Reform conference?

This is a short post as I'm sick with the flu. The Olympic flame arrived in Victoria yesterday and I spent fourteen hours outdoors helping with security. This was an "all hands on deck" event and a lot of officers were working. I already had a cold but the rain appears to have made it worse. :-(

Now, thinking about warmer places, is anyone going to the Reform conference in New Mexico? This is a huge drug policy conference that occurs once every two years. This time around it will run from November 12 - 14 in Albuquerque. LEAP is listed on the conference web site a sponsor / co-host, along with the Harm Reduction Coalition, MAPS, DPA, MPP, SSDP, ACLU, the Libra Foundation, the Open Society Institute and the Berkeley Patients Group. I know there will be quite a few LEAP speakers at the event, so this is a good chance to meet people from LEAP as well as other orgnaizations.

I won't be there myself, but I am hoping to work with some of the attendees to get lots of stories and photos onto this blog.

LEAP speaker in NH legal battle

For those who don't know, Bradley Jardis is one of the few serving police officers in the world who is also a public member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Jardis - a ten year veteran patrol officer - has been working in law enforcement since high school. Right now he is embroiled in a nasty legal fight allegedly related to workplace harassment after a February 2009 appearance on the front page of the New Hampshire Union Leader. Although Bradley had been a member of the LEAP Speakers Bureau for some time, this was the first newspaper article that identified him as a member of the Epping Police Department:

"When he's working, Epping Police Officer Bradley Jardis is just like any other cop. He's patrolling the streets to catch people with drugs because that's what he's supposed to do. But when he's off the clock, this 28-year-old officer is speaking publicly about why he believes existing drug policies have failed and why it's time for lawmakers to legalize drugs. It's an unusual position to take for a police officer charged with enforcing laws, but Jardis insists that prohibiting drugs leaves the dealers in control, creating a dangerous black market that breeds crime and gives kids easy access."

Following the article, it appears that a series of events took place which culminated in Bradley receiving a six day unpaid suspension. He has appealed this suspension and demanded a public hearing on the issue before the Epping Board of Selectmen. We're not sure of all the details yet, but "Assawyer" on the freekeene.com web site wrote:

"Brad received the suspension for how he interacted with his sergeant in which he stated he wouldn't follow an illegal order forbidding him to speak to the media after Brad was removed from a case by the sergeant; and for sending an e-mail to his fellow union members in the department describing malfeasance involving their union president and the Lieutenant who was in charge of investigating/disciplining Brad on the illegal order issue."

As previously explained in Part Two of a three part series on the LEAP blog about police officers and free speech, New Hampshire has strong free speech legislation designed to protect public employees. One hopes this will ultimately shield Jardis from disciplinary action by his employer.

You can get more background information and follow further developments on this multi-page freekeene.com thread, where Bradley himself writes:

"I have a huge support network. I am a very lucky person and I am thankful for how fortunate I am. I believe in the truth and honesty and I believe this to be a matter of public concern. I think as a law enforcement officer I am in the best vantage point to speak publicly on what I identify as something that makes our communities far less safe... IE: drug prohibition. The public should know how an employee who tries to make logical arguments about changing public policy is treated."

You can also watch this five minute video by NH web journalist Dave Ridley (FYI there are short ads at the beginning and end of the segment):



On the plus side, it looks like Jardis may someday generate new case law that will protect free speech for all police officers in New Hampshire. The downside is that this is probably going to be a long, messy, expensive and painful process for him. Bradley has great legal representation but it is important for the broader drug policy reform community to show its support as well. These events continue a trend started with the firing of Sgt. Jonathan Wender in 2005 from the Mountlake Terrace police department in Washington state. Wender - a public member of LEAP at the time - sued and eventually won a settlement of $812,500.

One has to wonder: how many serving officers have been deterred from joining LEAP over concerns about similar problems occurring within their own organizations?

Update: The Union Leader just published their story. It provides more details about the events that led to the suspension.

Help LEAP legalize marijuana

Have you read about Judge James Gray's incredible testimony in favour of legalizing and regulating marijuana in California? Do you want to support Law Enforcement Against Prohibition? If you're visiting the blog for the first time, here are five ways you can help us out:

1) Click the "Follow" button on the right hand side of this blog to follow us using Google Friend Connect (gmail account required). This helps others to discover the blog and increases our traffic.

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VIDEO: Judge Gray Testifies for Marijuana Legalization

Here's the clip of Judge James Gray's testimony in favor of legalizing marijuana, from today's hearing at the California Assembly:

LEAP's Judge Jim Gray Tells NYT We Are Winning

The New York Times has a major story in Wednesday's paper about the increasing momentum of the legalization movement, particularly with respect to marijuana in California.

LEAP speaker Judge Jim Gray, who is testifying at Wednesday's California Assembly hearing on a marijuana legalization bill, is quoted in the Times piece:

“All of us in the movement have had the feeling that we’ve been running into the wind for years,” said James P. Gray, a retired judge in Orange County who has been outspoken in support of legalization. “Now we sense we are running with the wind.”

Please make sure to Digg this story so even more people see the article and learn that the legalization team is the winning team. Get on board!

Press Release: LEAP Testifies for Marijuana Legalization in Calif.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 27, 2009
CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or media@leap.cc

CALIF. SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE TO TESTIFY FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA

Legalization Bill Gets Historic Hearing in California Assembly on Wednesday

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A conservative California Superior Court judge from Orange County will tell legislators on Wednesday that it is time to legalize and tax marijuana after what he saw during his 26 years of sending drug offenders to jail from the bench.

"Based upon my observations, our laws of marijuana prohibition are literally putting our children in harm’s way," said Judge James P. Gray, a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international group of cops, judges and prosecutors who no longer believe in the drug laws they once swore to enforce. "Ask teenagers, and they will tell you the same thing that they tell me: it is easier for them to get marijuana today than it is alcohol. Why? Because today the illicit sellers of marijuana don’t ask for I.D."

WHO: Calif. Superior Court Judge James Gray, other advocates for marijuana legalization

WHAT: Hearing on AB 390, The Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act

WHEN: Wednesday, October 28; 10:00 AM PST - 1:00 PM PST

WHERE: Room 126; California State Capitol; Sacramento, CA

Judge Gray retired from the bench earlier this year. Previously, he served as a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and in the Navy JAG Corps as a defense attorney and judge advocate. He wrote the book "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs."

Also testifying at Wednesday's hearing about the benefits of legalizing marijuana will be representatives of the California Board of Equalization, the ACLU, the Drug Policy Alliance and others.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), 15,000-member organization representing police, prosecutors, judges, FBI/DEA agents and others from around the world who want to legalize and regulate all drugs after fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs" and learning firsthand that prohibition only serves to worsen addiction and violence. More info online at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.

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