Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jun 2003 Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA) Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Examiner Contact: http://www.examiner.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/389 Author: Warren Hinckle, Examiner Associate Editor Note: Warren Hinckle's column runs every Tuesday and Thursday in The Examiner. Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Ed+Rosenthal NO HERO JUDGE Songwriter and producer Bernie Haisch had barely posted the lyrics and the MP3 download to his pop ballad about marijuana hero Ed Rosenthal (www.una-aria.com) than Judge Breyer came along Wednesday and sentenced Rosenthal to one day, time served, for growing plants for the medical marijuana patients, which was legal under California law but illegal under federal law. Before that ballad is withdrawn from popular consumption (because of Rosenthal's victory as heralded by today's newspaper headlines), check it out as that ode should stay out there; as victories go, this is draconian re: Rosenthal, and appeals are mandatory. Not only does Rosenthal have to pay a fine (which he should not pay) but the bud expert is on three years probation to the federales - and he better not sniff the growing flower of one of his beloved plants or the feds might just grab him again on more heinous charges of violating probation. The issue here is that Rosenthal should pay no fine nor be on probation, nor should he have any felony convictions on his record because what he did was right and the federal law - and the judge in his case - were wrong. Before the liberally inclined among us applaud Judge Breyer's lenient sentence, it should be observed that the judge was saving his own skin, not that of Rosenthal, who was treated with an attitude approaching contempt by the bench throughout the trial. Judge Breyer was roundly criticized from stuffy law journals to the huffy editorial page of the New York Times for his refusal to let the jury hear about the California law under which Rosenthal was deputized to grow plants - if it is legal to smoke medical marijuna, how in blazes are people going to get it to smoke if it can't be grown? The betting in the legal fraternity was that had a stiff sentence against Rosenthal gone to the Supreme Court, as it surely would have, California federal Judge Breyer could, and maybe would, have been reversed by his brother on the Supremes. That would be supremely embarrassing to any overachiever, no? - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake