), a group of police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals advocating for marijuana legalization, endorses the measure as it stands to improve the relationship between communities and police and help keep the justice system focused on more serious matters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">“This initiative is the best chance California has to end a failed war on marijuana,” said Redondo Beach Police Department’s <a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/dianegoldstein/" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Lt. Commander Diane Goldstein (Ret.),</a> executive board member for LEAP. “It’s our best hope to reduce the power of cartels operating in our state, to generate much-needed resources for law enforcement, and create a new system of regulation and control that will greatly improve public health and safety for all Californians.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">The measure <a href="http://www.sos.ca.gov/administration/news-releases-and-advisories/2016-news-releases-and-advisories/new-measure-eligible-californias-november-2016-ballot4/" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">needed and received more than 402,468 valid signatures</a> to qualify for the ballot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Prop. 64 increases privacy protections for medical marijuana patients who have the required medical marijuana identification cards. It also allows courts to re-sentence many prisoners serving time for marijuana offenses and re-designate or dismiss many marijuana offenses from the criminal records of those who have already served out their sentences. Tax revenue from marijuana sales would be allocated for bolstering communities that have been disparately impacted by the War on Drugs, most notably communities of color. Tax revenues would be allocated to youth drug treatment and prevention programs and to law enforcement agencies for improving detection of impaired drivers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Prop. 64 has <a href="http://www.letsgetitrightca.org/endorsements" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">bipartisan support</a> from state government officials and strong support from community members and organizations from various backgrounds, including LAPD Deputy Chief Stephen Downing (Ret.), Judge James P. Gray (Ret.), the California NAACP, Marijuana Policy Project of California, Drug Policy Alliance, ACLU of California, California Democratic Party, California Medical Association, Parents for Addiction Treatment and Healing, and medical professionals including Donald Abrams, M.D., Chief of Hematology and Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Marijuana is legal for adult use in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia. Twenty-five states and D.C. have legalized some form of medical marijuana access.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed marijuana policies that have damaged the lives of countless Americans and their families, slowed the justice system at every level, and eroded trust between communities and police.</span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-22165003658225760902016-04-21T15:54:00.001-04:002016-04-21T18:26:33.038-04:00Press Release: Pro-Drug Policy Reform Police Officer Wins Free Speech Case<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">DRUG POLICY REFORM POLICE OFFICER WINS FREE SPEECH CASE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Victoria Police Department Ordered to Pay Highest-Ever Award for Injury to Dignity in a Political Belief Case in Canada</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Victoria, B.C., Canada - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a href="http://www.leap.cc/" target="_blank">LEAP</a>) speaker and board member <a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/davidb/" target="_blank">Constable David Bratzer</a> won a free speech case against his employer, the Victoria Police Department (VicPD), for discrimination against his political beliefs. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has ruled the Victoria Police Department discriminated against Officer Bratzer by unlawfully restricting his off-duty activities as a drug policy reform advocate. The decision clarifies the strong protections for political belief offered by the British Columbia Human Rights Code.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Throughout the case, Bratzer has been unable to speak publicly as a representative of LEAP but has remained active through leadership roles. His valuable expertise on drug policy has been noticeably absent from the public discourse in Canada.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">“It’s been a difficult road, but I’m happy to finally have my voice back,” said Constable David Bratzer.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The Tribunal determined that employers have a duty to accommodate the political beliefs of employees (paragraph 323).</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The Tribunal recognized that the protection offered by the Code for political belief includes not only the belief itself but also the manner of expression (paragraphs 274 and 276).</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The Tribunal ruled that employers cannot force their employees to ask for permission in advance of expressing their political beliefs (paragraph 401).</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> The Tribunal recognized the right of police officers to participate in political advocacy and in the affairs of a political party (paragraphs 321 and 386).</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> VicPD has been ordered to pay $20,000 to Constable Bratzer for injury to dignity, the highest ever award for a political belief case in Canada (paragraphs 437 and 438).</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">“If officers of the law can’t speak up about their political beliefs, their ability to work toward improving their communities and the policing institution is constrained,” said <a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf/" target="_blank">Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.)</a>, executive director of LEAP. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">LEAP is a nonprofit group of police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals working to end the War on Drugs. The drug war has created dangerous underground markets and gang violence, fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored the public health crisis of addiction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">To access the official case decision documents, please visit <a href="http://tinyurl.com/zwdneyo">http://tinyurl.com/zwdneyo</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
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<br />Darby Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08724361595774770999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-55196324831971764882016-04-01T14:20:00.003-04:002016-04-01T14:20:34.953-04:00Press Release: FLORIDA PASSES SWEEPING CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE REFORM<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid white .5pt; mso-border-insideh-themecolor: background1; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid white; mso-border-insidev-themecolor: background1; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid white; mso-border-themecolor: background1; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Contact: Mikayla Hellwich<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="mailto:media@leap.cc"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">media@leap.cc</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">240.461.3066<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FLORIDA PASSES SWEEPING CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE REFORM<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gov. Scott Signs After Unanimous Bipartisan Vote in Both
Houses<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tallahassee,
FL – Today, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed civil asset forfeiture reform
bill </span><a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/BillSummaries/2016/html/1193"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SB 1044</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. The new
law strengthens individual property rights and holds police departments to a
higher standard of record keeping and accountability. Civil forfeiture is a
legal process by which law enforcement can seize property and money from
individuals merely suspected of criminal activity, even if they are never
charged with a crime. The practice has fostered questionable incentives for law
enforcement agencies to benefit financially from a process that infringes on
civil liberties. SB 1044 was unanimously supported in both the House and Senate
and lauded by civil liberties and law enforcement organizations. According to a
</span><a href="http://www.drugpolicyaction.org/sites/default/files/FLForfeitureResults_030916.pdf"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">new poll</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> from Drug
Policy Action, 84% of registered Florida voters believe that </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">police
should not be able to seize and permanently take away property from people who
have not been convicted of a crime.</span><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“As enforcers
of the law, we have a duty to stand up against policies that are unjust and
recognize when our voices can be a powerful force for positive change,” said </span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.),</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> executive director
for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (</span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">), a group of criminal
justice professionals working to end civil forfeiture and the drug war. “Although
there is more to be done, the Florida Sheriff’s Association and the Florida
Association of Police Chiefs deserve recognition for making steps towards more
sensible policies.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Also
on the lengthy list of SB 1044 supporters are the Drug Policy Alliance, Florida
American Civil Liberties Union, the Florida Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers, the Institute for Justice, and Americans for Tax Reform.</span><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
bill changes Florida’s </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Contraband
Forfeiture Act, which decides how and when law enforcement agencies are able to
seize assets. </span><a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/BillSummaries/2016/html/1193"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SB
1044</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> requires that police
make an arrest in order to seize property in most cases, increases the
evidentiary standard of proof from “clear and convincing” to “proof beyond a
reasonable doubt,” holds the agency accountable for damages on seized property,
and outlines reporting requirements for agencies to track forfeitures. No such
requirement existed previously. Currently, Florida law enforcement agencies
seizing assets of more than $15,000 per year must donate 15% of those assets to
predetermined programs. The new law increases the donation requirement to 25%. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In nearly
every U.S. state, law enforcement can seize money and property from individuals
without seeking or obtaining a criminal conviction. Civil forfeiture places the
legal burden of proof on the property (in-rem) rather than the owner (in
personam), meaning the property is being charged rather than the person who
owns it. Another type of forfeiture called “criminal forfeiture” requires the
officer to obtain a conviction and ultimately accuses the property owner of
criminal activity rather than the property being seized. This practice is
generally considered beneficial because it aligns with the constitutional right
to due process. According to a 2015 report by the </span><a href="http://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/policing-for-profit-2nd-edition.pdf"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Institute
for Justice</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, 87%
of forfeitures in the U.S. between 1997 and 2013 were civil and only 13%
involved criminal cases. The same report graded Florida’s previous civil
forfeiture laws with a D+ for abysmal individual property rights and unethical incentive
for law enforcement to profit from these interactions. </span><span style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP
is committed to ending decades of unconstitutional civil forfeiture laws that
have damaged the trust between communities and police, fostered a misuse of law
enforcement power, and eroded civil liberties nationwide. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-83747483827972520762016-03-21T13:55:00.003-04:002016-03-21T13:56:09.844-04:00Press Release: SCOTUS VOTES 6-2, REJECTS HEARING NE, OK LAWSUIT AGAINST CO MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION LAW<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mikayla Hellwich</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">media@leap.cc</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">240.461.3066 </span><br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" type="cite">
<div align="center">
<strong><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">SCOTUS VOTES 6-2, REJECTS HEARING NE, OK LAWSUIT AGAINST CO MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION LAW</span></strong></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" type="cite">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/us/politics/supreme-court-declines-to-hear-challenge-to-colorados-marijuana-laws.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">denied a request</a> to hear a lawsuit Nebraska and Oklahoma brought against Colorado’s marijuana legalization law, a rare case falling under the Court’s original jurisdiction to hear lawsuits between states. In 2012, Colorado voted to legalize marijuana production, sales, and consumption for adults, but Attorneys General in the two neighboring states claimed the law is causing marijuana to spill into their states, creating a law enforcement burden, and that the law is a violation of the Controlled Substances Act. <a href="http://coag.gov/sites/default/files/contentuploads/ago/press-releases/2015/03/03-27-15/032715coloradosscotusbriefoppositionneok.pdf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Colorado argued</a> that their law is designed to minimize the illicit market and associated dangers. They also argued that the case is more appropriate for a lower court and that overturning their marijuana law won’t solve the problem outlined by the plaintiffs. SCOTUS didn’t explain the reason for refusing to hear the suit but recommended submitting the case to a federal trial court instead.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" type="cite">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“If Nebraska and Oklahoma had the good sense to legalize and regulate marijuana too, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. What a monumental waste of time to ask our highest court to solve a problem that could be fixed with a well-written piece of legislation or a ballot initiative,” said <a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.),</a> executive director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a href="http://www.leap.cc/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">LEAP</a>), a criminal justice group working to end the War on Drugs.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" type="cite">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">SCOTUS typically decides on appeals from lower courts, but they occasionally take on disputes between states in “original jurisdiction” suits. These types of suits occur infrequently and generally deal with disagreements over the use of resources, such as rivers, that flow through more than one state. In December 2015, the U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/12/16/feds-ask-supreme-court-stay-out-lawsuit-over-colorado-marijuana/77457652/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">extended his recommendation</a> to reject hearing the case, which he said would, “…represent a substantial and unwarranted expansion of this court’s original jurisdiction.”</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" type="cite">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and the District of Columbia have all legalized marijuana for adult use. 23 states and D.C. have legalized some form of access to medical marijuana. In August 2013, the Department of Justice <a href="https://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/resources/3052013829132756857467.pdf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">released a memorandum</a>indicating they would no longer interfere in states that choose to regulate marijuana as long as common sense measures are taken to prevent organized crime within the legal businesses and prevent youth access to marijuana, among other reasonable goals.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" type="cite">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed marijuana policies that have engendered gang violence, fostered corruption and racism, clogged the justice system at every step of the process, and diverted significant resources away from addressing more important crimes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" type="cite">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">###</span></blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-10222804157635970332016-02-25T10:28:00.001-05:002016-02-25T10:28:11.326-05:00Press Release: FORMER AG HOLDER DECLARES SUPPORT FOR RESCHEDULING Contact: Mikayla Hellwich For Immediate Release:<br />
<br />
media@leap.cc Thursday, February 25, 2016<br />
<br />
240.461.3066<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>FORMER AG HOLDER DECLARES SUPPORT FOR RESCHEDULING </b></div>
<br />
<br />
In a detailed PBS Frontline interview published Tuesday, Former Attorney General Eric<br />
<br />
Holder said marijuana should be rescheduled. Marijuana is currently listed under Schedule I<br />
<br />
of the Controlled Substances Act, a category relegated to drugs that have no safe medical<br />
<br />
uses and extremely high potential for abuse and addiction. Placement in this category makes<br />
<br />
domestic research into the effects of marijuana extremely difficult and often impossible.<br />
<br />
Marijuana’s placement has been widely criticized and disputes mounting ever-growing<br />
<br />
evidence from other countries.<br />
<br />
<br />
“I certainly think it ought to be rescheduled…so at a minimum, I think Congress needs to<br />
<br />
do that,” Holder told PBS. “Then I think we need to look at what happens in Colorado and<br />
<br />
what happens in Washington.”<br />
<br />
<br />
“I believe Holder’s statements will inspire more high-ranking officials to speak publicly<br />
<br />
about the injustices they see in our failed marijuana policies,” said Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.),<br />
<br />
executive director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a criminal justice<br />
<br />
group working to legalize marijuana. “Ultimately, his support will move us closer to ending<br />
<br />
marijuana prohibition for good.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Rescheduling marijuana to a more lenient Schedule III could increase the ease with which<br />
<br />
researchers can study the drug in scientific and clinical settings as well as allow state-legal<br />
<br />
marijuana businesses the same business expense tax-deductions enjoyed by other companies.<br />
<br />
Rescheduling would also encourage states considering legalizing, regulating, and controlling<br />
<br />
the drug to carry out the will of their voters. A 2015 Gallup Poll found that 58% of<br />
<br />
Americans support legalization. <br />
<br />
<br />
Marijuana is currently legal for adult use in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and the<br />
<br />
District of Columbia. Twenty states report marijuana legalization efforts for 2016.<br />
<br />
LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed policy that have created dangerous<br />
<br />
underground markets and gang violence, fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored<br />
<br />
the public health crisis of addiction. Marijuana prohibition has damaged the relationship<br />
<br />
between communities and police and has ultimately diverted the penal system’s attention<br />
<br />
away from more important crimes.<br />
<br />
<br />
###Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-77087243609222650042015-12-23T12:12:00.002-05:002015-12-23T12:12:48.887-05:00Press Release: DOJ Suspends Asset Forfeiture Equitable Sharing<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Contact: Mikayla Hellwich<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Media@leap.cc<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> <span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">240.461.3066<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">DOJ
SUSPENDS ASSET FORFEITURE EQUITABLE SHARING <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Police
Currently Take More of Citizens’ Assets Than Do Thieves<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Federal
Sharing Linked to Circumvention of State Reforms<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Washington, D.C. – T</span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he
Department of Justice </span><a href="http://www.theiacp.org/portals/0/documents/pdfs/RescissionImpactonEqutiableSharing122115.pdf"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">released a memorandum</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> addressed
to local, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies Monday to announce that
the </span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">equitable sharing program for asset
forfeiture funds has been temporarily suspended due to financial considerations.
This means that state and local law enforcement can no longer expect to receive
a share of federal funds confiscated through the process of civil asset
forfeiture, a method by which law enforcement can seize property and money from
individuals without charging them with a crime. </span><span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Until now, the Department of Justice’s
Equitable Sharing Program allowed departments to keep up to 80% of assets
seized in joint operations, </span><a href="http://ij.org/report/policing-for-profit/federal-equitable-sharing/stricter-state-law-more-equitable-sharing/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a practice scholars have shown allows
local agencies to circumvent reforms in their own states</span></a><span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. At least one estimate
puts the amount of assets confiscated by law enforcement agencies in 2014 above
the total amount of robberies, suggesting, </span><a href="https://reason.com/archives/2015/11/27/cops-now-take-more-than-robbers"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">according to Reason Magazine</span></a><span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, that “</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Your local police or sheriff's department is more likely to take
your stuff than a robber.</span><span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“This is one temporary solution I’d like to
see made permanent,” said </span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maj.
