Talk about petty vindictive chickenshit ...

Everyone knew the Bush family was always considered the most vindictive political family in US history -- now we get to see the pettiness of Monkey Boy (aka Richie Rich with a chip on his shoulder) -- and I won't play the game that "Oh HE'S not responsible."

When you appoint 150 or or so graduates of the university owned and run by the supposedly human being who PROVES the adage "the devil can quote scripture for his own purposes," i.e., the unholy slime-spewing wormtongue Pat Robertson and his tribute to Thrones and Dominions -- Regent University -- you're responsible for all the tiny little hells your demons create.
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They can't send 'guru of ganja' to jail but feds will retry case

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Federal prosecutors brushed off a judge's suggestion that they not retry a prominent marijuana advocate on cultivation charges and said Friday they would press ahead, even though he cannot be sent to prison if he is convicted.

Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan made the announcement at a hearing in San Francisco before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who presided over the first trial of 62-year-old Ed Rosenthal of Oakland. When Bevan said last month that the government intended to retry the self-described "guru of ganja," Breyer urged him to reconsider, suggesting that federal resources might be used more productively in prosecutions that result in imprisonment.

Bevan said Friday that prosecutors had reached their decision after a "thorough and careful review'' and that the final word had come from Scott Schools, the interim U.S. attorney in San Francisco. When Breyer asked if Justice Department officials in Washington had been consulted, Bevan said he didn't know...

Rosenthal was arrested for growing marijuana that he said was intended for medical patients. After he won his appeal on grounds of juror misconduct, prosecutors secured a new federal grand jury indictment in October that included additional charges of tax evasion and moneylaundering related to his marijuana cultivation...

After the hearing, defense lawyers criticized the retrial decision. But Rosenthal's response was: Bring it on.

"This isn't a criminal case. This is a political case," said Rosenthal, wearing a shiny green robe embroidered with images of marijuana leaves. "When I win this case, it's saying to the government, 'You have to stop harassing the medical (marijuana) dispensaries...' "

Rosenthal is an authority on marijuana cultivation. His latest book was "Why Marijuana Should Be Legal."

His first trial was the first and most prominent of several federal prosecutions of growers who were providing cannabis under a 1996 state initiative that allowed patients to use the drug with a doctor's approval.

Breyer barred evidence about medical marijuana during the trial, saying it was irrelevant to a prosecution under federal drug laws. After a jury convicted Rosenthal of three counts, however, the judge imposed a token one-day sentence rather than the five years prescribed by federal guidelines. Breyer said Rosenthal had believed he was acting legally because the city of Oakland had designated him as an official in its medical marijuana distribution program.

A federal appeals court overturned the convictions last year, finding misconduct by a juror who consulted a lawyer during deliberations. The court also indicated that it would have rejected prosecutors' appeal of the one-day sentence even if it had upheld the convictions.

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com

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NORML: National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws

http://www.norml.org/

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Legalize Marijuana Petition (Bearing in mind, most government agencies do not accept online petitions because, they say, the signatures are not verifiable).

http://www.petitiononline.com/Legalize/petition.html

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Legalize Marijuana (political) Party

http://www.tlmp.org/

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Milton Friedman endorse legalization -- Forbes Article

http://www.forbes.com/services/2005/06/02/cz_qh_0602pot.html

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And a list of other sites at:

http://www.purethc.com/activism-and-law-reform/legalize.htm

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