Iowa Court Sentences Man to 1 Year Of NO MJ LEGALIZATION ADOVCACY!

Judge defends marijuana sentence

Jack Delaney imposed a gag order on political activist Bob Newland

By Kevin Woster, Journal staff
Sunday, July 26, 2009

Circuit Court Judge Jack Delaney had given plenty of thought to his
sentencing options by the time he arrived in court July 6.

It was a fairly typical charge but a not-so-typical defendant: Bob
Newland.

The well-known public advocate for the legalization of marijuana for
medical purposes had previously pleaded guilty to felony possession of
the drug. And Delaney wanted to make the sentence sting without imposing
an unduly harsh prison term on a 60-year-old man with a relatively clean
criminal record.

So in essence, he told him to shut up for a year about one thing:
medical marijuana, and an ongoing campaign to bring the issue to another
public vote in 2010.

Delaney sentenced Newland to one year in Pennington County Jail but
suspended all but 45 days under a set of stipulations that included
weekly drug tests, random searches and a one-year ban on public advocacy
for medical marijuana.

Delaney rejects assertions by some that he was imposing his personal
beliefs on medical marijuana through the sentence.

"I have no concern whatsoever about whether medical marijuana is
legalized," Delaney said during an interview with the Journal in his
office. "The important thing was to have a sentence crafted to
impose a penalty on Mr. Newland that was significant to him."

The advocacy ban was an infringement on Newland's First Amendment
rights. Delaney doesn't deny that. But neither does he consider it
more onerous or any less appropriate than many other infringements
imposed as part of felony sentences.

The random searches Newland faces in the next year would be violations
of his constitutional rights, but for the felony plea. Felons can face
otherwise unconstitutional firearms restrictions and the right to
associate with certain people or go to certain establishments, Delaney
said.

"We restrict speech as well in a lot of protection orders, or in
divorces, where in some cases the parties' freedom to speak to one
another may be limited," he said.

And given the fact that the maximum penalty for Class 6 felony marijuana
possession was two years in prison and a $4,000 fine, Newland's
sentence could be considered light by others who face similar charges,
Delaney said. He was particularly concerned about younger minority
defendants who might get a longer jail term for the same crime.

"I'm sitting there faced with a gentleman who is older, well
known, who is thought by many to be considerably more well off than he
is, and he is seeking a sentence that is going to be considerably more
lenient that what they (minority defendants) might receive," Delaney
said. "So my thought was that I have to take something from him that
is as valuable or maybe even more valuable than his freedom."

Delaney settled on what he calls the "partial infringement of
speech," as well as limits on his freedom of association in support
of medical marijuana. Newland may still meet in private with medical
marijuana advocates to plan the medical-marijuana campaign. But he
cannot appear publicly in or speak on or for the campaign.

"I'm taking away a legal right of the person to associate,"
Delaney said. "I'm taking away his liberties. But not nearly as
much as if he were in jail."

Typical sentences for the same felony possession charge range from 45
days to 120 days in jail, Delaney said. But many of those who receive
such sentences have more criminal marks on their record, he said.

Delaney has received about 40 e-mails commenting on the verdict, with
many critical of the ban on speech and public involvement in the medical
marijuana campaign. Many of the e-mails came from people active in the
medical marijuana movement, he said, and some engaged in "name
calling."

Others, however, were more understanding when Delaney explained his
rationale.

"All felonies are serious crimes, and they have a wide range of
impacts on anybody who's a felon," he said. "This is
unusual. And if it hadn't been Bob Newland, it wouldn't have had
the same impact."

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@ rapidcityjournal .com