Walking the Last Free Mile with Eddy Lepp by Charles Lynch

Eddy & Linda Lepp

From: Rev. Tom Brown
Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 8:51:02 AM
Subject: Eddy Lepp in prison

July - 09 - 2009

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/july092009/eddylepp_cl_070809.php

Walking the Last Free Mile with Eddy Lepp

Charles Lynch Special to Salem-News.com

Eddy tried claiming medical and religious protections but the arguments were not allowed in Federal Court.

(PISMO BEACH, Calif.) -

Today Eddy Lepp called me at about 10:30 a.m. and said they were getting ready to pass through Pismo Beach. I hopped into my car and caught up with them on the freeway and followed them to Lompoc.

There was a traffic jam on the way down and I figured that in Eddy's mind there was probably no big rush as he was on his way to serve a 10 year mandatory sentence in Federal Prison for growing Marijuana.

Eddy had a farm where he was growing over 25,000 plants when he was raided by the DEA in 2004.

The feds prosecuted Eddy in Federal Court and he was convicted of growing more than 1000 marijuana plants which has a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.

Eddy tried claiming medical and religious protections but the arguments were not allowed in Federal Court.

It was a sad moment as Eddy his wife and followers realized he was only minutes from a long sentence in Federal Prison.

I was angered to think that Eddy was being taken from his family for marijuana. Eddy and his clan were a classic hippie family.

They were dressed in tie die outfits and many of them had tattoos of marijuana leaves. Some of his followers talked about strong religious beliefs they had.

It was here I understood the importance of freedom of religion. Although I might not have had the same beliefs as Eddy and his followers, I thought how people have to 'tolerate' other peoples beliefs even if you don't understand what they are talking about.

So Eddy with swollen eyes from years of battling the Federal Government and a strong conviction that he had done the right thing hopped into the van for his final ride as a free man.

During that last mile, Eddy stated that he was not afraid of jail as his camera man and others listened in great admiration and sorrow.

They passed around one more cigarette of the sacred herb and Eddy drank a Dr. Pepper as his camera man recorded Eddy's testimony.

I fought back tears as other grown men cried outwardly.

I asked Eddy about his release on bail pending appeal and he said the judge didn't even read the motion and denied it.

As we drove up to the penitentiary I just couldn't stop thinking how wrong this is to put people away and to break up families for marijuana.

It just seemed so cruel to take Eddy from his wife, his friends, and from society.

They were not hurting anybody, they are just living the kind of life that makes them happy, the kind of life that millions of Americans live on a daily basis.

We walked Eddy into the building, and my internal outrage boiled quietly as the self-righteous Federal Agents did their jobs, as did the Nazi Prison Camp Guards, and took Eddy into custody and told everybody to leave.

As we turned and left the American POW camp I couldn't stop thinking what a cruel nation America can be to it's 'Marijuanan American' citizens.

I realized with great appreciation that I was a lucky man as I am out on bail pending appeal for a one year sentence for 'marijuana crimes'.

I was really lucky compared to what was happening to Eddy Lepp.

Two men, separate lives, separate life styles, separate beliefs, separate destinies but one common cause.

Eddy whispered to me as he held back his emotions 'keep the message alive'.

Free All Hemp Political Prisoners - Charles Lynch

September 22, 2008

Richard M. Davis, Curator
USA Hemp Museum
www.hempmuseum.org

Honorable Judge WuC/O Reuven Cohen, Federal Public Defender, 321 East 2nd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012-4702Fax: (213) 894-0081email: reuven_cohen@fd.org

Re: Federal Sentencing of Charles C. Lynch

Dear Judge Wu,

I am writing to in support of Charles C. Lynch and ask that in sentencing due process be served by your court. I am also an activist as is Charles and have been arrested for selling marijuana in Arizona in protest of prohibition laws there. I ask you to consider what I have to report on the laws, what I have found in my travels and travails regarding a way out of the legal marijuana morass.

Enclosed are papers written in response to what appears to me to be an illegal prohibition at the Federal level and action to break that prohibition at the state level, especially that happening in California. On the Federal level the US Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land. That law limits the Federal government. Those limits are clearly spelled out in the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of that Supreme Law. Rights and powers not specifically enumerated in the US Constitution are up for grabs by the States or the people.

In California, the people by Constitutional authority hold all the power. They have the power to make law independent of their government –bypassing that government, by initiative authority. This is what happened in 1996 with the Compassionate Use Act. The people made a new right to grow and use medical marijuana, one not enumerated in the Federal Constitution. Charles C. Lynch was following the appropriate law. The fact that the Federal Courts and government do not recognize that law after 12 long years, when they have had every opportunity to come and declare it unconstitutional, when they operate like thugs stealing money and medicine without due process, and when judges do not allow the truth in court, it is a disheartening commentary on the war on marijuana and hemp.

Until one Federal Judge stands up to the pressure and declares that due process is needed to sort out the facts around marijuana and hemp, as in this case, the people of California will continue to suffer the effects of an out of control Federal government. It is not just Charles C. Lynch, Your Honor, it is hundreds of well meaning citizens trying to sort out the unfathomable laws on medical marijuana.

Charles C. Lynch is guilty of helping people. Nothing else. He should be released pending a due process hearing on all aspects of marijuana law. How is due process served by incarcerating this man for dispensing a medicine the DEA’s own Judge Francis L. Young called one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. This makes no sense and screams for due process.

California initiative law is the law of the land in California on medical marijuana – the only law, assumed through the Supreme Law of the Land. The State laws and guidelines of the Attorney General are unconstitutional as they were not sent back to the people for a vote as per the California Constitution. The failure of the State government to act in accordance with the people’s law to implement a distribution system for all Californian’s after twelve years is unconscionable. I have been to court in California and was told by the Attorney General and the California appeals court that California S.B. 420, the State’s medical marijuana system did not apply to me. One has to volunteer for the law to be under its control. I did not volunteer.

In what smacks of fraud, the State Government refuses to state that by volunteering you give up your rights under the initiative law and get limits and restrictions and clarifications that are clearly amendatory to initiative law and are therefore unconstitutional – not approved by the electors.

Please recognize that the jury in this case was not told the whole truth about the affairs of Charles C. Lynch as due process demands. Please read the enclosed papers even though they were written for Arizona as the basic principles apply to all marijuana laws.

According to Justice Holmes, even a judge being bound to declare the law must know or discover the facts that established the law [See, Prentis v. Alantic Coast Line Co., 211 U.S. 210 (1908)]. Marijuana is non-narcotic, non-addictive, and not fatal if consumed. Marijuana is not a dangerous drug. Criminal penalties should be abolished and replaced by regulation if necessary.

Charles Lynch should be a free man. Thank you Judge Wu for your attention.

Richard M. Davis, Curator
USA Hemp Museum http://www.hempmuseum.org/
rmdavisx@yahoo.com

PRINTED ON HEMP PAPER

Please express your support for Charles Lynch and the millions of people in jail or with a criminal record for interacting with a plant.

Al Roker Marijuana Inc with Charles C. Lynch



Again, Al Roker and the MSNBC team did great job on their powerful documentary, Marijuana, Inc. The will of the people is being heard in the media finally.

From Richard M. Davis, who was at the historic Charles Lynch sentencing postponement is his quick description of the event. There is a cameo of Davis with Charles Lynch (in the webeo above) 9:10-9:15.

"Brenda and I went to the courthouse yesterday. The hempsters filled the room and heard the exchange between the frustrated prosecutor and Judge Wu. Lynch showed up with four attorneys which was impressive, the Feds also had four attorneys (who should have been looking for criminals)." Charles Lynch's sentencing postponement to the end of next month (April, 2009) is the result of Judge Wu asking for a clarification of the new hemp policy.

Could it be we are about to be free?

With Bruce Margolin on the team, then we're real confident about the outcome because Margolin is one of the greatest attornies ever in any field. Davis and Margolin stood up for the late Sister Somayah Kambui too as the LAPD dogged her for decades over the issue of hemp.

Davis is the founder and curator of the USA Hemp Museum, the source of this blog. He is also the author of

and




Please express your support for Charles Lynch and the millions of people in jail or with a criminal record for interacting with a plant. HEMP FOR VICTORY

Federal judge postpones Charles Lynch sentencing

There are hemped miracles in process.

LOS ANGELES TIMES
Federal judge postpones medical marijuana sentencing
12:27 PM March 23, 2009

"A federal judge in Los Angeles this morning postponed the sentencing of a man who emerged as a key figure in the national debate over medical marijuana, saying he wanted additional information about a reported change in the Justice Department’s policy regarding such prosecutions.

U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu asked prosecutors for a written response from the Justice Department about its position on medical marijuana prosecutions in light of recent comments from Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr.

Holder said last week that the Justice Department under President Obama had no plans to prosecute dispensary owners who operated within their state's law.

Wu said he did not believe that any change in policy would affect the conviction of Charles Lynch, 47. But the judge said he wanted to consider any new information about the policy before imposing sentence.

Lynch’s trial this summer showcased the issue of conflicting state and federal marijuana laws. "

FREE ALL NON VIOLENT DRUG WAR POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW!!!