Sections read by my attorney in parentheses – sections cut and not read in court indicated by *** ….all else was read aloud and  appeared in official court transcript

Chris Goldstein: Notes for Elocution to Judge Jacob Hart – Sentencing hearing 3/26/14

Your honor, despite what has been stated by the US Attorney, I stand before you with nothing but respect for this court and the United States Constitution that guides it.

As an activist and a writer the focus of my life’s work has been to legalize marijuana.

As a man who follows the tradition of the Quakers and attends Quaker Meeting, my belief in social justice is not merely personal but also an expression of my religious faith.

The criminalized prohibition of cannabis by the federal government, in my opinion, is the most important social justice issue of our time and an unjust law that needs to immediately change.

(More than 750,000 Americans are arrested each year, including me, for simply possessing a small amount of this plant. Behind those staggering numbers are millions of lives ruined by this archaic law: Children separated from loving parents, economically disadvantaged people kicked out of public housing, college students having vital loans snatched away, countless jobs – real, sustainable employment; the lifeblood of our economy – lost or never even gained… this is all beyond the custodial arrests and jail time.)

While most of those arrests happen at the state level it is federal policy that sanctions this tragedy of law to occur thousands of times, every single day. This is why we gather to protest, speaking freely and openly about this failed policy.

(We have now endured seventy-seven years of federal cannabis prohibition. The original law, 1937 Marihuana Tax Stamp Act, was found to be unconstitutional in a unanimous ruling by the United States Supreme Court in 1969.)

(Congress then created the Controlled Substances Act placing marijuana in Schedule I alongside heroin and cocaine. But that was supposed to be a temporary measure. President Nixon appointed a commission of legislators, medical experts and academics to study this categorization. Their 1972 report concluded that cannabis should NOT be included into Schedule I, in fact the commission recommended that marijuana not be placed in the Controlled Substances Act at all and that personal possession should be a non-criminal offense under federal statutes.)

(The author of the report and leader of that commission was former Pennsylvania Governor Raymond Shaffer – a Republican legal scholar who modernized this Commonwealth’s own Constitution during his term.)

(But President Nixon ignored those thoughtful recommendations. Thus the act of a single President ushered in the modern era of this policy. Unfortunately for our country there was racism at the root of Nixon’s action and it has continued to play out in how the overall policy is enforced.)

Today – right now – more than 80% of the marijuana possession arrests here in the city of Philadelphia are young black men; even though white people purchase and consume more marijuana than any other ethnic group. The enforcement of cannabis prohibition is simply institutional racism. This is why we peacefully assemble.

Judge Hart, during hearings for my fellow protesters and during my own conviction hearing you expressed opinions of cannabis prohibition very similar to my own. You even said you would vote to legalize cannabis if were put to a nationwide ballot. Of course we both know that a national vote on the issue will never occur and that such a change can only be enacted by legislators. We undertook a full year of monthly protests to raise awareness and forward that goal.

Yet it is vital for you to understand that protesting has not been our only activity, but one important tool among others in the mechanics of reform.

For more than ten years I have been working on legislative change alongside many other respected advocates – many of whom delivered speeches during our Smoke Down Prohibition protests at Independence Hall National Historic Park. We have worked directly with elected officials at the city, state and federal level.

There has been some measured success.

We have worked with New Jersey legislators to craft a medical marijuana law that passed in 2010, a decriminalization bill that passed the NJ Assembly in 2012 and legislation introduced just this week to tax and regulate cannabis in the Garden State.

In Pennsylvania we have crafted and introduced two medical marijuana bills; the most recent was passed unanimously by the Pennsylvania Senate Law and Justice Committee in January of this year. We also have active legislation to tax and regulate cannabis in the Commonwealth.

Here in Philadelphia we held meetings with the District Attorney and Police Department that spurred the Small Amount of Marijuana program; saving the city more than $3 million dollars per year by keeping offenders out of the city’s criminal courts. Just last week the Philadelphia City Council Law and Government Committee unanimously passed a bill we helped to craft that would decriminalize marijuana possession in the city; stopping the practice of custodial arrests and making the offense a summary punished with a simple fine.

In June of 2013 we took a busload of cannabis reform advocates to Washington DC, not to protest, but to meet with federal legislators and policy makers; (not read** including Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado, a liberal Democrat and Grover Norquist a conservative political strategist.***)

While the US Attorney has narrowly focused on some of our activity at Independence Hall National Historic Park, please understand the context which brought me and thousands of others to the site to engage in civil disobedience: Federal reform is not moving fast enough. The nation is rightfully tuned to the tremendous victory over cannabis prohibition by the voters in Colorado and Washington State.

