Pubdate: Thu, 30 Oct 2014
Source: Trentonian, The (NJ)
Column: NJWeedman's Passing the Joint
Copyright: 2014 The Trentonian
Contact:  http://www.trentonian.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006
Author: Ed Forchion

DEBTORS' PRISON - MY ARREST IS DEMANDED BY BURLINGTON COUNTY AGAIN

I really wanted to write about suicide this week, but I might be in 
the Burlington County jail for a few weeks. I hate those news 
articles that say "defendant" or "subject" wasn't available for 
comment - he was in jail. So this is my side of the story beforehand.

The government, through its failed "War on Drugs," ruins the lives of 
millions of its citizens. Those convicted of marijuana possession are 
denied jobs, education benefits, and housing and welfare services. 
They are digitally marked with a criminal record.

These same citizens are then put in debtors' prisons for not having 
money to pay bills, debts, or more commonly, child support. Debtors' 
prisons were prevalent in the U.S. and Western Europe over 150 years 
ago: Before the time of modern bankruptcy laws and social safety 
nets, poor folks and ruined business owners were locked up until 
their debts were paid off. Debtors' prisons sound like ancient history, right?

Regrettably, the Constitution, case law, and common sense 
notwithstanding, low-income citizens are locked away in debtors' 
prisons that ostensibly don't exist, but that's only because our 
modern legal system has simply renamed everything. Example: New 
Jersey family court calls it "contempt of court" with a slimy 
renaming of a debt as a deliberate refusal to comply with a court 
order, which justifies debt arrest. What they are is judicially 
sanctioned extortion rackets.

I'm one of these "debt" people - ruined by my government's racist 
marijuana laws; my Los Angeles business possessions were seized by 
the DEA in 2012, the government has taken my driver's license and 
ultimately my ability to generate an income. I spent half of 2013 in 
jail, all for knowing the truth about marijuana.

NJ family court jails thousands of men who've been ruined by the 
ridiculous drug laws and failed to pay child support. Right now there 
is a warrant for my arrest signed by Burlington County Judge John 
Call. I admit I owe the mother of my grown daughter, $11,000 in back 
support  "arrears." I simply don't have it.

In addition to the government ruining me, I've been battling bone 
cancer and can't work. I've been receiving monthly cancer treatments 
in Santa Monica, California, and at the Philadelphia Veterans 
Administration. On October 17 I was diagnosed with another cancerous 
tumor, this one on my left hip. The last one caused me to break my 
right femur this past May.

Somehow Judge Call illegally received my social security information, 
which is supposed to be private according to the Social Security Act. 
Judge Call demanded I come to his courtroom and surrender my measly 
"Social Security stipend" of $800 to settle this debt. Even though 
Judge Call knows Social Security is "immune" from seizure so he 
simply renamed it a "windfall."

I told him and my daughter's mother that my Social Security is a 
federal matter, so go to federal court - present your arguments 
before a federal judge who has jurisdiction over Social Security 
matters. Instead Judge Call treating me like J.A.N. and issued a 
warrant for my arrest. Which will be detrimental to my health care again?

Last year Burlington County Judge Dementia had me arrested at the 
Philadelphia Airport as I was boarding a flight to get my monthly 
treatment for not signing probation paperwork. As a result of that 
unjust arrest I missed two treatments, but Judge Dementia said, "Mr. 
Forchion plays his health care like a Stradivarius," then sentenced 
me to 270 days in the county jail - 20 days at a time. I was allowed 
to leave the jail for 10 days at a time to get my monthly treatments. 
For 20 days a month I was subject to no care in Burlington County's 
inhumane jail, denied my daily intake of medical marijuana and calcium.

That trip to the BC Jail allowed me to see firsthand how horribly the 
BC Freeholders ran the jail. When I was released I made it a point to 
tell the press of the things I learned. I told of the deaths of 
inmates and the retaliatory treatment of inmate whistleblowers. Since 
then The Trentonian's Penny Ray has written a series of investigative 
articles reporting on the shenanigans at the jail.

This didn't make me a favorite of the BC Jail staff. I've received 
threats and promises of retribution if I ever come back. Now Judge 
Call is attempting to hand me over to these threatening jailers for a 
"debt" I have no ability to pay and trying to seize my Social 
Security stipend even though he knows he has no authority to do so.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom