Pubdate: Sat, 16 Apr 2016
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2016 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-letters-to-the-editor-htmlstory.html
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Note: New York Times

ALABAMA MARIJUANA SENTENCE IS WRONG

Lee Carroll Brooker, a 75-year-old disabled veteran suffering from 
chronic pain, was arrested in July 2011 for growing three dozen 
marijuana plants for his medicinal use behind his son's house in 
Dothan, Ala., where he lived. For this crime, Mr. Brooker was given a 
life sentence with no possibility of release.

Alabama law mandates that anyone with certain prior felony 
convictions be sentenced to life without parole for possessing more 
than1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of marijuana, regardless of intent to 
sell. Mr. Brooker had been convicted of armed robberies in Florida 
two decades earlier, for which he served 10 years. The marijuana 
plants collected at his son's house-including unusable parts like 
vines and stalks-weighed 2.8 pounds.

At his sentencing, the trial judge told Mr. Brooker that if he "could 
sentence you to a term that is less than life without parole, I would."

U.S. Supreme Court justices should take the case and overturn this sentence.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom