cannabisnews.com: Justice Stevens Calls On History He Lived





Justice Stevens Calls On History He Lived
Posted by CN Staff on June 27, 2007 at 06:07:56 PT
By Charles Lane, Washington Post Staff Writer
Source: Washington Post
Washington, DC -- Justice John Paul Stevens, the third-oldest person ever to sit on the Supreme Court, turned 87 on April 20. If he's still on the court 142 days from now, he'll overtake Roger B. Taney, who died as chief justice in 1864 at the age of 87 years 209 days.Stevens still has a long way to go if he wants to catch Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who was 90 when he retired from the court in 1932. But he has already started invoking his considerable life experience to buttress his opinions.
On Monday, Stevens dissented in the case of the Alaska teenager who was suspended for displaying a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner at a school event. While a majority of the court said the Constitution does not protect pro-drug student speech, Stevens took the historic view.Harking back to Prohibition, which began three months before Stevens's birth and ended a month before he turned 13 in 1933, Stevens compared the current marijuana ban to the abandoned alcohol ban and urged a respectful hearing for those who suggest "however inarticulately" that the ban is "futile" and that marijuana should be legalized, taxed and regulated instead of prohibited:"[T]he current dominant opinion supporting the war on drugs in general, and our anti-marijuana laws in particular, is reminiscent of the opinion that supported the nationwide ban on alcohol consumption when I was a student. While alcoholic beverages are now regarded as ordinary articles of commerce, their use was then condemned with the same moral fervor that now supports the war on drugs."Stevens knows something about Prohibition -- he was born and raised in Chicago, where Al Capone and other organized-crime figures controlled hundreds of speakeasies. And he knows something about the moral fervor of Prohibition's supporters, because one of them was his mother, Elizabeth Stevens, who used to say, "Lips that taste wine will never touch mine."His father, Ernest Stevens, was a hotelier who carefully obeyed the alcohol ban in his establishments but who predicted in 1932 court testimony that his business would benefit from the end of Prohibition, because diners would abandon the speak-easies for legal restaurants like the ones in his hotels."[J]ust as Prohibition in the 1920's and early 1930's was secretly questioned by thousands of otherwise law-abiding patrons of bootleggers and speakeasies," Stevens wrote, "today the actions of literally millions of otherwise law-abiding users of marijuana, and of the majority of voters in each of the several States that tolerate medicinal uses of the product, lead me to wonder whether the fear of disapproval by those in the majority is silencing opponents of the war on drugs."This was the second time in recent years that memories of Prohibition helped shape Stevens's view on a case. Dissenting from the court's 5 to 4 decision overturning state laws against direct shipments of out-of-state wine in 2005, Stevens argued that the majority misinterpreted the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, which repealed Prohibition. He cited his own "recollection" of "the historical context."And in a case about a police car chase earlier this term, Stevens made reference to the long-ago days when he was a new driver and "most high-speed driving took place on two-lane roads rather than on superhighways" and "split-second judgments about the risk of passing a slow-poke in the face of oncoming traffic were routine."Note: 'Bong Hits' Dissent Points to Prohibition.Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: Charles Lane, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, June 27, 2007; Page A17Copyright: 2007 Washington Post Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Related Articles:A Less-Than-Banner Rulinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23127.shtmlFreedom of Expression Takes a Bong Hithttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23126.shtmlCourt Backs School On Speech Curbshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23125.shtml
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Comment #16 posted by RevRayGreen on June 27, 2007 at 14:50:13 PT
Thanks whig
love that song..........
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on June 27, 2007 at 12:38:32 PT
Thanks, Whig...
I like that song...and the chorus comes to mind easily...but I had paid absolutely no attention to the other lyrics.Amazing.
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Comment #14 posted by whig on June 27, 2007 at 12:36:08 PT
Lyrics
"Walkin' On The Sun"It ain't no joke I'd like to buy the world a toke
And teach the world to sing in perfect harmony
And teach the world to snuff the fires and the liars
Hey I know it's just a song but it's spice for the recipe
This is a love attack I know it went out but it's back.
It's just like any fad it retracts before impact
And just like fashion it's a passion for the with it and hip
If you got the goods they'll come and buy it just to stay in the clique[Chorus:]
So don't delay act now supplies are running out
Allow if you're still alive six to eight years to arrive
And if you follow there may be a tomorrow
But if the offer is shun you might as well be walkin' on the sunTwenty-five years ago they spoke out and they broke out
Of recession and oppression and together they toked
And they folked out with guitars around a bonfire
Just singin' and clappin' man what the hell happened
Then some were spellbound some were hellbound
Some they fell down and some got back up and
Fought back 'gainst the melt down
And their kids were hippie chicks all hypocrites
Because fashion is smashin' the true meaning of it[Repeat Chorus]It ain't no joke when a mama's handkerchief is soaked
With her tears because her baby's life has been revoked
The bond is broke up so choke up and focus on the close up
Mr. Wizard can't perform no godlike hocus-pocus
So don't sit back kick back and watch the world get bushwhacked
News at 10:00 your neighborhood is under attack
Put away the crack before the crack puts you away
You need to be there when your baby's old enough to relate[Repeat Chorus]
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Comment #13 posted by whig on June 27, 2007 at 12:35:34 PT
Spice for the recipe
Smashmouth - Might as well be walking on the sunhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3R3TdXTsk
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on June 27, 2007 at 11:29:06 PT
museman
I don't think that money is God but I think I know what you mean. Some of the most memorable people in my life didn't have a lot of money. 
