Sorry if this has been diaried but I must yell my outrage from the rooftops so thanks for the space to so do:
The guy’s first offense, no violence. Small time dealer. “Witness,” probably leaned-on, says he had a gun. 55 years for hooking up some people with pot.
And we chastise China and Saudi for human rights abuses… pff! Absolutely shameful, unconstitutionally treasonous, and fucking ridiculous.
As I have said repeatedly since Spygate erupted, nobody should express outrage or surprise at the recent criminal, unconstitutional power grabs by Republicans: this has been going on for decades.
Whether NSA power grabs or overruling torture laws with “implicit” executive power “statements,” our government has been operating illegally since at least 1919, (probably earlier, probably always) when Alcohol Prohibition was instituted via the 18th Amendment. I am not enough of a Constitutional scholar to outline all the other power grabs, be it Lincoln or Truman or whomever but they are all despicable, treasonous acts and only we the people can stop them, with what remaining rights there are: elections.
And W Bush can kiss my ass with his “aiding and abetting the enemy” whining, the liar: HE and complicit Republicans (and some Democrats) are the real traitors, traitors to democracy and traitors to the US Constitution.
87 years this Monday, Jan. 16, 1919, marks a day of infamy in American history when the Constitution was sold down the river, when Alcohol Prohibition and the ensuing drug Prohibition occurred, and it marks the first time one Constitutional amendment (the 18th) superceded another (the 4th), only to be repealed by another (the 21st). Methinks the 4th was collatoral damage to this dustup.
The purpose of my diary today has to do with sentencing abuse. Please join or contribute to FAMM today to fight against this unconstitutional tyranny.
A federal appeals court has upheld a 55-year prison term imposed on a Utah man with no criminal record who was convicted in 2003 of selling several hundred dollars worth of marijuana on three occasions.
The case of the man, Weldon H. Angelos, a record producer from Salt Lake City who was 22 at the time of his crime, has become a benchmark in the debate about sentencing rules and justice. The trial judge in the case complained in issuing the sentence, which was required by federal statutes, that he thought it excessive, and 29 former judges and prosecutors agreed, in a brief filed on Mr. Angelos’s behalf.
But a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a decision issued here late Monday, rejected those arguments. The sentence properly reflected the will of Congress, the court said, and was not cruel or unusual punishment. Mr. Angelos was reported by a witness to have been armed with a pistol during two of the drug sales – and requiring stiffer sentences in cases where drugs and violence are linked, the court said, is legitimate social policy.
Quite ingenious means of instituting fascism IMO, but devious and cynical, not to mention racist (black crack sentencing is MUCH more severe than white cocaine sentencing).
Since the 21st amendment repealed Alcohol Prohibition in 1933 and was replaced by drug prohibition in 1937, fascist, unconstitutional policies have ruled the land for 87 years: the Holy Alcohol Inquisition was replaced with the Holy Drug Inquisition which we live with to this day.
So, for 87 years, Americans have tolerated fascists. So, please, with all due respect:
Expose the NSA treason but don’t complain about the NSA treason, we lost our liberties a LONG time ago… but, as with the 21st amendment, we can regain our liberties.
Let’s start with the Weldon H. Angelos marijuana conviction, who is, unsuccessfully thus far, appealing a 55 year sentence in Utah, Wingerland USA.
Let’s write members of Congress to appeal for rewriting sentencing guidelines and, beyond that, to focus drug laws towards a health approach. It worked for Amsterdam: needle park is no more and hard drug use has dropped every year since harm reduction policies were instituted there.
In regards to the Angelos case, no violent act was committed; a leaned-on “witness” claims he had a gun so the guy is supposedly a “gangster,” per the prosecution. Maybe he is, but he didn’t commit a violent act so this is an outrage.
“Although the district court concluded that Angelos’s sentence was disproportionate to his crimes, we disagree,” the court said. “In our view, the district court failed to accord proper deference to Congress’s decision to severely punish criminals who repeatedly possess firearms in connection with drug-trafficking crimes, and erroneously downplayed the seriousness of Angelos’s crimes.”
Mr. Angelos’s lawyer, Jerome H. Mooney, said the decision would be appealed, either for reconsideration by the full Court of Appeals here in Denver or directly to the United States Supreme Court.
Read the whole article. What a disgrace.