Pubdate: Thu, 31 Dec 2015 Source: Trentonian, The (NJ) Copyright: 2015 The Trentonian Contact: http://www.trentonian.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006 Author: Edward Forchion, NJWeedman.com For The Trentonian JERSEY SUPREME COURT ALLOWS MODERN JIM CROW TO PERSIST The marijuana laws are the oldest Jim Crow laws still on the books. While many states across the country are changing their archaic laws - - decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana - New Jersey is still mired in Reefer Madness racism. And not just because our Governor, Chris Christie, is as opposed to marijuana legalization as former Alabama Governor George Wallace was to desegregation. I'm referring to last week's decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in which it declined to hear a marijuana case that constitutionally challenged New Jersey's marijuana laws as being de jure/ de facto racist. Some, like myself, say they did take a look and decided to keep the Jim Crow marijuana laws intact. I regard white people arrested under these Jim Crow laws as collateral damage. They aren't the intended victims but they suffer the consequences, albeit to a lesser degree. There is no doubt the marijuana laws were born of racism by a all white 1937 Congress, and our all-white 2015 NJ Supreme Court has now officially decided to keep them intact. Imagine if the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Plessy v. Ferguson, which mandated separate but equal, or Brown v. Board of Education, which mandated equal and dropped the separate. America would be a totally different country - some still openly wish for that all-white America. I'd go so far as to say the Caucasians on the NJ Supreme Court would be fine with that as well. FACT: Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, which was the predecessor of the modern Drug Enforcement Administration, institutionalized his bizarre racist belief that marijuana's "effect on the degenerate races" made its prohibition a top priority. He was also the driving force behind the creation of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which was the first federal ban on marijuana. Black musicians and Mexican immigrants were its intended victims. Congress was told this substance, "marihuana," was a new drug from Mexico that made blacks seek relations with white women. Among other memorable remarks Anslinger had said, "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. ... Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men." States throughout the South began implementing drug laws as part of the explicitly racist Jim Crow system, with Southern lawmakers being quite open about the racist motivations behind the laws. Northern states such as New Jersey stripped offensive racist language from their official legal statements, but their anti-drug policies were hardly less racist. Minorities are just as likely to be disproportionately arrested in New Jersey as they are in Alabama. I've always known the marijuana laws are racist and I've always thought of marijuana legalization as a civil rights issue, but I've consistently heard: "Sure, but this was more than 75 years ago." To which I've always countered, "And how much has actually changed? Nothing at all!" Recently even the NAACP has blathered about it... without actually doing anything. Last week the New Jersey Supreme Court in New Jersey v. Forchion, 076425 (POINT IV) could have changed this, but the allwhite Justices don't think #blacklivesmatter. While marijuana is proven to be beneficial to humans and is one of the most therapeutic substances on the planet, the marijuana laws clearly ruin millions of lives, especially the Black lives the original laws were intended to target. Instead of even hearing the case, the NJ Supreme Court moved to protect the Garden State's 2C:35 marijuana laws, which allow the state to legally enslave minorities and herd them into the new age concrete plantation system based on the lies of Harry J. Anslinger. The Court approves of these laws remaining intact - this oppression is just fine by them. As I mentioned earlier, I regard Whites arrested under these Jim Crow laws as collateral damage, and though these unintended victims do suffer the consequences, it is often to a lesser degree. Of the 750,000 people arrested for marijuana each year, about 24,000 are New Jersey residents. In Washington D.C., Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois, Blacks were 7.5 to 8.5 times more likely than Whites to be arrested for possessing pot. In New Jersey it's 2.8 times more despite comparable usage rates, according to the ACLU-NJ. Most Jim Crow laws were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 resurrected "Jim Crow" as a drug warrior that today wreaks havoc in Black/Brown communities as was the intended purpose. Millions have suffered at the hands of this KKK-inspired nightmare disguised as law enforcement. In case you haven't realized it yet, I'm the Forchion in State v. Forchion. I raised the issue of the constitutionality of the state's racist marijuana laws by calling them "de jure and de facto discriminatory" at the trial level in 2011. Both de jure and de facto discriminatory laws are unconstitutional. At that time, this is what Burlington County Prosecutor Michael Luciano said about my challenge: "He has presented no evidence supporting these arguments, they are without weight or merit, and should be summarily rejected by the Court," and Judge Dementia, being the good keeper of NJ's Jim Crow marijuana laws, agreed and denied it. Of course I appealed as promised, and miraculously in July of 2013 during the appeal process the ACLU-NJ released a report that supported my very arguments and proved them correct. John Vincent Saykanic, esq. my Appeals lawyer motioned the NJ Appeals Court to admit the entire ACLU report (http:// tinyurl.com/racistNJlaws) as evidence to support this racism constitutional challenge at the appellate level, and the Appeals Court accepted it. This is why the NJ Supreme Court has spinelessly declined to hear my case.Because I can prove I'm right - it's easier to refuse to hear my argument than it is to disprove it. New Jersey's marijuana laws are de facto discriminatory and couldn't stand up to my legal challenges with the ACLU's report. I'm taking this argument to Federal Court now. Maybe the NAACP or ACLUNJ will assist? Who knows - I'm an individual, if I must go alone - I go. While I'm personally disappointed and devastated by this decision because for close to 20 years I've endeavored to angle myself to get into the legal position I was in to argue this matter before a court of law, it was a tremendous loss for all minorities. Unfortunately, White Supremacy still presides over the NJ Supreme Court. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom