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InvisibleveggieM

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO]
    #6562649 - 02/13/07 12:01 PM (17 years, 1 month ago)

Lafayette judge steps down: Frieling won't enforce new marijuana law
February 13, 2007 - dailycamera.com

An associate municipal court judge in Lafayette resigned Monday in protest of stiffer penalties for marijuana possession in the city.

Leonard Frieling, a Boulder criminal-defense lawyer, said he is resigning out of principle after more than eight years as a backup to Lafayette Municipal Judge Roger Buchholz.

"I cannot in good conscience sit on the bench while being unwilling to enforce the municipal ordinances," Frieling said in a resignation letter to city officials. "Specifically, since you have seen fit to increase the penalty for cannabis possession from a $100 fine (which matches the state penalty) to a $1,000 fine and a year in jail, I find that I am morally and ethically unable to sit as a judge for the city."

The Lafayette City Council last week passed a first reading of an ordinance increasing the possible penalty for possession of cannabis or drug paraphernalia, which now carries a maximum $100 fine. The change is pending final approval next week.

Frieling said he was willing to enforce the old ordinance despite a personal belief that the war on marijuana is "ridiculous." He said it makes no sense for cannabis to be illegal for adults who are allowed to drink alcohol, and the proposed penalty in Lafayette would set a bad precedent.

"The state of Colorado has somewhat decriminalized small amounts for personal possession by making it a petty offense with maximum $100 fine," he said. "I think that it is inappropriate for a municipality that a crime is so much more serious within their city limits than it is statewide."

Lafayette Mayor Chris Berry said Monday night that he had not seen Frieling's letter and could not comment on its contents.

Berry said the new pot penalties were among several changes supported by the city's law enforcement. The idea was to increase the maximum penalty to give judges more discretion when sentencing marijuana offenders under different circumstances, he said.

"My interpretation was that it would be up to the judge," Berry said. "A sitting judge could still make (the fine) $100."

Mayor Pro Tem David Strungis — who cast the sole vote against the ordinance — said the police chief and sitting judge showed "no evidence that we have a pandemic of marijuana-possession arrests in Lafayette."

"My feeling was that punishments have to be within reason, and the punishment has to fit the crime," Strungis said. "To put someone in jail for a year for less than an ounce of marijuana — I couldn't justify that."

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Invisibleroby000
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Registered: 02/28/05
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Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] [Re: veggie]
    #6562678 - 02/13/07 12:10 PM (17 years, 1 month ago)

i think had he stayed on he couldve done more to prevent the stiffer penalty.

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Offlinegooddrugguy
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Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] [Re: roby000]
    #6562979 - 02/13/07 01:24 PM (17 years, 1 month ago)

Good for Frieling. It's not just that I support the decriminalization of marijuana, I also think the guy had a lot of guts. To question authority, disagree with a certain aspect of authority, and then put your future on the line to challenge that aspect is a ballsy thing to do.

:thumbup: Frieling

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OfflineLightningfractal
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Registered: 06/24/03
Posts: 14,899
Loc: Heaven and Hell
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Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] [Re: roby000]
    #6562994 - 02/13/07 01:28 PM (17 years, 1 month ago)

Maybe. At least he decided to make a nice stink and make that town look like shit  though. Smells like skunkweed! There's plenty of better places in Colorado anyway.

Fuck a Lafayette, let the stiff, ignorant bastards live there in isolation like they're on their own personal Indian reservation. :thumbdown:


--------------------
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Offlinededjam
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Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] [Re: roby000]
    #6563004 - 02/13/07 01:32 PM (17 years, 1 month ago)

Quote:

roby000 said:
i think had he stayed on he couldve done more to prevent the stiffer penalty.




no, and that thinking is why we have such an out-of-wack system as it is. Checks and balances my friend...it was set up that way for a reason.

His job isnt to make law, its to interpret it. If they make a law, his job is to abide by that law and its sentencing guidlines. He is a good man, and a great judge for stepping down because he personally felt the law was wrong. He could have fought the system and not enforced the law, but thats now how this country works, thats not what the constitution says. There are enough bad judges out there trying to make their own laws.

His resignation as a judge sends the strongest message possible to those in charge and he knows that.

Very smart man. I congradulate and respect him for stepping down from such and esteemed positions because it contradicted his beliefs.

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OfflineLightningfractal
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Registered: 06/24/03
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Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] [Re: dedjam]
    #6563029 - 02/13/07 01:39 PM (17 years, 1 month ago)

Yeah, he gave them political hell. The law might even end up getting tossed because of what he did.


--------------------
Hi how's it going, wanna kick Heroin basically painlessly on your own, in your own house, without any government "help" ,or the "help" of a crazy condescending, judgmental medical doctor? Read this:

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Invisibleroby000
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Registered: 02/28/05
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Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] *DELETED* [Re: dedjam]
    #6563043 - 02/13/07 01:44 PM (17 years, 1 month ago)

Post deleted by roby000

Reason for deletion: s

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InvisibleCowgold
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Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] [Re: roby000]
    #6563054 - 02/13/07 01:47 PM (17 years, 1 month ago)

Quote:

roby000 said:
i think had he stayed on he couldve done more to prevent the stiffer penalty.




Raising the maximum penalty wouldn't make a difference if the judge chose not to seek the maximum penalty, which makes it easier for it to get passed. By standing up to it, he sends a much stronger message than he would expressing his convictions with lighter sentences.

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Offlinededjam
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Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] [Re: roby000]
    #6563212 - 02/13/07 02:53 PM (17 years, 1 month ago)

Quote:

roby000 said:
or used his position to criticize the policy




No good judge would ever do this. Any judge that uses their position for anything more than judging based on the law should be thrown off the bench.

We elect lawmakers for law, and the judges interpret. They have thier say in the law when they go to vote. They can always step down from the bench in protest (as he did) or step down and take legal action on behalf of the community and challenge the law in court. Using the position of judge to push infuence should never happen (but it does :frown: )

I understand your point. I wish he could do more, and he can by filing a lawsuit on behalf of the people (assuming he is still licensed to practice law, which is probably a good assumption)...but don't let emotions get the best of you. If it was ok for him to use his position politically, then it would be ok for someone who believed the opposite to do just the same.

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Invisiblefastfred
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Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] [Re: dedjam]
    #6565438 - 02/14/07 01:31 AM (17 years, 1 month ago)

> Any judge that uses their position for anything more than judging based on the law should be thrown off the bench.

Yeah, but there are lots of laws. You could say that the states constitution, whatever it says, is in conflict. It would be totally within a judges bounds to declare the law unconstitutional. I'm surprised that it rarely happens.


-FF

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InvisibleveggieM

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
Re: Judge steps down, protests tougher marijuana law [CO] [Re: veggie]
    #6581156 - 02/18/07 11:56 AM (17 years, 1 month ago)

update...

Lafayette Delays Action On Proposed Pot Penalty
February 18, 2007 - cbs4denver.com

The City Council has postponed consideration of a proposal that prompted a backup judge to resign and that would stiffen penalties for marijuana possession.

The proposal, approved on first reading Feb. 6, would repeal a $100 fine for marijuana possession, increasing the possible penalty to the city's default maximum of a $1,000 fine and a year in jail.

Backup municipal court Judge Leonard Frieling resigned last week in protest of the proposal and said he could not sit on the bench while being unwilling to enforce municipal ordinances.

City officials said the resignation would have little effect because Frieling had not been called in more than a year, and a new associate municipal court judge was appointed in April.

On Friday, the City Council pulled final approval of the proposal from its agenda for Tuesday and scheduled a public workshop April 3 to discuss the issue further.

Mayor Chris Berry said that would give city leaders more time to see what other communities are doing.

"I think it will give us some time to get some questions answered that may not have been asked," Berry said.

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