Neill Franklin (Ret.)</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> executive director for </span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Law Enforcement Against Prohibition</span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, a criminal justice group working to reform civil asset
forfeiture. “There has been a tremendous amount of work done at the state level
to reform these laws, but that’s all being undermined by equitable sharing.
This is the biggest threat to civil liberties the public doesn’t know about.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Civil forfeiture cases in
most states require the lowest burden of proof (“preponderance of evidence”) to
make a seizure. Since the cost of contesting the case in court is usually more
than the value of the property seized, most people never challenge the case and
permanently lose their property. In 35 states, the burden of proof is placed on
the </span><a href="http://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/policing-for-profit-2nd-edition.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">property owner</span></a><span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, meaning that after the
property is seized, it’s up to the owner to prove that they weren’t involved in
the alleged crime. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Two of the original
architects of civil forfeiture laws, John Yoder and Brad Cates, regret what the
equitable sharing program has become. They told the </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/abolish-the-civil-asset-forfeiture-program-we-helped-create/2014/09/18/72f089ac-3d02-11e4-b0ea-8141703bbf6f_story.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Washington Post in 2014</span></a><span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> that, “The program began
with good intentions but now, having failed in both purpose and execution, it
should be abolished.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In November, the
Institute for Justice published </span><a href="http://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/policing-for-profit-2nd-edition.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Policing For Profit, 2<sup>nd</sup>
Edition</span></a><span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> to
outline the major problems that have resulted from civil asset forfeiture. Between
1997 and 2013, 87% of Department of Justice seizures were civil and </span><a href="http://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/policing-for-profit-2nd-edition.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">just 13% were criminal</span></a><span style="color: #263238; font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. This means that
only 13% of people who had their property seized by law enforcement during this
time were ever charged with a crime. The Institute for Justice concluded that
the equitable sharing program made it possible for agencies to circumvent state
laws by working with multi-jurisdictional task forces that included federal
agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">###</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span>Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-57012595971784735902015-12-18T13:40:00.002-05:002015-12-18T13:40:16.221-05:00Press Release: STATE MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS PROTECTED, FEDERAL BAN ON SYRINGE EXCHANGE FUNDING RELAXED BY SPENDING BILL<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Contact:
Mikayla Hellwich<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
Immediate Release:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Media@leap.cc<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> <span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friday, December 18<sup>th</sup>,
2015<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">240.461.3066<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">STATE
MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS PROTECTED, FEDERAL BAN ON SYRINGE EXCHANGE FUNDING
RELAXED BY SPENDING BILL<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">President
Obama Expected to Sign Bill Into Law<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Washington
D.C. – President Barack Obama is expected to sign a </span><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/293404669/Read-omnibus-spending-bill-text#scribd"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">critical
spending bill</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> passed this morning by Congress that contains two
significant drug policy provisions that will protect state’s rights, medical
marijuana businesses and patients, and improve public health. Last year, </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Reps. Dana
Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam Farr (D-CA) cosponsored an amendment </span><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">that
prevents the Department of Justice (DOJ) from using funds to go after
state-legal medical marijuana businesses. The amendment was approved on a
temporary, one-year basis in the last spending bill and will be renewed pending
the President’s signature. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">protects medical marijuana businesses that abide by state law
from federal interference. Federal law still lists marijuana under Schedule I
of the Controlled Substances Act, a category supposedly relegated to drugs that
have no medical value or applicable uses in medical settings and extremely high
potential for abuse and addiction. Until the amendment was passed, federal
enforcement agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), were
still able to shut down facilities despite state law. A federal judge in
California </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/16/one-of-the-biggest-arguments-against-marijuana-legalization-is-falling-apart/?tid=sm_fb"><span style="background: white; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">upheld the amendment</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in
October after the DEA brought a case against a medical marijuana business
owner. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Patients
who benefit from medical marijuana should not be treated like dangerous
criminals, and the businesses that support them need to be protected from the
old drug war mentality that still runs deep within the DEA,” said </span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.),</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> executive
director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (</span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">), a group of criminal justice professionals working to end
the drug war. “It’s very encouraging to see such widespread support for
protecting state’s rights and the rights of patients.” <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
an incredible victory for public health, the bill undermines the decades-old
ban on federal funding used for clean syringe programs. Federal dollars still won’t
be permitted for purchasing syringes directly, but money can be used for
everything else involved in the programs, including staff, if local public
health agencies in consultation with the CDC agree that there is an HIV or
hepatitis outbreak. In 1988 the government banned federal funds from being used
to provide clean syringes to people who inject drugs. It was a common
misconception at the time that providing basic harm reduction services, such as
clean needles, enables people with addictions and will increase the number of
people who use drugs. This myth has been </span><a href="http://www.ahcmedia.com/articles/22111-needle-exchanges-do-not-boost-drug-use-study-says"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">debunked</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><a href="http://www.amfar.org/uploadedFiles/_amfarorg/Articles/On_The_Hill/2013/fact%20sheet%20Syringe%20Exchange%20031413.pdf"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">repeatedly</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> (though
the same argument continues to be made against the lifesaving
opiate-overdose-reversal drug naloxone), and federal law now demonstrates a
more significant effort to show basic compassion and improve the health of
injecting drug users and the community at large. Countries that have robust
needle exchange programs are greatly </span><a href="http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/prev_care/effectivenesssterileneedle.pdf"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">reducing
the spread</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. </span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Needle
exchange is a public health and safety necessity,” said </span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/pat-heintz/"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">retired corrections officer, substance
abuse counselor, and LEAP speaker, Patrick Heintz.</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> “This new
law will not only protect those who use drugs from disease, but it will help
prevent other innocent victims who come into intimate contact with people who
use IV drugs that have been forced for so long to share contaminated needles.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Four
states and the District of Columbia have legalized the adult-use of marijuana.
Twenty-three states and D.C. allow some form of medical marijuana access. The
United States has one of the </span><a href="http://knowledgecenter.csg.org/kc/content/needle-exchange-programs"><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">lowest records
of availability</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> of clean syringe access in the developed world even though
203 programs operate in 34 states.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP is committed to
ending decades of failed policy that have created dangerous underground markets
and gang violence, fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored the
public health crisis of addiction. The drug war has cost nearly $2 trillion
dollars, yielded only disastrous outcomes, and has diverted valuable law
enforcement resources away from more important crimes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-90438097990062072562015-12-17T10:57:00.004-05:002015-12-17T10:57:53.828-05:00Press Release: U.S. GOVERNMENT ASKS SCOTUS TO DISMISS CHALLENGE TO MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;">Contact: Mikayla Hellwich </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;">Media@leap.cc </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;"><a href="tel:240.461.3066" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+12404613066">240.461.3066</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;"><strong>U.S. GOVERNMENT ASKS SCOTUS TO DISMISS CHALLENGE TO MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Solicitor General Advises SCOTUS Not To Hear Lawsuit Nebraska and Oklahoma Filed Against Colorado</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;">Washington, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli Jr., issued a statement advising the Supreme Court not to hear a lawsuit Nebraska and Oklahoma filed against Colorado's marijuana legalization law last December. Oklahoma and Nebraska attorneys general filed the suit in hopes of re-criminalizing marijuana in Colorado, claiming it had created a burden on their own law enforcement agencies and because marijuana is still federally illegal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-marijuana-idUSKBN0TZ33120151216" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">The Solicitor General stated</a>, "Entertaining the type of dispute here - essentially that one state's laws make it more likely that third parties will violate federal and state law in another state - would represent a substantial and unwarranted expansion of this court's original jurisdiction."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;">"I’m happy to see the administration is supporting states’ rights to decide their own marijuana policy," said <a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.)</a>executive director for <a href="http://www.leap.cc/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Law Enforcement Against Prohibition</a>, a criminal justice group working to end marijuana prohibition. “If Nebraska and Oklahoma want to stop wasting police resources on marijuana, they should be working hard to legalize and control it.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;">Marijuana is legal for adult-use in 4 states and the District of Columbia and legal for medical uses in 23 states and D.C. California, Massachusetts, Nevada, Arizona, and Maine are all assembling campaigns to legalize marijuana for adult-use by initiative process in the 2016 elections. Vermont, Rhode Island, and New Jersey are among states working on legislation that would do the same.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "palatino"; font-size: x-small;">LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed marijuana policy that have wreaked havoc on public safety and fostered corruption and racism. Marijuana prohibition has distracted law enforcement from dealing with more important crimes, ensured that average, law-abiding citizens are treated like criminals, and deprived countless people from equitable housing, education, and employment opportunities.</span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-36581276327221966942015-12-08T09:57:00.000-05:002015-12-08T09:57:11.559-05:00Press Release: 60 Minutes Reports on Use of Confidential Informants<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Contact: Mikayla Hellwich </span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><a data-mce-href="mailto:mikayla.hellwich@leap.cc" href="mailto:mikayla.hellwich@leap.cc">mikayla.hellwich@leap.cc</a> </span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">240-461-3066</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: medium;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;"><strong>60 MINUTES REPORTS ON USE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANTS</strong><strong data-mce-style="font-size: small;" style="font-size: small;"> </strong></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: small; font-family: georgia, palatino; color: #000000;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Parents of Murdered College Student Encourage Families to Know Rights, Lawyer Up</strong></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;" style="font-size: x-small;">The CBS news program 60 Minutes reported this week on how police departments across the U.S. are recruiting and coercing young people to serve as confidential informants (CIs) in return for dropping low level, nonviolent marijuana and other drug charges. Some college students report being coerced by officers who said they weren’t allowed to call their parents or a lawyer. While trained undercover agents and CIs can be helpful for infiltrating large criminal organizations, the <a data-mce-href="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/confidential-informants-part-2/" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/confidential-informants-part-2/">majority of states</a> don’t require CIs to be of a certain age, trained, or protected by the departments that hired them. <a data-mce-href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/two-college-drug-busts-two-different-fates-60-minutes-overtime/" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/two-college-drug-busts-two-different-fates-60-minutes-overtime/">60 Minutes</a> is shedding light on this issue as the practice has led to traumatizing and deadly consequences for several students and their families.</span><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: small; font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">One case examined by 60 Minutes reporter Lesley Stahl involved an Ole Miss student called “Greg” who ultimately had no stake in a drug deal except that a friend, a CI, left drugs in Greg’s dorm room, and another friend, also a CI, came by to pick up the drugs. Greg was later accused of being a drug dealer and, threatened with 20 years in prison and a felony record, was intimidated into working with police. “I felt like I had a gun to my head,” he said. Officers told Greg his charges would be dropped if he made 10 different drug buys – all of which he had to stage and organize by himself. After 6 buys, he was charged with drug distribution, despite the deal Greg thought he made. He later hired a lawyer and the charges were ultimately dropped after the case was brought to the attention of the district attorney. Greg’s lawyer, Ken Coghlan, said that drug task forces get better funding when they show higher arrest numbers. “Law enforcement is addicted to the drug war,” said Coghlan. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: small; font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">“If a court cannot accept a guilty plea for a misdemeanor charge unless the person has had the assistance of an attorney, then it seems eminently logical to forbid police departments from recruiting young people to pretend to commit felonies in order to entrap other students or armed felons unless the young person has the opportunity to consult with legal counsel,” said <a data-mce-href="http://www.leap.cc/author/Eric/" href="http://www.leap.cc/author/Eric/">Eric Sterling, former Counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee</a> and advisory board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a data-mce-href="http://www.leap.cc" href="http://www.leap.cc/">LEAP</a>), a group of criminal justice professionals working to end the War on Drugs. </span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;" style="font-size: x-small;">Another college student, Andrew Sadek, was detained for selling $80 worth of marijuana. In order to get the charges dropped, Andrew was told he needed to start working with the police and make several drug buys. Before having completed all his buys, Andrew disappeared from his dorm and was found two months later at the bottom of a river wearing a backpack full of rocks. The cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head. Police claim the death was suicide even though a gun was never found. Andrew’s mother, Tammy, says she would have immediately called a lawyer if she had been aware of Andrew’s encounter with Officer Weber. Tammy and her husband now warn other parents to be wary of striking deals with police without a lawyer present.</span></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino;"><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;" style="font-size: x-small;">A controversial campus police CI program at UMass-Amherst was shut down after an in internal investigation found that college students are </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/albertsamaha/mississippi-cops-are-using-college-kids-as-drug-informants#.nfmPNGvgq" data-mce-style="font-size: small;" href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/albertsamaha/mississippi-cops-are-using-college-kids-as-drug-informants#.nfmPNGvgq" style="font-size: small;">particularly vulnerable</a><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;" style="font-size: x-small;"> to coercion. There could be as many as </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/confidential-informants-60-minutes-lesley-stahl/" data-mce-style="font-size: small;" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/confidential-informants-60-minutes-lesley-stahl/" style="font-size: small;">100,000 confidential informants</a><span data-mce-style="font-size: small;" style="font-size: x-small;"> working with law enforcement across the country.</span></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: small; font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">The full 60 Minutes story can be viewed online here:</span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: small; font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/confidential-informants-60-minutes-lesley-stahl/" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/confidential-informants-60-minutes-lesley-stahl/">Part I</a></span></div>
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<span data-mce-style="font-size: small; font-family: georgia, palatino;" style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/confidential-informants-part-2/" href="http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/confidential-informants-part-2/">Part II</a></span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-18327275715733861812015-11-06T15:53:00.002-05:002015-11-06T15:53:25.789-05:00 Press Release: ENTRAPPED AUTISTIC TEEN’S LAWSUIT AGAINST SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS DISMISSED<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">Contact: Mikayla Hellwich<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">ENTRAPPED AUTISTIC TEEN’S LAWSUIT
AGAINST SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS DISMISSED</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">Temecula, CA – On October 21<sup>st</sup>, the lawsuit filed by the
family of Jesse Snodgrass against Temecula Valley Unified School District administrators
for the teen’s manipulation and entrapment in a 2012 undercover drug sting was </span><a href="http://www.temeculapost.com/petition/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/SnodRulingReMSJ.pdf"><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">dismissed</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">. The Snodgrass
family previously </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1;">filed a lawsuit against Director
of Child Welfare and Attendance Michael Hubbard and Director of Special
Education Kimberly Velez for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional
distress, and other charges. The judge dropped the case on the grounds that the
defendants could not be proven as knowing participants in targeting and
entrapping Jesse Snodgrass, but the primary issue of entrapping those with special
needs at school remains a significant point of concern.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">“</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since the time of
Jesse's <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">arrest and subsequent
publicity surrounding the lawsuit,</span> school drug stings in Riverside
and San Bernardino Counties have stopped and not one child has been perp-walked
in handcuffs out of their classroom</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">,” said </span><span style="font-family: Garamond;"><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/StephenDowning/">LADP Deputy Chief Stephen
Downing (Ret.),</a><span style="color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;"> a board
member for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a href="http://www.leap.cc/">LEAP</a>),
a criminal justice group working to end the War on Drugs. “</span></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But there's nothing
to stand in the way of drug warriors and their school board abettors
victimizing more unsuspecting kids in the future. As a society, we have to
decide that the law needs to protect children from being manipulated and lied
to by authorities. It further deepens the mistrust between citizens and law
enforcement and endangers and harms children and their families. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">”</span><span style="font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">Jesse, who has autism, and has difficulty making friends and
interpreting everyday social cues, was falsely befriended by an undercover
police officer who repeatedly insisted that Jesse find marijuana for him. After
being harassed for nearly three weeks via 60 text messages, Jesse was able to
buy half a joint from a homeless man to give to the officer. Jesse bought
marijuana for his “friend” once more before refusing to do it again, at which
point the officer ceased all communication with Jesse. Shortly thereafter,
Jesse was arrested in front of his classmates along with 21 additional
students, many of whom have special needs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">School drug stings, particularly those in which children with special
needs are targeted, are yet another egregious manifestation of the drug war’s
“tough on crime” mentality. This has long pervaded law enforcement operations and
has resulted in numerous examples of dehumanizing otherwise law-abiding
students. One example of this problematic attitude is found in a 1988 Drug Free
School Zone </span><a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/140213NCJRS.pdf"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">implementation manual</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;"> created by the
Chiefs of Police National Drug Task Force in which the Chiefs refer to the
process of arresting students as “taking out the garbage.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
LAPD ceased undercover sting operations in schools in 2005, after school
district officials noticed that many of the students caught in these stings had
special needs and disabilities, that mostly small amounts of marijuana were
involved , and that the operations were unsuccessful at reducing drug
availability. The Justice Department would later confirm the findings of the
report.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">The
Snodgrass family intends to appeal their case. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.8pt; margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Garamond; mso-themecolor: text1;">LEAP
is dedicated to ending decades of failed policy that have wreaked havoc on
public safety, diverted valuable resources away from fighting violent crimes,
and have ultimately ignored the public health crisis of addiction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-89545704309207893392015-11-04T17:09:00.003-05:002015-11-04T17:09:54.500-05:00Sen. Bernie Sanders Introduces Bill to End Federal Marijuana Prohibition<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">SEN. BERNIE SANDERS
INTRODUCES BILL TO END FEDERAL MARIJUANA PROHIBITION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Bill Would Remove Drug from
Controlled Substances Act, Lets States Set Own Policies<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Washington,
D.C. – Today, Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT),
submitted a bill to the Senate that would end marijuana prohibition on the
federal level and allow states to decide their own marijuana policies. This is the
first bill of its kind to propose removing mention of marijuana from the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/legislation/ucm148726.htm">Controlled
Substances Act</a>. Marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug, meaning the
federal government claims it has no medical or therapeutic uses, is extremely
dangerous and addictive, and cannot be used safely, even in a clinical setting.
