home / health / medical marijuana / after fighting for freedom, 76-yo vet sentenced to die in prison for treating his illness with pot after fighting for freedom, 76-yo vet sentenced to die in prison for treating his illness with pot claire bernish april 21, 2016 17 comments 




as public frustration helps sound the death knell for the drug war, its arbitrary laws and policies appear even more absurd. in the latest inexcusable enforcement of an antiquated law, 76-year-old disabled veteran lee carroll brooker will live out what should be his golden years behind bars <u+2014> for simple possession of cannabis. 




brooker had been treating multiple chronic conditions with cannabis he grew in his son<u+2019>s backyard; but when officials in alabama officials discovered the three dozen plants, they threw him in prison for life <u+2014> without the possibility of parole. 




thanks to a pointless mandatory minimum sentencing catchall <u+2014> and the supreme court<u+2019>s refusal to hear his case this week <u+2014> brooker has been left little recourse but to ultimately die in jail for treating his ailments with a plant. 




<u+201c>alabama, like three other states, mandates a life without parole sentence for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana by people with certain prior felony convictions <u+2014> and mr. brooker had been convicted of a string of robberies twenty years earlier in florida, crimes for which he served ten years in prison,<u+201d> the new york times explained . <u+201c>in such a case, the law doesn<u+2019>t require prosecutors to prove any intent to sell the drug.<u+201d> 




essentially, brooker has been imprisoned twice for the same crime <u+2014> because he sought relief from nature instead of arguably dangerous, legal and often lethal pharmaceuticals, courtesy of big pharma. worse, alabama<u+2019>s already irrational law sets the cutoff in a case like this at 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram), and brooker<u+2019>s plants weighed just 2.8 pounds <u+2014> but that included unusable parts, like stalks and leaves. 




make no mistake <u+2014> this is an unjust law, an unjust conviction, and a ridiculous capitulation by the supreme court to alabama<u+2019>s archaic notion a nonviolent offense should somehow land a vet behind bars for life and separate him from his medicine <u+2014> as if law were an inflexible monster to be beholden to, no matter its worth. 




in fact, as the times pointed out, <u+201c>[w]hile the sentence was mandatory, the prosecutor was not required to bring the precise charges that triggered it. prosecutorial discretion here, as in most cases, is a central factor in determining what punishment defendants face.<u+201d> 




in other words, the prosecutor railroaded brooker over his personal, medicinal plants <u+2014> by choice. brooker, who joined the u.s. army at age 17 and came under fire in both lebanon and the dominican republic, eventually rose to the rank of sergeant in the 82nd airborne <u+2014> where he was decorated for infantry service. 




vox reported that even <u+201c>notoriously conservative<u+201d> alabama chief justice roy moore characterized brooker<u+2019>s sentence as <u+201c>excessive and unjustified.<u+201d> and according to the times , the judge deciding the vet<u+2019>s fate would have preferred to hand down a lighter sentence, but once the charges had been brought as they were, he was obligated to enforce the letter of the law. 




yes, this disabled man technically broke the law; but proffering such a rebuttal rings hollow, if not cold, considering the majority of americans support cannabis legalization. legality does not dictate morality. 




a growing segment of officials and public figures do, as well, as the free thought project reported recently , more than 1,000 police, world leaders, celebrities, and others signed a letter calling to summarily end the disastrous war on drugs. 




in fact, though little comfort to brooker now, the drug enforcement agency will likely downgrade cannabis from its inexplicable schedule 1 classification to schedule 2 <u+2014> as early as july of this year. note that while a plethora of viable arguments can be asserted for rescheduling, considering states with laws like alabama<u+2019>s <u+2014> and cases like brooker<u+2019>s <u+2014> the slight concession by federal law would make a comparative, whopping difference. 




brooker attempted to bring his case before the highest court in the land as an inarguable violation of the constitution<u+2019>s ban on cruel and unusual punishment <u+2014> to no avail. the court<u+2019>s stonewall, in itself, could be considered as much <u+2014> in an increasing number of states, brooker<u+2019>s so-called crime would have been perfectly legal. 




for now, though, it appears the 76-year-old will suffer the consequences of bad policy, unjustifiable law, and the cruelty of ostensible authority figures who were all just doing their jobs. 




google + harry houston 




this is a motion for dismissal that has worked in the nj court system brought to you by njweedman. i think it can be rewritten for any state. it uses u.s pat # 6630507. i know little of the law however; i would add united states department of justice 




drug enforcement administration 




opinion and recommended ruling, findings of 




fact, conclusions of law and decision of 




administrative law judge 




francis l. young, administrative law judge 




dated: september 6, 1988 




u.s. pat us 20130059018 a1 




united states patent application 20130109747 




also 




at one point, 14 people were getting government marijuana <u+2026> 




now it is a numbers game we need to get this in as many courts as possible and keep appealing; sooner or later it will land in the lap of someone that will see it for what it is. when that happens, we win. 




pass this on to any one that is in jail or going to or might be going to court for a cannabis charge!!! 




http://www.njweedman.com/pcr_challenge.pdf lame urinaldrama 




there are many bad typos in that motion pdf. for example, <u+201c>an unconstitutional law cannot be inconsistent with a valid one<u+201d>, should read, <u+201c><u+2026>cannot be consistent<u+2026><u+201d>. 




i<u+2019>m not sure if he can appeal at this point. you only have 10 days post conviction in my state. getting mj rescheduled, or a pardon from the governor may be possible solutions. maybe a 1983 federal civil rights violation could get his conviction overturned. i dunno. billotinger 




94% of the people in american prison their was no victim states draw money from the cesti qui vie trust , they make money off inmates same when cps, also called dhr takes a child the county makes money , jury nullification is the only answer right now , the jury has the right to judge the law james michael 




this is treason and false imprisonment. the state had no cause of action against this man. this is kidnapping and treason flat out<u+2026>. chad 




because <u+201c>patriots<u+201d> have absolutely no clue how laws work<u+2026><u+2026>. chad is a phucking idiot 




you are dumber than rock. troll boy don 




the american government has grown so enormously corrupt and the people won<u+2019>t take up arms against it like the constitution tells them too<u+2026>we are a nation of weak useless bystanders.. do nothing to rock the unjust laws and corrupt politicians, which is every last one of them, and let the corruption of our government steal your rights and freedoms right out from under you<u+2026>..it<u+2019>s probably already too late to try to revolt anymore<u+2026> we, the stupid ignorant lazy people,,, have let them get away with this sooo long and done absolutely nothing to stop them.. shame on american<u+2019>s. my views 




disgraceful jerry emery delacruz 




well, it<u+2019>s the country you fought for. and you were probably a real go getter in the war on drugs, until it came around and decided to bite you in the ass. keep your cell clean and pay your debts, you<u+2019>ll be alright. ed crown 




shut the fuck up you useless idiot. jerry emery delacruz 




there<u+2019>s literally hundreds of thousands of people doing time, long time for smoking weed or getting high. there are old people, young people, veterans, church goers, and assholes. just because this guy is a vet or old don<u+2019>t make him special. if you want to change a law, enforce it on everyone and see who starts whinning. you seem to have a problem with this guy doing time but are just fine with some youngster from the hood getting 25 to life for slingin<u+2019> rock, as if his life doesn<u+2019>t matter. so until you can see the big pic, go fuck yourself and your phony ass sympathy. shari peterson 




all he has to do is re-state his union state citizenship what he had upon being born <u+2013> it was later that he adopted federal united states citizenship and all its compulsions. the <u+201c>state of
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chris wilson