Yet the rest of the nation has been left out of this freedom. Across the country cannabis consumers are targeted by law enforcement for arrest and have a litany of serious criminal penalties leveled against them for something that is legal across state borders. (not read***This is a true and real imbalance of personal liberty for Americans. ***) This is why we seek redress.

It has been asserted by the US attorney that the actions of some of my fellow protesters have somehow been “aggressive” during our protest but nothing could be further from the truth. It should be noted that the National Park Service Rangers showed undeniable tolerance for our activities from December 2012 though April 2013. During that time there was no law enforcement present for our action and there were no citations issued; even though at times there were more than 500 participants….all of whom easily dispersed without incident.

It was not until May of 2013 that a massive police action was taken against our peaceful group. From May 2013 until December 2013 we maintained the same, very consistent protest actions: 45 minutes of speeches and 15 minutes of civil disobedience. Yet during those months we faced not only scores of specially assigned National Park Service Rangers but literally hundreds of fully armed Philadelphia Police, SEPTA Transit Police, US Fish& Wildlife officers and even tactically armed Department of Homeland Security agents; all directed by the US attorney’s office – who were also on site.

We were confused and dismayed by the hostile treatment we received after the tolerance of the local Rangers showed us was then abandoned.

I personally witnessed dozens of my fellow protesters taken to the ground and detained in most cases without the result of a criminal charge of any sort because they did not posses any cannabis – (not read***they were merely participating in free speech (holding signs and the like) or simply observing. ***)

We were so shocked by the change we attempted to open diplomatic discussion with participating law enforcement agencies in an attempt to tone down the intense atmosphere that had developed.

SEPTA’s Police Chief Thomas Nestel III, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Joe Sullivan and Philadelphia Police Civil Affairs officers agreed (via Twitter) to sit down and talk. We met right across the street from this courthouse in the Dunkin Donuts at 7th and Market. We implored them to take a lighter, more reasonable approach to our protest action but we were told that federal authorities had specifically requested their presence.

Still we continued to meet with them (Nestel and Sullivan), before each Smoke Down Prohibition action from July 2013 until December 2013 in what we called “Donut Summits.” We invited National Park Service Rangers to attend but they never accepted.

The atmosphere during the protests did become less intense. Yet the actions by the scores of law enforcement now assigned to our protest were not nearly as consistent as our own. (not read*** For instance: I was cited for the first time during the June gathering, issued a ticket and a $175 fine. I paid the fine within a week. When I returned in July and performed the very same civil disobedience action participants immediately around me were detained and cited but I was conspicuously left alone. Dozens of law enforcement officers watched me as I completed the action. ***)

(not read*** Then when I returned in August I was detained and cited. But the US Attorney on site, the very same prosecuting me today, refused to issue a simple fine but made this trial process mandatory. ***)

Please also take note that from September 2013 through December 2013 I returned emceed the events and delivered my own speeches but refrained from participating in any civil disobedience out of respect for this court and this trial.

We chose the site for our actions because of its symbolic importance. Like so many millions of people before us we find the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and the other physical reminders of our first steps in the great experiment of American government to be an inspiration for Freedom. We utilized an area of the park known as The People’s Plaza – an open area far away from tourist lines and historic buildings – where there is a granite monument inscribed with the text of the First Amendment.

At no time did we attempt to interfere with the regular activities of the park and indeed for four months we were just one of many group who demonstrate at the same location. It should be noted that we took time to show respect for the park itself. At the end of all twelve Smoke Down Prohibition protests we always cleaned up our area of trash and never left any of our signs behind.

Our goal has always been to peacefully gather, speak freely and petition the government for redress. We did not seek the shelter of the First Amendment but to exercise the rights it seeks to afford.

It is with extreme irony that President Obama seems to have stolen our protest slogans and press releases, recently turning them into his own political rhetoric. Namely two of our most common, core themes 1) That marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol 2) There exists a disturbing racial disparity in cannabis possession arrests.

The power to end federal cannabis prohibition is not held by Congress alone, the President can also enact that change.

In conclusion:

My great hero and an expert on civil disobedience Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, (not read*** who visited the Liberty Bell himself***), wrote the following in his Letter from the Birmingham Jail: “One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.”

Your honor I hope you see that we have done everything to fulfill that mandate from Dr. King. As you have also professed a belief in federal cannabis reform I sincerely plead that you not make me endure too harsh a penalty.

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Judge Jacob Hart then imposed 2 years of supervised probation and a $3000 fine to be paid within 30 days.

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Text of the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Added on June 17, 2014chris goldstein, federal law, marijuana, protest, Smoke Down ProhibitionBlog