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Comment #11 posted by museman on June 27, 2007 at 11:25:08 PT
FoM
Money IS the government. It's apparently also God.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on June 27, 2007 at 11:05:44 PT
Well said, Justice Stevens. Respectable response.
"[J]ust as Prohibition in the 1920's and early 1930's was secretly questioned by thousands of otherwise law-abiding patrons of bootleggers and speakeasies," Stevens wrote, "today the actions of literally millions of otherwise law-abiding users of marijuana, and of the majority of voters in each of the several States that tolerate medicinal uses of the product, lead me to wonder whether the fear of disapproval by those in the majority is silencing opponents of the war on drugs."
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on June 27, 2007 at 10:48:13 PT
museman 
I believe that people involved in government seem to have a good deal of money. That's just the way it has always been. Them that has gets. I learned that at a young age.
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Comment #8 posted by museman on June 27, 2007 at 10:43:01 PT
FoM
...and I still see the golf course, the limo-, and the billion dollar mansion (give or take a milion).
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Comment #7 posted by museman on June 27, 2007 at 10:39:06 PT
FoM - About Law
We have 10. And one to bind all. The 'art' of breaking down those clearly stated ten laws into socially acceptable terms of the ruling elite, no matter how much 'logic' and claimed 'common sense' is applied in the breakdown, it's all just excuse for bad behavior on the part of the rich and powerful. Now a public display of repentance, an apology for supporting demonic rule, and repeated compromise with the truth for the sake of the most powerful lobbyists might change my attitude, but since no one who has ascended to such heights of falsehood is likely to climb back down to reality, I ain't holding my breath.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on June 27, 2007 at 10:26:16 PT
museman
This might shed a little light on your question about Justice Stevens.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Stevens#Criticism_and_praise
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Comment #5 posted by museman on June 27, 2007 at 10:25:43 PT
Ekim
My candle just got an infusion of oxygen, thanks.
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Comment #4 posted by ekim on June 27, 2007 at 10:19:23 PT
museman
he may have started reading Cnews and your passionate quotesit would be nice to know just what turns on someone to the thought that what they have been doing has been wrong -- then has the gutts to change keep the faith muse -- someone is not finnished with us yet
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Comment #3 posted by museman on June 27, 2007 at 10:10:07 PT
It's not your Grandfather's America
The logic is commendable, but I have to ask, where was this guy while America was being bought and sold to the highest bidders? Where was his 'experience' when elections were stolen, the resource, technology, and intelligence community funded by the life-energies of the common American was used to create a false scenario of 'terrorism', and destruction and death on near 'biblical proportion' that was carried out against their own people on 9/11?Where was his 'experience' when the old Nazi SS was ressurrected in the form of 'homeland security' and the 'patriot act?' And where the hell was he when the few brave warriors for freedom sacrificed years of their life to get the elite bastards of law to hear their cases of illegal search and seizures, violations of privacy, and usurpation of constitutional rights, having to do with this unconscionable and despicable WOD initiated by a half brain dead actor?Where was he? Probably on the golf course with all the other do-nothings and 'profesionals' that rule this country by right of finance and class distinction.
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Comment #2 posted by ekim on June 27, 2007 at 09:51:22 PT
Justice John Paul Stevens
lead me to wonder whether the fear of disapproval by those in the majority is silencing opponents of the war on drugs." In case anyone tries the link to the comment i made on cellulose ethanol from Hemp -- it was up this morning and now its gone
http://stoparrestingpatients.org
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 27, 2007 at 06:11:38 PT
AP: Indonesian VP OKs Marijuana As Spice
The Associated PressWednesday, June 27, 2007JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Marijuana possession should remain a crime in Indonesia, but chefs who use the herb as a traditional way to season curries should not be arrested, the country's vice president told local reporters.Cooks in parts of Indonesia _ a nation that executes drug traffickers _ say they use tiny amounts of crushed marijuana leaves or seeds as a spice in certain dishes. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Vice President Yusuf Kalla said there was "no way" Indonesia would legalize or decriminalize marijuana as some countries in western Europe have done."It is all right to use it as a food seasoning, but it should not be fully legalized," Kalla was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.Kalla did not address the problems such a stance might pose to police tasked with arresting marijuana users. Officers have never previously cracked down on the use of marijuana in the kitchen or said the practice was a particular problem.Kalla and the police chief both reiterated their support for the death penalty for drug traffickers, noting that neighboring Malaysia and Singapore also execute offenders.Copyright: 2007 Associated Presshttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/27/AR2007062700021.html
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