Under the <a href="https://www.mpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Sanders-Bill.pdf">Ending
Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2015</a>, it would still be illegal to
transport marijuana from a state where it is legal into another state where it
is not. More than <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/persons-arrested/main">700,000
people</a> were arrested for marijuana offenses in the U.S. last year,
amounting to significant money, time, and human resources wasted damaging the
lives of nonviolent offenders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">“Many
legislators and citizens are still hesitant to move forward with marijuana
legalization initiatives in their home states because of the federal ban, which
may contradict state law, making both laws difficult to follow or enforce, and
making banking transactions all but impossible.” said <a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf">Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.)</a>,
executive director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a href="http://www.leap.cc/">LEAP</a>), a criminal justice group working to legalize
marijuana.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">The
introduction comes shortly after a <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/186260/back-legal-marijuana.aspx">Gallup poll</a>
showed 58% of Americans support marijuana legalization, regulation, and
taxation, and after Senator Sanders’s announcement of his own support of legalization,
the first major-party presidential candidate to do so. Three other bills to
reform marijuana policy have been introduced at the federal level this year.</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand
(D-NY), and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the CARERS Act, a comprehensive medical
marijuana legalization bill. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced a bill to address
the tax status of marijuana businesses, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced
a measure that would allow state-legal marijuana businesses access to banking services.
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Marijuana
is legal for adults to possess and grow in Washington, D.C., and regulated in
Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon for adults 21 and older. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">###<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Darby Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08724361595774770999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-44021599536228906072015-10-28T10:08:00.001-04:002015-10-28T10:08:26.506-04:00LEAP Supports Ohio Issue 3 to Legalize Marijuana<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION SUPPORTS OHIO ISSUE 3, MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">New
Law Will Improve Public Safety, Reduce Justice System Burden<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><a href="http://www.leap.cc/"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">),
a group of police, prosecutors, judges, and other law enforcement professionals
working to end marijuana prohibition, declared their support for Ohio’s </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><a href="http://www.sos.state.oh.us/sos/upload/ballotboard/2015/3-Language.pdf"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Issue 3</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">,
the proposed constitutional amendment to tax and regulate marijuana in the
state. The law would legalize the production, sale, and adult consumption of
marijuana products in the state and permit licenses for specific distribution
companies. If passed, the law would permit home cultivation of up to four flowering
plants and possession and sharing of up to eight ounces by adults 21 and older
with a valid state license. The new law also protects patients of any age with
a doctor-certified debilitating condition by allowing safe access to regulated marijuana
products. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Garamond","serif";">“Legalization
will take money away from the cartels, provide funding for public safety and
health services, and reduce the violence associated with the illegal drug
market. Passage of Issue Three puts us in charge, not the dealers,” </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">said
</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/howardr/"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cincinnati Police Captain Howard Rahtz
(Ret.)</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ohio </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><a href="http://ocjs.ohio.gov/data-dashboard/atlas.html"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">arrested nearly 12,000 adults</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
for marijuana possession and distribution in 2012. Almost all of those arrests
were for possession alone. While most individuals don’t serve jail time for possession
alone, an arrest is a costly, damaging, and time-consuming ordeal. Marijuana
arrests can cost steep fines, require defendants take time off work for court
appearances, limit job and educational opportunities, and even take away rights
from stable and nurturing parents. The process of an arrest is even more
damaging to those in impoverished communities who often have less freedom with
taking time off work, less cash for unplanned expenses, and fewer opportunities
for economic mobility. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Regulating marijuana is the only way we can be sure to keep
it out of the hands of criminals, and ultimately, keep our kids and streets
safer,” said </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.),</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
executive director for LEAP. “Controlling the drug has always been the goal –
we’ve just been going about it the wrong way for a very long time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP joins Issue 3
supporters that include former Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher, the
American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, and the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Ohio voters will make a decision on November
3<sup>rd</sup>, 2015. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Darby Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08724361595774770999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-5876345297546423652015-10-21T12:32:00.002-04:002015-10-21T12:32:28.035-04:00Press Release: LEAP ED Neill Franklin Part of Law Enforcement Leaders, Top Cops and Prosecutors for Criminal Justice Reform <div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LAW
ENFORCEMENT LEADERS LAUNCH NEW GROUP<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Top
Police and Prosecutors Declare Need for Criminal Justice Reform<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Washington D.C. – Today, more than 130 top police and
prosecutors from all 50 U.S. states, including LEAP executive director Major
Neill Franklin (Ret.) are holding a conference to launch a new group, </span><a href="http://lawenforcementleaders.org/"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime
and Incarceration</span></a><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> (LELRCI). The group is releasing a </span><a href="http://lawenforcementleaders.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Statement_of_Principles.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">report</span></a><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> explaining
their mission: to reduce crime and improve public safety by reducing needless
incarceration and harmful mandatory minimum sentences, and improving access to
rehabilitation services for those with mental illnesses and substance abuse
disorders. They propose </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">de-felonizing minor crimes as California has
done with </span><a href="http://myprop47.org/"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Prop. 47</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, and ultimately, strengthening
community-police relations.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"As our nation's top police and prosecutors reflect back
on their careers, we have come to understand that many of the so-called
tough-on-crime principles to which many of us gave our lives are flat-out wrong,"
said Major Franklin. "We can reduce crime and incarceration at the same
time, but to do that we need alternatives to arrest, balance in our laws, and
continued improvement in community relations. Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition is honored to be a part of distinguished group." </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unnecessary incarceration taxes public coffers and law
enforcement resources as well as furthering economic and racial inequality and
lessening life opportunities for millions, who become </span><a href="http://www.nij.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism/pages/welcome.aspx"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">more likely to
re-offend</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in the future. </span><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2014/05/01%20crime%20facts/v8_thp_10crimefacts.pdf"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">$80
billion</span></a><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is spent on incarceration in the U.S. every year; a cost
reform advocates say would be better spent on rehabilitation, job training, and
education.</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Drug laws continue to be a root cause
of mass incarceration and places severe social and economic consequences on
individuals and communities, </span><a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/template/page.cfm?id=122"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">particularly
those of color.</span></a><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Overly punitive drug enforcement and
the prioritization of drug cases over violent crimes since the drug war began
in 1971 has contributed to the U.S. holding </span><a href="http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison-population-total?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">more
prisoners per capita</span></a><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> than any other nation. </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Please
contact Darby Beck at <a href="mailto:darby.beck@leap.cc">darby.beck@leap.cc</a>
for a special access code to view the launch event being held at the National
Press Club Wednesday from 12:30-2pm ET.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed policy that
have wreaked havoc on public safety, damaged community relations with police,
fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored the public health crisis of
addiction. The War on Drugs has cost more than $1 trillion dollars, yielded no
positive outcomes, and has ultimately diverted the penal system’s attention
away from more important crimes.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">###<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
Darby Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08724361595774770999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-5417787309326202015-10-01T14:20:00.003-04:002015-10-01T14:23:25.623-04:00Press Release: Bipartisan Criminal Justice Bill Introduced in Senate<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">For
Immediate Release: <span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Thursday,
October 1, 2015<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">BIPARTISAN
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM BILL INTRODUCED IN SENATE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">New
Legislation Focuses on Reducing Recidivism and Mandatory Minimum Sentences for
Drug Offenses, New Early Release Programs, Increasing Judicial
Discretion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Washington
D.C. – Today, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate announced a sweeping
criminal justice reform bill to address mass incarceration. Senate Judiciary
Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) led the cooperative effort that, if passed, would
reduce mandatory minimum sentences, limit “Three Strikes” convictions and other
determinate sentences, and expand judicial discretion. It would also increase
education and job training programs, potentially reducing recidivism, among
other improvements. The bill was constructed and co-sponsored by Sens. Dick
Durbin (D-IL), Mike Lee (R-UT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), John Cornyn (R-TX),
Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tim Scott
(R-SC), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“In an
age of intense partisan conflict, it’s heartening to see lawmakers across the
spectrum working together on restoring justice in this country,” said </span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.),</span></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">
executive director for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition </span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">(LEAP)</span></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">, a
group of criminal justice professionals working to end the drug war. “We could
reduce the impact that drug prohibition has on people of color and for so many
others who have been victims of unreasonable and ineffective drug prohibition
laws. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but this is a considerable step in
the right direction.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The new
bill would also </span><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/senate-reaches-compromise-on-criminal-justice-reform-214278"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">retroactively apply</span></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> the
Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 to offenders currently serving unduly long sentences
for crack cocaine. Through the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, harsh federal
mandatory minimum sentences were instituted to deter drug use in an era of
“tough on crime” mentality, but have recently come under fire by both the left
and right for being excessively punitive, ballooning the American prison
population, costing taxpayers billions, ignoring real solutions to drug abuse,
and fostering racially biased enforcement practices. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act
imposed a penalty for crack cocaine possession and distribution </span><a href="https://www.aclu.org/node/17576"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">one
hundred times</span></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> more
severe than the punishment for powder cocaine, despite the drugs being
essentially identical. The ratio was reduced to 18:1 through the Fair Sentencing
Act in 2010, but evidence points to a racially biased sentencing disparity that
