Rich Paul bravely faced down 100 years in prison to stand up for principle and attempt to hasten the demise of the insane war on drugs. Yesterday, Rich was sentenced to one year in county jail, many more suspended in prison, a three year probation, and fines.
At the sentencing hearing the court heard well-researched and passionate speeches from defense attorney Kim Kossick, Rich’s parents, and Rich himself:
You can see raw video below of Kim and Rich’s parents’ speeches as well as a ridiculous beginning portion where judge John C. Kissinger enters the court and immediately threatens the audience regarding cameras. (more…)
Rich Paul has become a martyr for the legal marijuana movement, risking a life in prison rather than accept that something he loves should be a crime.
As Harry Cheadle of Vice reported earlier, the New Hampshire libertarian was arrested on four charges of selling marijuana and one of selling LSD last year. Paul refused to bargain with the FBI or accept a plea bargain — even when offered a deal with no jail time — and when his trial came Paul tried in vain to convince the jury not to convict him.
At his sentencing on Friday, Paul faces a maximum of 100 years in prison, even if he is likely to get far less.
While his story has been held up as a paragon of ludicrous drug laws, the 40-year-old claims that he’s really being targeted because of his membership in a libertarian political group.
Matt Simon has the story at the Concord Patch about how the supposedly medical cannabis-friendly governor Maggie Hassan demanded the medical bill be gutted. He discusses the awful provisions in the bill and then what happens next as it goes back to the house:
As the “therapeutic use of cannabis” bill (a.k.a. the medical marijuana bill) heads back to the House of Representatives after being gutted by the Senate, many state representatives, patients, and medical professionals have been contacting me, all asking the same question: “What the heck happened?!?!” (more…)
While a motion to continue is hardy any indicator, Robin Hood and friends’ legal conflict is off to a promising start as the first disagreement in the city’s lawsuit against the Merry (wo)Men was found in the light most favorable to the defense. Having first received the foundational paperwork of the lawsuit on May 9, last week the six defendants received notice of a preliminary hearing scheduled in superior court for Monday, June 10. I had been scheduled to be out of town for a few days leading up to and on the hearing date, so I filed a motion to continue, asking for either all parties’ hearings to be rescheduled, or to have a hearing scheduled solely for myself. No stranger to courtrooms myself, I have filed countless motions to continue with courts across New Hampshire, and have not yet had one denied. It was not surprising that the city attorney might object, and reading his objection, you would think that the situation was dire.
As stated in the City’s Verified Petition for Preliminary and Permanent Injunctive Relief, the seriousness of the situation warrants immediate consideration and action by the Court; the City and its Parking Enforcement Officers would be prejudiced by any delay in this proceeding.
What exactly will ‘the city’ present as damages in this case? They have yet to cite a specific claim against Robin Hooders other than vague allegations of ‘harassment’. Attorney Mullins seems so convinced that Robin Hooders pose such a potential threat that even delaying their preliminary hearing one day could mean chaos in the streets of Keene. Mullins’ objection was denied, the continuance granted, and a new hearing date has been set for June 11 at 2:30pm.
As you may recall, my tenants were raided last summer as a pretext to enter the Keene Activist Center. The city people claim they are only interested in fire safety and whether the home was being run as a “lodging house”. I challenged the validity of the original administrative inspection warrant and this was the hearing on that matter, that was originally set to be a full trial. The full trial date is now pending the judge (Runyon) deciding the warrant was valid in the first place:
Rich Paul bravely faced down 100 years in prison to stand up for principle and attempt to hasten the demise of the insane war on drugs. Yesterday, Rich was sentenced to one year in county jail, many more suspended in prison, a three year probation, and fines.
