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| Senior Law Lord Wants 'Pot' To Be Legal |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 23, 2002 at 21:21:52 PT By Clare Dyer, Legal Correspondent Source: Guardian Unlimited 
The judge in Britain's highest court called yesterday for cannabis to be legalised, putting himself in direct conflict with government policy. Lord Bingham, the senior law lord, said he would legalise the drug, adding: "It is stupid having a law which isn't doing what it is there for." In an interview in the Spectator, he described the English criminal justice system, which ministers want to make tougher, as already one of the most punitive in the world. He told the magazine's editor, Boris Johnson: "Everybody thinks our system is becoming soft and wimpish. In point of fact, it is one of the most punitive systems in the world - perhaps not as much as the American. "It's the perception of crime, not the reality. Take an average evening's telly viewing; it's all about old women being beaten to death and rapes on the towpath." Lord Bingham, a former lord chief justice, repeated his desire to set up a US style supreme court, removing the top judges from the House of Lords. "We ought to be seen for what we are, which is judges," he said, adding that virtually none of the law lords took part in the debates. "The House of Lords should not have non-playing members." The lord chancellor, Lord Irvine, insists that a supreme court would be hard to house, because it would need an imposing building. But Lord Bingham, asked where he would like the supreme court to be, replied: "The inland revenue occupies two wings of Somerset House - why not throw them out of there? And what is going on at the Scottish Office at the moment?" When asked whether the judges might miss "the best club in London, the bars, the libraries", Lord Bingham replied: "I don't speak for a united college," implying that some would be loth to relinquish their peerages. But speaking for himself, "I don't give a fuck whether we're peers or not." Special Report: Drugs in Britain -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/0,2759,178206,00.html Source: Guardian Unlimited, The (UK) Related Articles & Web Site: Spectator UK Drugs Uncovered: Observer Special Top Judge Calls For Legalisation Of Cannabis MPs Signal New Era in Drugs War Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #3 posted by scott on May 24, 2002 at 12:16:14 PT |
| I hope that his last sentence also applies to the "drug warriors" over here as well. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by 2Spooky on May 24, 2002 at 06:33:55 PT |
| Hell yes, it is! :) [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 24, 2002 at 05:51:51 PT:
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| Isn't refreshing to hear honest and candid judges, and ones not afraid to address repressive policies across the pond? [ Post Comment ] |
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