has contributed to putting African American men in prison at a rate </span><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/social-mobility-memos/posts/2014/09/30-war-on-drugs-black-social-mobility-rothwell"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">five times higher</span></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> than
that of white men and resulted in the U.S. housing more prisoners than any other
nation. The new bill should offer hope for many who have continued to be
unfairly treated by the justice system through arbitrary mandatory minimum laws
even after the reforms of 2010.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Mandatory
minimum laws have also severely limited discretion judges have when deciding
punishment for drug cases. The new bill would offer more leeway in determining
appropriate sentences based on a defendant’s individual circumstances. </span><a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/senate-reaches-compromise-on-criminal-justice-reform-214278"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;">Other provisions</span></span></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> in the
bill include limiting solitary confinement for juveniles in federal facilities
and expanding mandatory minimum categories to include cases such as interstate
domestic violence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">LEAP is
committed to ending decades of failed policy that have wreaked havoc on public
safety, wasted significant law enforcement resources, and largely ignored the
public health crisis of addiction. The drug war has cost nearly two trillion
dollars, yielded only disastrous outcomes, and has ultimately distracted the
justice system from focusing on more important crimes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Darby Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08724361595774770999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-31316351756258155602015-09-30T11:44:00.002-04:002015-09-30T11:44:15.631-04:00Press Release: Marijuana Sales Begin in Oregon Thursday<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For Immediate
Release: Contact:
darby.beck@leap.cc<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Wednesday,
September 30, 2015 415.823.5496
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">MARIJUANA
SALES BEGIN IN OREGON THURSDAY<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Medical
Marijuana Dispensaries Given Head Start Before Other Stores<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oregon
Becomes First State to Expunge Prior Nonviolent Marijuana Records <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Oregon,
which legalized marijuana in 2014 with <a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/index.ssf/2015/06/qa_everything_you_need_to_know.html#incart_m-rpt-2"><span style="color: windowtext;">Measure 91</span></a>, is beginning sales tomorrow,
Thursday October 1<sup>st</sup>. Existing medical marijuana dispensaries were
permitted to get a head start on sales before other, non-medical stores, which
are expected to open in Fall 2016. This will ensure existing medical marijuana
retailers have an opportunity to fairly compete in the new market as it emerges
in the next several years. About <a href="http://www.kgw.com/story/news/local/marijuana/2015/09/28/legal-weed-what-you-can-buy-oct-1/72983768/"><span style="color: windowtext;">200 of the 345</span></a> medical shops have registered
to expand their sales to all adults and expect a significant increase in profit
margins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Tomorrow
Oregon becomes the third state to be able to control, regulate and tax
marijuana by making sales of the drug legal,” said Major Neill Franklin (Ret.),
executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a group of
law enforcement officials opposed to the war on drugs. “If we were to apply
this same logic to heroin and other drugs so that people with addictions knew
what they were getting, we’d not only see the public safety improvements we’ve
seen in Colorado and Washington, we’d see thousands of lives saved every year.”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">On June
30<sup>th</sup>, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed into law <a href="http://gov.oregonlive.com/bill/2015/HB3400/"><span style="color: windowtext;">HB
3400</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext;">,</span></span>
which not only created specific regulations for tracking plants from seed to
sale to ensure consumer safety and vendor accountability, but it will also
expunge thousands of prior marijuana records for nonviolent offenders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Millions of
Americans face lessened life opportunities because of arrest and conviction
records,” said Major Franklin. “Oregonians should be proud of the strides
they have made to restore justice to those who should never have been arrested
or incarcerated for marijuana in the first place.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As of July 1<sup>st</sup>
of this year, adult possession and home cultivation were permitted. The law
permits adults 21 and older to grow four plants and keep eight ounces at home,
and to possess one ounce. Public consumption and sales will continue to remain
illegal. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency charged with
regulating marijuana in the state, will begin to accept applications for
cultivation, processing, testing, and retail business licenses <a href="http://www.oregon.gov/olcc/marijuana/Pages/Frequently-Asked-Questions.aspx"><span style="color: windowtext;">starting January 4<sup>th</sup>, 2016,</span></a> and
recreational retailers are expected to be operational later the same year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Four states have
thus far legalized and regulated adult use. Oregon’s regulatory model has been
developed with Washington and Colorado’s successes and failures in mind. Alaska
has not yet begun legal sales. Among the marijuana regulation priorities for
the Oregon Liquor Control Commission are preventing accidental ingestion by
children with the use of appropriate childproof packaging, and ensuring that
extracts, concentrates, and edibles are carefully regulated, tested, and
labeled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">LEAP is
committed to ending decades of failed policy that have created dangerous underground
markets and gang violence, fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored
the public health crisis of addiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Darby Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08724361595774770999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-3574916627815042992015-09-11T12:12:00.000-04:002015-09-11T12:13:07.936-04:00Press Release: CALIFORNIA CIVIL FORFEITURE REFORM BILL DIES IN ASSEMBLY AFTER DECEPTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT LOBBYING <div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Contact: Mikayla Hellwich For Immediate Release:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><a href="mailto:Darby.beck@leap.cc" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Mikayla.hellwich@leap.cc</a> September 11, 2015</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"><a href="tel:240-461-3066" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+12404613066">240-461-3066</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;"><strong><span class="il">CALIFORNIA</span> CIVIL <span class="il">FORFEITURE</span> <span class="il">REFORM</span> BILL DIES IN ASSEMBLY AFTER DECEPTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT LOBBYING</strong><strong> </strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: small;"><strong>State, Local Law Enforcement Profit from Violating Civil Liberties</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Sacramento, CA -- Last night, the <span class="il">California</span> assembly voted down <a href="https://reason.com/blog/2015/09/10/california-forfeiture-reform-bill-stalls" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">24-41</a> civil <span class="il">asset</span> <span class="il">forfeiture</span> <span class="il">reform</span> bill <a href="http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB443" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">SB 443</a> despite overwhelming voter support and largely due to law enforcement groups’ deceptive lobbying about <a href="http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/sep/09/police-civil-asset-forfeiture-fighting-reforms/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">losing federal funding</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Civil <span class="il">asset</span> <span class="il">forfeiture</span>, which enables law enforcement to seize <span class="il">assets</span> and property from individuals suspected of illegal activity without having to charge them with a crime, was originally intended to cripple wealthy drug dealers and use their funds for future enforcement operations. But over the past three decades, as government funding for police has fallen, departments have used civil <span class="il">forfeiture</span> to maintain their budgets. SB 443 would have required law enforcement to “seek or obtain” a conviction to make a lawful seizure. A <a href="https://www.aclunc.org/sites/default/files/20150825-acluca_asset_forfeiture.pdf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Tulchin Research survey</a> conducted on <span class="il">California</span> residents shows an average 76% of people across racial and political lines oppose the existing civil <span class="il">forfeiture</span> laws. Failure to pass SB 443 shows a significant disconnect between voters and their legislators and the power that law enforcement agencies wield in evading accountability.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">“In April, The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) testified that law enforcement agencies cannot afford to give up civil <span class="il">asset</span> <span class="il">forfeiture </span>because the federal government has reduced funding for state and local law enforcement.” said Redondo Beach <a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/DianeGoldstein/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Lt. Commander Diane Goldstein (Ret.),</a> a local speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a href="http://www.leap.cc/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">LEAP</a>), a criminal justice group working to end the War on Drugs. “How can we possibly justify incentivizing police to be invested in criminal activity?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">“Civil <span class="il">forfeiture</span> has dulled the luster of constitutional policing and leveraged local law enforcement away from its core mission of public safety,” said LAPD <a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/StephenDowning/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Deputy Chief Stephen Downing (Ret.),</a> another local LEAP representative. “This bill would have put us back on a road of true public service and helped to rebuild community trust in these tenuous times. It is sad that 41 of our politicians could not see that opportunity.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;"> Civil <span class="il">forfeiture</span> often preys on average citizens and is widely abused by participating departments, particularly in <span class="il">California</span>. In 2012, the Anaheim Police Department attempted to seize a <a href="http://www.ij.org/caforfeiture" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">$1.5 million office building</a> from the owner after one of the owner’s tenants was accused of selling $37 worth of marijuana at a medical marijuana dispensary operating legally under state law. A report by the Drug Policy Alliance, <a href="http://www.drugpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Drug_Policy_Alliance_Above_the_Law_Civil_Asset_Forfeiture_in_California.pdf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">“Above the Law: An Investigation of Civil <span class="il">Asset</span> <span class="il">Forfeiture</span> in <span class="il">California</span>,”</a> found “numerous breaches of federal <span class="il">forfeiture</span> rules, including budgeting future <span class="il">forfeiture</span> revenue, failure to submit <span class="il">forfeiture</span> expenses to third party auditors, unaccounted-for expenditures in documents submitted to the Justice Department, and failure to retain records related to <span class="il">asset </span>seizures.” Overall, the report points to a vast lack of oversight for an already unethical program. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Law enforcement agencies are legally permitted to make civil forfeitures without convictions in every U.S. state except New Mexico, where it has been abolished entirely, but <a href="http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/11/this-is-the-moment-for-civil-asset-forfeiture-reform/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">federal enforcement agencies</a>, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, still make civil forfeitures across the country. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">The Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act has been introduced to both houses at the congressional level and would <span class="il">reform</span> civil <span class="il">asset</span> <span class="il">forfeiture</span> nationwide as well as abolish the <a href="http://www.justice.gov/afp/fund" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Department of Justice’s <span class="il">Asset</span> <span class="il">Forfeiture</span> Fund</a>, which allows the Attorney General to “pay any necessary expenses associated with <span class="il">forfeiture</span> operations,” but has incentivized selective enforcement of laws based on monetary gain. Among the cosponsors of the FAIR Act are <span class="il">California</span> State Representatives Tony Cardenas (D-San Fernando Valley), Sam Farr (D-Carmel), Tom McClintock (R-Roseville), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: x-small;">Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (<a href="http://www.leap.cc/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">LEAP</a>) is an organization of police, judges, prosecutors, and other criminal justice professionals dedicated to ending the drug war.</span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-72219707832046677152015-07-09T15:32:00.003-04:002015-07-09T15:33:25.345-04:00Press Release: SENATORS INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN MARIJUANA BANKING BILL<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">SENATORS
INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN MARIJUANA BANKING BILL</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Bill
Would Address Largest Logistical Obstacle to Dispensaries, Improve Public
Safety<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">WASHINGTON,
DC – <span style="background: white;">Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Gardner
(R-CO), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Ron Wyden (D-OR)</span> introduced
the Marijuana Business Access to Banking Act</span> today in a much-needed move
to allow legitimate marijuana businesses to conduct legal financial operations.
