Pubdate: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) Copyright: 2014 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc Contact: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/340 Author: Gary M. Burruss Page: A15 WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? In the case of marijuana activists Chris Goldstein and Don DeZarn, U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe used the defense's overblown rhetoric, comparing the defendants' civil disobedience to that of Mohandas Gandhi, against them ("A Gandhi analogy fails to sway judge in marijuana case," Aug. 21). This was a cheap shot, and it exposed the judge's lack of concern for the hundreds of thousands of citizens who have been persecuted, incarcerated, and marginalized by the war on drugs. The drug war has had the same effect as the Jim Crow laws that incarcerated and denied rights to people of color for decades. When Rufe denigrated these defendants, they truly did become victims of the drug war, and she the point of a misguided spear. Conveniently for the judge, these two defendants were white, while the majority of the drug war's victims are brown or black. Therefore she could safely ignore issues such as police repression by class and race, arbitrary and selective enforcement of the law, and anything that smacks of legitimate dissent in the defendants' case. I want to thank Goldstein and DeZarn for their honest attempt to bring much-needed attention to these subjects. Unlike most others in their situation, they will probably have very few problems paying the fines and meeting the many requirements of long and needless probationary supervision. What an appalling, misdirected waste of the courts' money and time. Gary M. Burruss, Manahawkin - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom