Busting Sonoma County's Secret War on Weed story and petition in Sonoma Independent
Our new free online website, the Sonoma Independent, officially launched this week, from the new Sebastopol based non-profit, Informing to Empower. My first article is about Yarrow Kubrin, a Sebastopol father of two small children who will be sentenced next week for a victimless marijuana crime, and the grassroots effort to stop the County from wasting our tax dollars and destroying families for the District Attorney and Probation Department's secret war on weed. The full article, and a petition that 400 people have already signed, can be read here. The first few graphs of the article are below. The title is taken from the new petition:
“Stop Incarcerating Parents for Victimless Marijuana Crimes”
On April 3, 2015, Sonoma County’s secret war on marijuana confronted an unprecedented roadblock. A freedom flash mob had gathered, overfilling a courtroom and packing the hallway outside. Nearly 100 upstanding citizens had taken off work that morning and made their way through a crowded security checkpoint to challenge the recommended four-year imprisonment of Yarrow Kubrin. A tax-paying real estate broker, husband, and hands-on parent of two young children, Kubrin was due to be sentenced for a four year old victimless crime of a “legal grow” operation that had violated a few technicalities of the state’s arcane marijuana laws.
Sonoma County had never seen anything like it. Kubrin was unwilling to leave his family to walk quietly into the dark night of shameful criminality for a victimless crime. He was asking for help, and his community was rising up to support him.
Last fall, the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting his case had revoked her own plea bargain offer of probation but no jail time, as “too sweet a deal” for her supervisor. The D.A.’s office had requested that the judge sentence Kubrin to a prison term of no more than five and a half years. Sonoma County’s Probation Department, on its part, recommended a jail term of four and a half years with three additional years of probation, during which time, according to the Probation recommendation, Kubrin could be sent back for more jail time if he violated unrelated technical prohibitions like drinking alcohol or stepping foot in a bar.
The rest of the article can be read at the SonomaIndependent.org
Re: Busting Sonoma County's Secret War on Weed story and petition in Sonoma Independent
Thank your for sharing this. I was unaware of it, since I don't read or watch the news. I've signed, and shared the petition. I'm so glad to see the community support for this family. We can make a difference!
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Peacetown Jonathan:
Our new free online website, the Sonoma Independent, officially launched this week, from the new Sebastopol based non-profit, Informing to Empower. My first article is about Yarrow Kubrin, a Sebastopol father of two small children who will be sentenced next week for a victimless marijuana crime, and the grassroots effort to stop the County from wasting our tax dollars and destroying families for the District Attorney and Probation Department's secret war on weed. The full article, and a petition that 400 people have already signed, can be read here. The first few graphs of the article are below. The title is taken from the new petition:
“Stop Incarcerating Parents for Victimless Marijuana Crimes”
On April 3, 2015, Sonoma County’s secret war on marijuana confronted an unprecedented roadblock. A freedom flash mob had gathered, overfilling a courtroom and packing the hallway outside. Nearly 100 upstanding citizens had taken off work that morning and made their way through a crowded security checkpoint to challenge the recommended four-year imprisonment of Yarrow Kubrin. A tax-paying real estate broker, husband, and hands-on parent of two young children, Kubrin was due to be sentenced for a four year old victimless crime of a “legal grow” operation that had violated a few technicalities of the state’s arcane marijuana laws.
Sonoma County had never seen anything like it. Kubrin was unwilling to leave his family to walk quietly into the dark night of shameful criminality for a victimless crime. He was asking for help, and his community was rising up to support him.
Last fall, the Assistant District Attorney prosecuting his case had revoked her own plea bargain offer of probation but no jail time, as “too sweet a deal” for her supervisor. The D.A.’s office had requested that the judge sentence Kubrin to a prison term of no more than five and a half years. Sonoma County’s Probation Department, on its part, recommended a jail term of four and a half years with three additional years of probation, during which time, according to the Probation recommendation, Kubrin could be sent back for more jail time if he violated unrelated technical prohibitions like drinking alcohol or stepping foot in a bar.
The rest of the article can be read at the SonomaIndependent.org
Re: Busting Sonoma County's Secret War on Weed story and petition in Sonoma Independent
Sheriff Steve Freitas just went before the Board of Supervisors this week to get approval to accept $120,00 from the Feds for the eradication of marijuana!...(really STeve!) What does that even mean? He and Ravitch have no ethics, or moral compass when it comes to this issue, well, a whole host of other issues too... the BOS approved their request by the way....
Frankly, i don't know what he is going to do with $120,000 (pay another cop i suppose) but because he is such a corrupt moron anyway, i suppose since the Feds don't really track how these funds are used, he figures why not take what they can get.
The Board gave him 2 million dollars last year to bring back a program called 'cops" (community oriented policing
services") I have yet to find, anyone down at the administration to answer us as to how this $$$ has been spent...seems like no one knows...this is the tip of the iceberg with them...they want to prosecute and demonize marijuana on every level they can. Now Mike McGuire, our former supervisor, has gone on to Sacramento as Senator and wants to pass legislation also to clamp down even harder on marijuana dispensaries. It never stops!
peace
marni
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Peacetown Jonathan:
Our new free online website, the Sonoma Independent, officially launched this week, from the new Sebastopol based non-profit, Informing to Empower. My first article is about Yarrow Kubrin, a Sebastopol father of two small children who will be sentenced next week for a victimless marijuana crime, and the grassroots effort to stop the County from wasting our tax dollars and destroying families for the District Attorney and Probation Department's secret war on weed. The full article, and a petition that 400 people have already signed, can be read here. The first few graphs of the article are below....
War on Weed story goes national on Huffington Post & petition passes 650 names
I published a somewhat shorter version of this article called "Sonoma County's Secret War on Weed" on the Huffington Post yesterday; it's their top blog post on the California and marijuana sections now; you can read it here:
Busting Sonoma County's Secret War on Weed
The petition, meanwhile, has passed 650 names. If you haven't seen or signed it, here that is.
The full article, is on the Sonoma Independent, here
Kubrin's sentencing is Tuesday.
Will public awareness have an impact on our taxpayer funded criminal justice system's CHOICE to continue to destroy families by putting parents and others in prison for victimless, non-violent technical violations related to the criminalization of marijuana?
Stay tuned....:waccosun:
