Quebec man fined $1.30 for marijuana possession

Gatineau judge calls Canada's marijuana laws "antiquated and ridiculous" - Cantech Letter - Terry Dawes:

November 30, 2015 - "A judge in Gatineau, Quebec has imposed a fine of $1.30, 'one dollar fine and 30 cents surcharge”, to an Outaouais man arrested for possession of 30 pot plants, adding that he is tired of having to deal with Canada’s 'antiquated and ridiculous' marijuana laws.

"The prosecution had demanded a sentence of 90 days detention and a $250 fine for the accused, reports La Presse....  The accused was Mario Larouche, a 46-year-old man suffering from the physical aftereffects of a road accident, [who] had tried unsuccessfully in the past to apply for a medical marijuana prescription.

"The judge appeared exasperated not only at having his and the court’s time wasted, but also decided to comment on the overall hypocrisy inherent in a system that’s simultaneously tough on crime and blind to the fact of widespread use.

"'If the accused had met with a responsible doctor, he would probably now have his prescription,' said Judge Chevalier. 'He wouldn’t be in front of this tribunal today. The gentleman is caught up in a completely mixed up system that does not allow access to a natural medicine going back centuries, or millennia.'

"Picking up on signals sent by the Liberal government, which intends to legalize marijuana and tax the proceeds, Judge Chevalier continued, 'And I think that society is becoming less naive on this subject, or at least the politicians are. We’ve got one now with a responsible attitude who isn’t afraid to go in that direction,' presumably referring to Prime Minister Trudeau....

"'We’re living in a society where we can accuse people of consumption and possession of marijuana, even though at least half of the population has already done it themselves,' said Chevalier. 'These laws are antiquated and ridiculous. When we’re dealing with laws that dictate that half of Canada should have a criminal record…'

"The judge let the remainder of that phrase hang in the air before continuing, '... and probably most crown and defense attorneys, and maybe judges, but I won’t comment on that.'"

Read more: http://www.cantechletter.com/2015/11/gatineau-judge-imposes-1-30-fine-calling-marijuana-laws-antiquated-and-ridiculous/
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The Star Wars libertarian special (video)

The Star Wars Libertarian Special - Reason.com:

December 4, 2015 - "Just in time for the holidays, The Star Wars Libertarian Special features Senate filibusters, border patrol stops, eminent domain, a guest appearance by Edward Snowden, and rarely seen footage from Chewbacca's galaxy-trotting documentary series about free-market economics.

"About 3 minutes.

"Written by Austin Bragg, Meredith Bragg, and Andrew Heaton. Featuring Andrew Heaton and Austin Bragg. Produced by Austin Bragg and Meredith Bragg. Edited by Austin Bragg."

Download here: https://reason.com/reasontv/2015/12/04/the-star-wars-libertarian-special

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355 U.S. mass shootings in 2015; give or take 351

How Many Mass Shootings Are There, Really? - The New York Times - Mark Follman:

December 3, 2015 - "On Wednesday, a Washington Post article announced that 'The San Bernardino shooting is the second mass shooting today and the 355th this year.' Vox, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, this newspaper and others reported similar statistics. Grim details from the church in Charleston, a college classroom in Oregon and a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado are still fresh, but you could be forgiven for wondering how you missed more than 300 other such attacks in 2015.

"At Mother Jones, where I work as an editor, we have compiled an in-depth, open-source database covering more than three decades of public mass shootings. By our measure, there have been four 'mass shootings' this year, including the one in San Bernardino, and at least 73 such attacks since 1982.

"What explains the vastly different count? The answer is that there is no official definition for 'mass shooting.' Almost all of the gun crimes behind the much larger statistic are less lethal and bear little relevance to the type of public mass murder we have just witnessed again. Including them in the same breath suggests that a 1 a.m. gang fight in a Sacramento restaurant, in which two were killed and two injured, is the same kind of event as a deranged man walking into a community college classroom and massacring nine and injuring nine others. Or that a late-night shooting on a street in Savannah, Ga., yesterday that injured three and killed one is in the same category as the madness that just played out in Southern California.

"While all the victims are important, conflating those many other crimes with indiscriminate slaughter in public venues obscures our understanding of this complicated and growing problem. Everyone is desperate to know why these attacks happen and how we might stop them — and we can’t know, unless we collect and focus on useful data that filter out the noise.

"For at least the past decade, the F.B.I. regarded a mass shooting as a single attack in which four or more victims were killed.... When we began compiling our database in 2012, we used that criteria of four or more killed in public attacks, but excluded mass murders that stemmed from robbery, gang violence or domestic abuse in private homes. Our goal with this relatively narrow set of parameters was to better understand the seemingly indiscriminate attacks that have increased in recent years, whether in movie theaters, elementary schools or office parks.

