Judicial Tyranny in the Drug War by Jacob G. Hornberger!
(2020-08-28 at 14:33:11 )

Judicial Tyranny in the Drug War by Jacob G. Hornberger!

If you still have any doubts about the tyranny of the federal governments beloved "war on drugs," perhaps the case of Juan Carlos Seresi, Vahe Andonian, and Nazareth Andonian will remove them.

Back in 1991, a federal judge named William D. Keller sentenced these three men to 500 years in jail for a non-violent drug offense-i.e., laundering drug money.

Yes, you read that right - 500 years!

Why, that is just plain stupid. Any lawyer that has gone to any decent law school knows that most people die before they are 200 years old. What law school did Mr. Keller attend?

Or maybe it is just plain vicious. Making known his intention to play a role in "winning" the "war on drugs," Judge Keller, who was appointed to the bench by conservative President Ronald Reagan, declared, "I intend to deter forevermore anybody doing anything like this."

Would you not love to ask the honorable Judge Keller how his draconian policy of deterrence has worked out for him? I mean, exactly how many people did he deter from engaging in drug-law violations with his 500-year jail sentences for those three men? Correct me if I am wrong but there have been countless people engaging in the drug trade since 1991, when Judge Keller imposed those 500-year jail sentences.

Obviously, none of them was deterred by Judge Kellers tyrannical jail sentences.

The fact is that Judge Kellers policy of deterrence accomplished nothing.

All it did was ruin the lives of three men and their families. Even if a few people were deterred by his 500-year jail sentences, it did not make any difference because there were more than enough people who were not deterred to ensure a plentiful supply of drugs for United States of American drug consumers.

Other federal judicial tyranny

Of course, Judge Keller is not the only federal judge who has vowed to do his part to "win" the war on drugs. There have been many other federal judges over the years who have had the same mindset.

When I was a young lawyer back in Texas back in the 1970s there was a federal judge in San Antonio named John Wood. His moniker was "Maximum John." Why did lawyers and others call him that? Because his policy was to mete out the maximum possible jail sentences to drug-war violators. Like Judge Keller some 15 years later, Judge Wood was determined to "deter" people from engaging in the drug trade. Like Judge Keller, Judge Wood was doing his part to "win" the war on drugs with his maximum jail sentences.

It makes you wonder how someone who is intelligent enough to get a law degree can end up with such a ludicrous and illogical mindset. Judge Woods draconian sentences accomplished nothing. And neither did the draconian sentences metered out by other federal judges in the 1970s. Was Judge Keller not aware of this phenomenon when he meted out those 500-year jail sentences to those three men in the 1990s? When Judge Keller was in law school, did they not teach him about Judge Wood and other federal judges doing the same thing that Judge Keller would be doing when he would later become a federal judge. Did they not teach him the futility of such judicial tyranny?

Early release from prison?

According to an article on CNN.com, recently federal prosecutors agreed with defense attorneys that Seresi, Andonian, and Andonia should now be released from prison, after spending some 30 years there. The reason revolves around the original prosecutors in the case failing to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defendants that revolved around special treatment having been accorded a prosecution witness in the case.

You would think that that would be the end of the matter, right?

Not so.

It turns out that a federal judge has to approve the deal. In the case, the federal judge, whose name is Joseph V. Wilson, is a former federal prosecutor who served under Judge Keller when he was a federal prosecutor before becoming a federal judge.

Judge Wilson ruled that the exculpatory evidence was not enough to affect the outcome of the original trial. He denied the defendants motions for release. Seresi, Andonian, and Andonia are now appealing his order.

Some might argue that the solution to this drug-war madness is better education in United States of American law schools.

I say that the solution is to legalize drugs.

In that way, it will not matter how much federal judges want to do their part to "win" the war on drugs through the imposition of draconian jail sentences because there no longer will be drug-war prosecutions in federal court.

Reprinted here with permission from Mr. Jacob G. Hornberger of The Future of Freedom Foundation!! Their Great Website!!