cannabisnews.com: Romley Hires Lawyer To Take On Complaints





Romley Hires Lawyer To Take On Complaints
Posted by CN Staff on August 23, 2002 at 07:33:56 PT
By Elvia Díaz
Source: AZCentral.com 
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley has hired a lawyer at taxpayers' expense to handle complaints that he is misusing his office to fight a medical marijuana ballot initiative. "The accusations are absolutely bogus," said Barnett Lotstein, special assistant to Romley. "We felt it was prudent to hire an independent lawyer."At issue is Romley's involvement in attempts to defeat Proposition 203, the medical marijuana initiative in the November ballot, and allegations of his involvement in previous measures. State law prohibits Romley from using county resources to promote a ballot initiative. 
Last month, Romley paid the county $2.89 after he admitted using official stationery to challenge John Sperling, the chief sponsor of Proposition 203, to a debate.Backers of Proposition 203 are asking the county to turn over public documents related to the proposal. They also want public records about two drug measures approved by voters in 1996 and 1998.The county is paying Phoenix attorney Melvin McDonald $150 an hour, half his regular fee, to deal with the request. The reduced amount was possible because McDonald's law firm has done substantial work for the county, he said. Source: AZCentral.com (AZ)Author: Elvia DíazPublished: August 23, 2002 Copyright 2002 azcentral.comhttp://www.azcentral.com/http://www.azcentral.com/help/comment-form.phpRelated Articles:Candidate Backs Initiative To Liberalize Pot Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13788.shtmlGubernatorial Candidate Endorses Drug Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13779.shtmlMarijuana Initiative Qualifies for Arizona Ballothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13727.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by mayan on August 23, 2002 at 17:00:41 PT
O............K
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley has hired a lawyer at taxpayers' expense to handle complaints that he is misusing his office to fight a medical marijuana ballot initiative. "The accusations are absolutely bogus," said Barnett Lotstein, special assistant to Romley. "We felt it was prudent to hire an independent lawyer."Wow...I think this is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard in my entire life! Romley is hiring a lawyer at taxpayers' expense to prove that he is not misusing his office at taxpayers' expense. Hee-Hee-Hee!!! I've heard it all now!
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Comment #2 posted by dddd on August 23, 2002 at 15:14:00 PT
.............!............
....It is about time these offenders that violate the Hatch act were brought to justice!...I'll bet that there are hundreds of violators throughout the fed and state government. ..... there is a gray area as to what qualifies as "misuse",of tax money...If you ask me,,the government has no fuckin' business buying anti-drug ads...and that reminds me of another item that fries my ass! ..these glitzy,million dollar armed forces promotions on TV....obviously ,no expense has been spared ..these productions are another example of grotesque waste of our money.
 
 
...the lawyer in the article,will probably argue that tax money is used for anti-drug ads by the ondcp,,so what's wrong with allowing an elected official to join the fight against drugs by allowing them to fight legalization,or anti-prohibition attempts?....dddd 
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on August 23, 2002 at 08:52:49 PT:
Finally, somebody is using the Hatch Act 
The purpose of the Hatch Act was to prevent the use of taxpayer funds and all that goes with them by civil servants engaged in partisan politics to support causes that they prefer...and use the funds against causes they don't.Any civil servant who does so has violated their oath of office and needs to be given the boot. Barry should have been on the receiving end of that boot after his 1997 kaffeeklatsch with other prohibs trying to destroy the newly born Prop 200 and Prop215 laws...all done on taxpayer time, with the intent of destroying the sovereign franchise of the voters of those States.These antis have used our tax dollars in this jiu jitsu exercise against us long enough. Time they went on a fiscal diet...and this is one way of doing it.
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