by Phillip Smith
Enough already! That was the message Olympia, Washington, resident Dana Walker sent to the Thurston County Superior Court last Friday when, in an act of civil disobedience, he refused to pay fines for past marijuana offenses and demanded to be sent to jail instead. He got his wish and is currently behind bars awaiting sentencing, but the local criminal justice system is going to be out several thousand dollars, and Walker is going to be able to look himself in the eye and know he didn’t back down before the pot prohibition laws.
Could this man be the Rosa Parks of the marijuana legalization movement?
(Image: Dana Walker)
Walker has been arrested on marijuana charges on numerous occasions and has served time in the federal prison system for pot. After finally being freed from the feds’ leash, he told supporters on a Dana Goes to Jail! Facebook page he set up for the event that he had had enough.
“Have you ever wanted to go into a courtroom and honestly tell the judge and prosecutor what you think of their marijuana laws?” Walker wrote. “I have a golden opportunity to do just that and I plan to take full advantage. Those of you who personally know me know I am fully capable of turning righteous indignation into an entertaining show, and I plan to pull out all stops on this one,” he explained.
“I owe Thurston County over $3,000 for a marijuana charge from back in 1997,” he said. “I am currently unemployed, I am not a fan of hot weather, and I wouldn’t mind at all spending a few weeks in jail just for the opportunity to tell a court where they can stick their laws.”
Walker said that if enough other people followed his example, they could clog the gears of the drug war punishment apparatus.
Read complete article here:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2011/aug/04/wa_man_refuses_marijuana_fines_c