"The statistics now being highlighted in the news come primarily from shootingtracker.com, a website built by members of a Reddit forum supporting gun control called GunsAreCool. That site aggregates news stories about shooting incidents — of any kind — in which four or more people are reported to have been either injured or killed....

"The founder of the 'shooting tracker' project, who currently goes by the handle 'Billy Speed,' told me it was his choice: 'Three years ago I decided, all by myself, to change the United States’ definition of mass shooting.' It’s also not clear how many of those stories — many of them from local outlets, including scant detail — are accurate."

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Canadian government moves to legalize marijuana

Canada’s Health Minister Studying Marijuana Legalization Models | Marijuana - Tom Angell:

November 28, 2015 - "Canada’s brand new top health official is actively looking into the best way for the country to legalize marijuana.

"Minister of Health Jane Philpott, who assumed office a little more than three weeks ago, told the CBC that government scientists are already briefing her on possible legal regulations for cannabis.

"'The world is going to be looking to Canada to make sure we do the job well,' she said.

"Even though the government doesn’t yet know all the details of how it wants to regulate marijuana, Philpott didn’t hesitate to harshly criticize the current prohibition model....

"The health minister told CBC that in order to craft the best possible regulations for cannabis, the government will convene a task force of experts who can apply prior experience with other legal products like tobacco.

"Earlier this month, newly sworn-in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau directed Philpott and two other cabinet officials, the minister of public safety and emergency preparedness and the minister of justice, to begin working together to craft a plan to legally regulate marijuana.

"Trudeau’s Liberal Party, which won a strong majority in last month’s federal elections, included support for legalization in its official platform. During the campaign, Trudeau pledged to begin work on ending prohibition 'right away' if elected....

"Philpott is confident her department will have the public support it needs to craft and implement an effective marijuana policy. 'Most thoughtful Canadians recognize that the current system isn’t working and they’re looking to us to make sure we make a wise decision,' she said."

Read more: http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2015/11/canadas-health-minister-studying-marijuana-legalization-models/
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Scottish Libertarian Party launched

New Scottish Libertarian Party set to launch and call for independence | Politics | The National:

December 1, 2015 - "A fresh voice from the centre right will be added to the Yes movement when a new pro-independence political party formally launches later this week.

"The Scottish Libertarian Party (SLP) is led by businessman Alan Finlay and is planning to field candidates in all eight regions at next year’s Holyrood elections.

"As well as being pro-Scottish independence, the party has an agenda supporting further reform of the welfare state, low taxation and public spending and low regulation for businesses. It is also strongly in favour of an EU exit.... Other key policies include the decriminalisation of the use of cannabis, lifting legal restrictions on sex workers and combating the surveillance of individuals by the authorities.

"The party is holding a public launch event on Thursday evening at Strathclyde University when sex worker Charlotte Rose will put the case for decriminalising the sex industry and Dr Stephen Davies from the Institute of Economic Affairs will also speak.

"David Craig Ballantine, a Glasgow-based stockbroker and the party’s director of communications, said the SLP stands for the empowerment of the individual and is opposed to a large, centralising state. He denied the party was on the right of the political spectrum....

"'We are not a right-wing party, we cover the full shade of the political spectrum. We do believe in a small state, but we also believe in campaigning for changes in the law on social issues. We are in favour of decriminalising cannabis use, for instance, and are strongly in favour of freedom of speech and freedom of expression.'

"He added: 'The SLP is pro-independence, though we would advocate a very different independence to the pro-EU pseudo independence advocated by the SNP. The current welfare state doesn’t work. Since the early part of the 20th century, the creep of the state has intruded into the lives of those most vulnerable more than any other group....

"'The SLP propose to help the working poor by getting the state out of their lives, by eliminating income tax for the lowest paid, and improving flexibility in spending. The SLP plan to allow all local authorities to set whatever tax policy they wish and allow local authorities who have similar tax policies to combine with other local authorities and work together for tax collection and revenue policy. Local authorities will raise all their required taxation to cover their budget.'

"The party is also in favour of the reintroduction of the right-to-buy to allow those on low incomes to get on to the property ladder."

Read more: http://www.thenational.scot/politics/new-scottish-libertarian-party-set-to-launch-and-call-for-independence.10658
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U.S. gov't seizes $5 billion/year with civil forfeiture

New report finds civil forfeiture laws cause growth of property seizures | Examiner.com - Karl Dickey:

November 10, 2015 -  "Aggressive state and federal civil forfeiture laws are fueling an unprecedented rise in property seizures nationwide, according to a new national study — and federal laws are among the nation’s worst. The study provides the most comprehensive examination of civil forfeiture laws and forfeiture statistics yet compiled.

"The federal government’s civil forfeiture scheme scores a D- in the new report, Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture, released today by the Institute for Justice [IJ].... Most state laws likewise fail to make the grade: 35 states receive a D+ or worse, demonstrating the poor state of civil forfeiture laws across the country. Only two states receive worse grades than the federal government....

"Under civil forfeiture laws, police and prosecutors can seize cash, cars, homes and other property on the mere suspicion that it is connected to criminal activity. No charges or convictions are required. And once property is seized, owners must navigate a confusing, complex and often expensive legal process to try to win it back before it is forfeited. Worst of all, most civil forfeiture laws give law enforcement agencies a powerful incentive to take property: a cut, or even all, of forfeiture proceeds. Such financial incentives, combined with weak protections for property owners, increasingly put people’s property at risk.

"Nationwide, forfeiture revenue has exploded. Since 2001, annual federal forfeiture revenue has increased from less than $500 million to more than $5 billion in 2014—a tenfold increase in just 14 years. And available data show forfeiture revenue across 14 states more than doubling from 2002 to 2013....

"State and local law enforcement can also take advantage of a controversial federal forfeiture program called equitable sharing, which enables them to circumvent their own states’ laws, which are often less lucrative, and forfeit under federal law instead — getting up to 80 percent of the proceeds back. Policing for Profit finds that DOJ equitable sharing payments to state and local law enforcement nationwide more than tripled between 2000 and 2013, jumping from $198 million to $643 million.

"Several states have adopted reforms to rein in rising property seizures, but so far, Congress has not. In just the past two years, six states and the District of Columbia have raised the legal bar for forfeitures, requiring more proof of criminal activity before people can be deprived of their property  with four of those states now requiring a criminal conviction, including New Mexico, which abolished civil forfeiture altogether. And New Mexico and D.C. now direct all forfeiture proceeds to the general fund, eliminating the perverse financial incentive to seize. Those jurisdictions have also opted out of the federal equitable sharing program, though the District’s equitable sharing reform does not take effect until 2018....

"In January, the Justice and Treasury Departments announced policy changes to the equitable sharing program purportedly intended to curb the practice. But IJ’s analysis of DOJ data shows the new policy is unlikely to reverse the upward trend. It targets a small slice of the program, the federal 'adoption' of locally seized property, and largely leaves intact joint task force and investigative seizures. Such joint operations accounted for 82 percent of DOJ equitable sharing proceeds from 2000 to 2013.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/article/new-report-finds-civil-forfeiture-laws-cause-growth-of-property-seizures
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Police used as tax collectors, justice reform conference told

America's most conservative figures make case for criminal justice reform: Jarvis DeBerry | NOLA.com:

November 6, 2015 - "You want to know why some Ferguson, Mo., residents hated their police? Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform and perhaps the most rigidly conservative man in the country, gave his opinion Friday morning (Nov. 6). Norquist, as everybody knows, hates taxes. And at a criminal justice reform conference hosted by the Charles Koch Institute, Norquist argued that humankind's antipathy for the tax collector explains the anger in that St. Louis suburb.

"As a March report from the Department of Justice revealed, city officials in Ferguson relied on tickets and fees to fund their government. Every year, officials were raising projections, that is, the amount they expected to extract from the people. And who were they expecting to bring them that money? The police.

"'We've turned these guys into tax collectors then we wonder why we hate them," Norquist said. 'Because we haven't read history. Take them out of the tax-collection business!'....<

"Stephanie Cutter, who served as a deputy campaign manager for President Barack Obama in 2012 ... agreed with Norquist that it's problematic to send police out primarily to collect fees, but insisted that it's more complex than that. Cutter also stood with Norquist in opposition to civil asset forfeiture. That's when, for example, the police raid a house looking for drugs and take an occupant's property or cash. Even if the person is acquitted of a crime, he or she will likely have to sue to get their property back. Suing often costs more than the value of the seized property. 'There's nothing fair about it,' Cutter said....

"[O]ther conference panelists complained about the increasing militarization of our police forces. There was also lots of talk about 'overcriminalization.' Some of the panelists seem to equate increasing government regulations on businesses with overcriminalization, but Stephen Smith, a law professor at Notre Dame, said what's happening to individuals is far worse than anything happening to corporations.

"Many of our criminal statutes are vaguely written and judges interpret them in a way that's most favorable to prosecutors, Smith said, and in so many places, indigent defense is a joke....

"Citing the work of attorney Harvey Silverglate who says the average American unwittingly commits three felonies a day, Smith said that in the feds' eyes, 'Everything's a crime. You can try to fight it. Even if you have the money to fight it, you're still going to be convicted.'"

Read more: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/11/grover_norquist_reform.html
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