While the move sounds like a minor regulatory matter, the lack of clear
financial guidelines represents the single greatest obstacle to state-legal marijuana
businesses operating safely and profitably. Currently, dispensaries and other
businesses in states that have legalized medical marijuana or that allow adult
use must operate cash-only businesses because banking services fall under
federal, rather than state law.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Right now, it’s
the Wild West for marijuana businesses,” said </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/NeillF/"><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Major Neill Franklin (Ret.)</span></a></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, executive director of LEAP. “Criminals know where the dispensaries
are. They know the businesses are making thousands of dollars a day and that
all of those transactions are in cash. It’s led to some horrific incidents, all
courtesy of the federal government. They’re setting these businesses up to fail
and, worse, they’re endangering people’s lives.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Most dispensaries
have had to hire expensive private security firms to set up elaborate safety
systems and to accompany employees as the cash leaves the premises. Because of
these precautions, many dispensaries, even those conducting large volume of
sales, retain little profit. States are the other major losers in this scenario
as the lack of accountability encourages the underreporting of taxes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the House,
Representatives Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Denny Heck (D-WA) have introduced a similar bill, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2076"><span style="color: windowtext;">HR 2076</span></a>. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">LEAP is
committed to ending decades of failed policy that have wreaked havoc on public
safety, damaged community relations with police, fostered corruption and
racism, and largely ignored the public health crisis of addiction. The War on
Drugs has cost more than $1 trillion dollars, yielded no positive outcomes, and
has ultimately diverted the penal system’s attention away from more important
crimes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Darby Beckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08724361595774770999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-16245037867803346102015-06-29T11:19:00.000-04:002015-06-29T11:19:59.815-04:00Press Release: OREGON MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION LAW TAKES EFFECT JULY 1st<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">For Immediate Release: <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> Contact: Darby Beck</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Monday June 29, 2015 <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> darby.beck@leap.cc</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> <a href="tel:415.823.5496" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+14158235496">415.823.5496</a></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">OREGON MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION LAW TAKES EFFECT <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_522764177" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">JULY 1st</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Adult Possession, Home Cultivation Permitted Immediately</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Cultivation, Retail Businesses Expected to Open Fall 2016</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/marijuana/index.ssf/2015/06/qa_everything_you_need_to_know.html#incart_m-rpt-2" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Measure 91</a>, a voter-approved initiative legalizing marijuana in Oregon, takes effect July 1<sup>st</sup> and will immediately allow for adult possession and home cultivation. The law permits adults 21 and older to grow four plants and keep eight ounces at home, and possess one ounce in public. Public consumption and sales will continue to remain illegal. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency charged with regulating marijuana in the state, will begin to accept applications for cultivation, processing, testing, and retail business licenses </span><a href="http://www.oregon.gov/olcc/marijuana/Pages/Frequently-Asked-Questions.aspx" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">starting January 4<sup>th</sup>, 2016,</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"> and businesses are expected to be operational later the same year. More time was allotted to create specific regulations for concentrates to ensure the best possible public safety outcome, so these products will likely not be available immediately when stores open.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">“Expending law enforcement resources by going after nonviolent marijuana users is a shameful waste of time and tax dollars, and a distraction from what’s really plaguing neighborhoods,” said </span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/neillf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Maj. Neill Franklin (Ret.), executive director</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"> for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (</span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">LEAP</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">), a criminal justice group opposed to the drug war. “Cops in Oregon can now get into doing their jobs; protecting communities and helping victims of violent crimes get justice.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">“</span><span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Oregon still has more to do to ensure marijuana legalization is done properly; lawmakers and regulators are currently working to expunge the records of many non-violent marijuana offenders as well as develop proper regulations for taxes, concentrates, and labeling for consumer and child protection,” said</span><a href="http://www.leap.cc/author/inge-fryklund/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Inge Fryklund, former prosecutor</span></a><span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">, Oregon resident, and board member LEAP. “We must promote honest and accurate public information along with sensible regulations. Oregon can and will be a model for future states looking to consider legalization in 2016 and beyond.”</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">23 States and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of medical marijuana access, while 4 states have decided to legalize and regulate adult use generally. Oregon’s regulatory model will be developed with Colorado and Washington’s previous successes and failures in mind. Among the priorities of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission are preventing accidental ingestion by children with the use of appropriate childproof packaging and ensuring that extracts, concentrates, and edibles are carefully regulated, tested, and labeled.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Last Wednesday, June 24<sup>th</sup>, the Oregon House passed </span><a href="https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2015R1/Measures/Overview/HB3400" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">HB 3400</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">, by a vote of 52-4, which addresses several points of contention. The bill created a tracking system for monitoring plants from seed to retail sales, which will help deter the drug from the illegal market and ensure accountability for businesses with inferior or contaminated products. It also permits jurisdictions where at least 55% of voters disapproved Measure 91 to opt out of issuing marijuana related business licenses. HB 3400 also expunges many marijuana-related offenses from criminal records, which will affect tens of thousands of Oregonians. The bill will now advance to the Senate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_522764180" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Tuesday, June 30 at 2pm PT</span></span> U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer will speak at the Portland ACLU for a legalization launch event to focus on the importance of marijuana legalization nationwide and what to expect for the future of the drug policy reform. For more information, contact Nicole L’Esperance. <a href="tel:202-225-4811" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+12022254811">202-225-4811</a> or </span><a href="mailto:Nicole.lesperance@mail.house.gov" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Nicole.lesperance@mail.house.<wbr></wbr>gov</span></a><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">Anthony Johnson, Chief Petitioner for Measure 91, co-wrote the measure, spearheaded the campaign, and has been working on marijuana legalization for more than a decade. He can be reached at </span><strong><span style="background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"><a href="tel:503-752-3966" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+15037523966">503-752-3966</a> for comments.<span style="color: #606060;"></span></span></strong><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed policy that have created underground markets and gang violence, fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored the public health crisis of addiction.</span></div>
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Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3194774682855710383.post-75817337188808087872015-06-23T10:57:00.003-04:002015-06-23T10:57:57.082-04:00Press Release: SIX HUNDRED CHURCHES CALL FOR END TO DRUG WARContact: Darby Beck For Immediate Release:<br />
<br />
darby.beck@leap.cc Tuesday, June 23, 2015<br />
<br />
415.823.5496<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>SIX HUNDRED CHURCHES CALL FOR END TO DRUG WAR</b></div>
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<b>Conference Uses Christian Ideals to Argue for New System</b></div>
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MANCHESTER, NH – Last Saturday the New England Conference of United Methodist<br />
<br />
Churches, a group representing 600 congregations in six Northeastern states, voted in<br />
<br />
favor of Resolution 15-203, which uses Christian principles to call for an end to the War<br />
<br />
on Drugs and endorse the work of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.<br />
<br />
The resolution begins:<br />
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<br />
“In the love of Christ, who came to save those who are lost and vulnerable, we urge the creation of<br />
<br />
a genuinely new system for the care and restoration of victims, offenders, criminal justice<br />
<br />
officials, and the community as a whole. Restorative justice grows out of biblical authority, which<br />
<br />
emphasizes a right relationship with God, self and community. When such relationships are<br />
<br />
violated or broken through crime, opportunities are created to make things right.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
It goes on to detail how the drug war has failed to achieve its intended goal of reducing<br />
<br />
drug abuse and has resulted in numerous unintended consequences such as the creation of<br />
<br />
violent and dangerous underground markets, countless lost lives from gang violence and<br />
<br />
unregulated products, increased dangers posed to law enforcement, prison overcrowding,<br />
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the rapid spread of needle-borne illnesses due to a lack of sterile syringes, and the<br />
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disparate impact that these laws have had on poor communities of color.<br />
<br />
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Co-founder Lt. Jack Cole (Ret.), who, along<br />
<br />
with the group Christians Against Prohibition, worked with the assembly to pass the<br />
<br />
resolution, recounted his experience as one of warm support and appreciation,<br />
<br />
particularly from families who have been directly affected by drug prohibition.<br />
<br />
“When I came off the stage I was met by many assembly members telling me how<br />
<br />
important the resolution was,” said Lt. Cole. “One said that…I had described his family.<br />
<br />
His daughter died ten years ago of a drug overdose and he and his wife were left to raise<br />
<br />
her two children. That gentleman was sure that if drugs had been legal his daughter<br />
<br />
would not have died.”<br />
<br />
“Jesus concerned himself with the plight of the poor and marginalized in his society. In<br />
<br />
our society, the story of the poor and marginalized is one of mass incarceration, racial<br />
<br />
injustice, and the breakdown of families caused by the War on Drugs,” said Major Neill<br />
<br />
Franklin (Ret.), executive director of LEAP. <br />
<br />
The statement ends with a declaration of support for LEAP and a commitment to work to<br />
<br />
regulate drugs from a public health perspective:<br />
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“Be it Resolved: That the New England Annual Conference supports seeking means other than<br />
<br />
prohibition to address the problem of substance abuse; and is further resolved to support the<br />
<br />
mission of the international educational organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition<br />
<br />
(LEAP) to reduce the multitude of unintended harmful consequences resulting from fighting the<br />
<br />
war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime, and addiction by ending drug<br />
<br />
prohibition.”<br />
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The resolution can be found here: http://www.leap.cc/united_methodist_res/<br />
<br />
LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed policy that have wreaked havoc on public<br />
<br />
safety, damaged community relations with police, fostered corruption and racism, and<br />
<br />
largely ignored the public health crisis of addiction. The War on Drugs has cost more<br />
<br />
than $1 trillion dollars, yielded no positive outcomes, and has ultimately diverted the<br />
<br />
penal system’s attention away from more important crimes.<br />
<br />
###Mikayla Hellwichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04165059135116591969noreply@blogger.com2