Pubdate: Sat, 05 Jun 2010
Source: London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright: 2010 The London Free Press
Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/comment/letters/write/
Website: http://www.lfpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243
Author: Geoff Turner

POT PRINCE ALREADY IN TROUBLE IN THE JOINT

Even the walls of a maximum security prison can't keep Marc Emery out
of the public eye.

With a new prison blog, he's harnessed the Internet to give the world
a glimpse into his new lifestyle behind bars.

But now, less than two weeks after he entered a U.S. prison, Emery
might have stuck it to the man a little to hard.

The self-proclaimed Prince of Pot is in solitary confinement, cited
for violating prison rules.

Emery's wife, Jodie, 25, said the trouble began when she recorded
their prison phone calls and posted them as a podcast on the couple's
Cannabis Culture website.

She said under prison rules, prisoners' phone calls can only be made
between the prisoner and the intended recipient and can't be
redirected to a third party.

Jodie said Emery will be in solitary confinement up to a week until he
gets a citation hearing to determine the full extent of his punishment.

Emery's Seattle lawyer, Richard Troberman, declined comment on
details, confirming only that Emery had been cited for a violation.

Jodie said Emery read the rules thoroughly and didn't think the
podcast would be a violation. The couple had created a similar podcast
while Emery was awaiting deportation at the Fraser Pretrial Centre in
Port Coquitlam, B.C.

Emery, 52, a marijuana activist and former Londoner, pleaded guilty
May 24 in U.S. District Court in Seattle to conspiracy to manufacture
marijuana.

He's been held in the Federal Detention Center Sea-Tac near Seattle
while he awaits a Sept. 10 sentencing hearing.

Prior to the citation, Emery was allowed 300 minutes of phone calls a
month, but Jodie said he might be denied phone privileges for up to
two months.

"It's totally devastating," she said. "Communication is what was
keeping our spirits up."

Emery isn't allowed direct access to the Internet.

Instead, using a closed system called Corrlinks, he can log on to a
computer and compose a message vetted by prison officials, who send
the message via e-mail to Jodie.

She edits and uploads the posts to the blog that's a feature of the
couple's Cannabis Culture online magazine.

The perennial gadfly's posts run as long as 1,200 words.

The topics run from the banalities of prison life (he explains how he
crafted a light-blocking mask from a prison-issue tube sock to help
him sleep in the brightly lit cell), to poignant stories of the sad
lives of inmates.

His June 1 entry boasts how he impressed inmates by showing pictures
of himself posing with Tommy Chong, ZZ Top and Sean Paul.

Jodie said he's barred from using Corrlinks while in
solitary.

She said after sentencing, when he'll be transferred to an Oklahoma
City facility where federal prisoners are sorted.

She said there's no indication where Emery will ultimately serve his
time. "It could be Mississippi, it could be Texas.."

For American prisoners, proximity to family is taken into
consideration, but not for foreigners.

Jodie said she's can't visit Emery while waiting for a visitation
application to be processed.

If approved, their visits will be limited to "sitting together and
holding hands, and nothing more," she said.

Jodie runs the couple's business, including the online store and
magazine, from Vancouver. She said because of her responsibilities
she'd be unable to relocate to the U.S. to be near Emery.

She said Emery's imprisonment has increased interest in his fight to
legalize pot.

"They're taking a stand, even if that just means spray painting 'Free
Marc Emery' all over the place," she said. 
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