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 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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 Church founder sues for the return of peyote 
#4105761 - 04/28/05 01:45 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Church founder sues for the return of peyote seized in Utah County
The plaintiff also seeks an order not to interfere with religious use of the hallucinogen
04/28/2005 Salt Lake City Tribune
An American Indian church and its founder filed suit Wednesday against Utah County authorities. It seeks the return of peyote seized in a 2000 raid and a court order blocking any interference with the use of the hallucinogenic in religious ceremonies.
James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney said he wants to resume use of the "medicine" after more than four years of legal battles over the right of all members of his Oklevueha Earthwalks Native American Church to take part in ceremonies, regardless of ethnicity. "All I've ever wanted was to be left alone, to help the people who come to me for help," said Mooney, who identifies himself as a medicine man.
Mooney, 61, claims he is a descendent of American Indians and a member of a Seminole tribe that is not federally recognized. He purchased his peyote from Texas, where the cactuses are legally harvested and sold.
Mooney's lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, names as defendants Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson, Deputy County Attorney David Wayment and several other individuals he says deprived him, his wife, Linda Mooney, and other church members of their constitutional rights. In addition to return of the peyote, the suit seeks unspecified monetary damages.
The Mooneys were charged in state court with a dozen first-degree felony counts after police seized 12,000 peyote buttons during an October 2000 raid at the Utah County church.
The criminal charges were dismissed after the Utah Supreme Court ruled unanimously last June that members of the Native American Church cannot be prosecuted for using peyote as part of their religion.
The Mooneys and other church members, regardless of race, can use the hallucinogenic cactuses under a federal exemption passed in 1970 that is incorporated in Utah law, the high court said.
Despite the ruling, however, the seized peyote has remained in the custody of state prosecutors. Federal authorities, saying only enrolled members of tribes who also are members of the Native American Church can use peyote, are investigating.
Peter Stirba, a lawyer representing the Utah County defendants, said the peyote was seized four years before the Supreme Court established how the federal exemption applied to state law. That means there is no basis for the claims that authorities showed bad faith at the time of the 2000 raid and violated the church's rights, he said.
Stirba added that a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office has said there is an ongoing investigation into possible federal violations.
"They have the right to retain evidence," he said.
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 LiveByFreedom
Catalyst
Registered: 03/21/05
Posts: 652
Loc: Mountains
Last seen: 17 years, 8 months
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Re: Church founder sues for the return of peyote [Re: veggie]
#4105940 - 04/28/05 05:47 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Would the feds actually keep these buttons alive? Can anyone legally grow and sell peyote in texas, or can only certain people grow it, for the members of that church?
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"Everything is not as it seems." Eye
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SuperD
Cacti junky
Registered: 10/05/03
Posts: 6,648
Loc: The bridgesii bridge
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Re: Church founder sues for the return of peyote [Re: LiveByFreedom]
#4106742 - 04/28/05 11:45 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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peyote is illegal to grow and sell in texas unless of course you're granted permission for being part of their church
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    D
Manoa said:
I need to stop spending all my money on plants and take up a cheaper hobby, like heroin. 
Looking for Rauhocereus riosaniensis seeds or live specimen(s),  me if you have any for trade
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Legoulash
Stranger
Registered: 09/07/02
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Last seen: 12 years, 9 months
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Re: Church founder sues for the return of peyote [Re: SuperD]
#4121673 - 05/02/05 12:29 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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these buttons were probley dried, seeing as they were bought legaly from texas and where they sell peyote legaly its usualy dried buttons.
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Re: Church founder sues for the return of peyote [Re: veggie]
#4122726 - 05/02/05 10:09 AM (18 years, 11 months ago) |
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Bryson's peyote hallucination
May 02, 2005
Daily Herald opinion
If Utah County prosecutors want to save themselves from further embarrassment, they will immediately give back James Warren "Flaming Eagle" Mooney's peyote and other items they improperly confiscated from his church.
Then County Attorney Kay Bryson should hang his head in shame and resign, as he should have after the disclosure that he used a sheriff's deputy and Mooney, leader of the Oklevueha Earthwalks Native American Church, has filed suit in U.S. District Court against the county, Bryson, Deputy County Attorney David Wayment, investigator Jeff Robinson, Sheriff's Deputy Robert Riding and others who were involved in raiding Mooney's church and seizing 17,500 peyote buttons.
Peyote, a cactus with hallucinogenic qualities, is used by Native American churches in religious ceremonies. Church members say it aids in attaining spiritual enlightenment. Mooney said it can be used to treat drug addicts by allowing them to see the cause of their problem and the way to solve it.
Federal drug law allows peyote to be used in Indian religious ceremonies. But in 2000, Utah County Sheriff's deputies raided the church, and Bryson filed charges that it was a front for illegal distribution of peyote because Mooney allows non-Indians to join and participate in ceremonies.
The Utah Supreme Court ruled last year that federal law did not restrict membership in Native American churches to Indians, voiding the charges. But Bryson has refused to return the peyote, computers and church records.
Now, Mooney is in federal court charging that Bryson and others maliciously prosecuted him and violated his own and his church members' civil rights. He has a good case.
Bryson's action against the church was misguided -- an attempt to dictate not only the manner of approved worship but the racial composition of the worshippers. It was as clear a violation of the First Amendment, as we've seen. Bryson's argument for a racial test is so far over the constitutional line that it's laughable. Churches themselves, not the government, determine who can be members and who can participate in sacred ceremonies. To say, as Bryson did, that the Native American Church may only admit people from federally recognized tribes is akin to saying that only people of Italian descent may participate in Roman Catholic sacraments or that only people born in Utah may participate in LDS temple rites.
The law permitting Native American churches to use peyote recognizes that Indian spiritual leaders are not drug pushers and will not allow recreational druggies to participate in peyote ceremonies. Anyone who's familiar with peyote knows that there's no recreation about it anyway. Most people get violently ill before its mind-opening qualities kick in.
You don't need to be a constitutional scholar to predict how this is going to turn out for Utah County. If the court rules for Mooney, which we think likely, the taxpayers are going to be shelling out a lot of dough -- though we would urge Mooney to go easy on us. Utah County's overzealous prosecutor, a man willing to use his public position for personal gain, doesn't speak for everyone.
This mess could have been avoided if, when the Utah Supreme Court threw out the charges against Mooney, Bryson had simply returned the seized property and apologized. But he didn't. He remained stubbornly locked in the hallucination that he is right. So now the case goes to federal court with the odious indication that Mooney's civil rights were indeed violated.
The only thing Utah County can do to cut its losses would be to settle. This will save the county money and spare Bryson yet another humiliating defeat in the courts. Commissioners should then strongly encourage Bryson to go away.
Mooney and his church have been hounded unfairly. It is time to end the vendetta and remind Bryson that the war on drugs is no excuse to trample the Bill of Rights.
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veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Re: Church founder sues for the return of peyote [Re: veggie]
#4689107 - 09/21/05 02:26 AM (18 years, 6 months ago) |
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Court tosses suit seeking return of seized peyote
September 21, 2005 - sltrib.com
A judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit filed by an American Indian church and its founder that sought return of peyote seized by Utah County authorities five years ago.
U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball said the Oklevueha Earthwalks Native American Church of Utah and James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney had failed to serve the defendants official notice of the suit within the required 120-day limit.
In addition, the judge noted that the plaintiffs had filed a motion to stop court proceedings in the lawsuit while a separate criminal prosecution related to their alleged peyote possession is pending, "which indicates that they have no intention to pursue the case at this time."
Kimball dismissed the legal action without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled.
The suit, filed in April, centered on the seizure of 12,000 buttons of peyote from the church in a 2000 raid. Mooney and his wife, Linda, were charged in state court with a dozen first-degree felonies involving possession of the hallucinogenic.
The charges were dismissed after the Utah Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 2004 that members of the Native American Church, regardless of race, cannot be prosecuted for using peyote as part of their religion.
Despite that ruling, the seized peyote has remained in the custody of state authorities. Meantime, federal authorities, saying that only enrolled members of tribes who also are members of the Native American Church can use peyote, started their own investigation.
That probe led to an indictment in June on charges of illegal possession and distribution of the hallucinogenic against the Mooneys and church member Nicholas Stark of Ogden.
Mooney claims membership in a Seminole tribe that is not federally recognized.
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MikeOLogical
Doctor ofShroomology
Registered: 01/30/04
Posts: 4,133
Loc: florida
Last seen: 5 years, 15 days
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Re: Church founder sues for the return of peyote [Re: veggie]
#4689112 - 09/21/05 02:30 AM (18 years, 6 months ago) |
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i just got a picture of chong in my head, in full hippie dress, yelling at the courthouse "hey Man! gimme back my peyote man!"
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We got Nothing!
we're no longer selling jars. 
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