MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Police shouldn't have searched a man during a traffic stop simply because they saw him reach under the front seat and he fell down, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

The court said those actions weren't enough to support officers' claim that they believed Gary Johnson was hiding a weapon or drugs. Its 5-2 decision affirmed a 2005 appeals court ruling that reversed his conviction on a drug charge.

"Given the circumstances, there was no reasonable grounds to believe he was armed and dangerous," said Johnson's attorney, Eileen Hirsch. "He's one very happy client today."

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While a senior in high school, I ran for a student government position with what I was certain was the most brilliant campaign ad ever fathomed. It was a bright yellow poster with only the word "SEX!" scrawled across it and a barely legible "Vote for Andy Granias" somewhere at the bottom. The poster did exactly what I had hoped it would do: generated some shock value, stood out among the other ads and prompted a few laughs.

As you might guess, only an hour after I hung up the posters, they were taken down. I was then summoned by my principal and told that my ad was unacceptable for public display on school grounds, and that my eligibility in the race was in jeopardy because of it.

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Dear Editor: In 1994, in State v. Johnston, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held, 4-3, that there was nothing wrong when police used a ruse to gain entry to a defendant's home and seized evidence without a warrant.

The court said that when undercover officers presented themselves as civilian partygoers, the host's consent for them to enter was legally valid and extended not only to defeat the warrant requirement as to them, but as to a squad of uniformed officers who rushed in after them.

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Dear Editor: In May 2005 I was found in possession of two bags of marijuana totaling nine grams, and am now labeled as a drug dealer and given a sentence of 48 months probation that includes two years in prison if the probation is revoked.

I have spent most of the last year and a half in and out of jail for dirty urinalysis tests because I have a drug addiction. Now I'm facing revocation for smoking marijuana. They say I'm a danger to society when in truth the only thing in any danger is a bag of Doritos.

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Dear Editor:

We have added scores of police officers and deputy sheriffs. We have added technology to help us be more efficient in fighting crime and disorder. We have adopted community policing to better serve the community.

All of this breaks down if the District Attorney's Office is not adequately staffed to prosecute the crimes that our law enforcement professionals so effectively investigate.

It is time for Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature to make all aspects of public safety a priority. Our prosecutors are overworked, overburdened, under-appreciated, and underpaid. They deserve better. Our community deserves better.

Let's make it happen. Call your legislator and the governor and ask them to make funding this office a top priority.

Scott Favour

President Madison Professional Police Officer's Association

[end]

Doctor Linked To 11 Drug Deaths

A psychiatrist linked to 11 drug overdose deaths in Milwaukee and Waukesha counties has agreed to give up his medical license and repay the federal government $509,000 in overbilled charges to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

Although there was a criminal investigation into Richard I.H. Wang's prescriptions for dangerous levels of addictive painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet and Valium, he will not be criminally charged, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Jacobs.

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Colleges Urged To Step Up And Combat Binge Drinking, Prescription Drug Abuse

Substance abuse on college campuses is nothing new, but a new report suggests it is taking a more extreme and dangerous form, with higher rates of frequent binge drinking and prescription drug abuse, and more negative consequences for students such as arrests and risky sexual behavior.

The comprehensive report ties together a range of recent research on college substance abuse, supplemented with some of its own new survey data.

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Speaking of crime and punishment, why is the DA's office, which laments that it no longer has resources to criminally prosecute low-level marijuana and drug paraphernalia cases, still pursuing felony charges against Madison resident Chris Lankford, 31, for (gasp!) passing a joint to another man at a pro-marijuana rally last year?

"That's his choice," says Blanchard, referring to Lankford. He says his office still prosecutes distribution, which includes passing a joint, but usually handles minor cases as misdemeanors. But when Lankford refused to accept this, the office refiled the charges as a felony.

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Editor: I applaud Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard's announcement that his office will no longer criminally prosecute small amounts of marijuana. It's a refreshing slice of common sense.

In a county with an ever-rising violent crime rate and limited resources to deal with it, the District Attorney's Office can't afford to have its hands tied with something as minor as pot possession for personal use.

Brian Blanchard gets it. Hopefully, the county's police departments will as well.

Dale M. Schultz

Madison

[end]

SHEBOYGAN - The Sheboygan County district attorney says a Sheboygan teen is learning the hard way that posting pictures of your potted marijuana plants on MySpace.com is a bad idea.

That picture, labeled, "My Mary Jane thats growin in my closet right now," also gave police a road map to the alleged stash.

District attorney Joe DeCecco said that's why [Name redacted], 18, was charged Wednesday with two felonies and two misdemeanors following a police raid of his south-side apartment.

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Saying she wanted to send the message "when in Wisconsin, follow the laws in Wisconsin," a Dane County judge ordered a former Fitchburg resident to serve 30 days in jail for possession with intent to deliver a substance that is considered an illegal drug here but is legal in Somalia and many European countries.

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Diane Nicks ordered the jail time as a condition of three years of probation for Liban Moalin, 37, who was convicted by a jury in November of possession of khat with intent to deliver.

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While defendants implicated in last month's drug bust spent Monday afternoon filing through the courthouse, five Stevens Point teenagers staged a small protest against the criminalization of marijuana use.

Holding signs declaring "Be Wise, Legalize," and "Hemp Can Save the World," protesters courted honks from passing vehicles on the corner of Main Street and Strongs Avenue, only blocks away from the building where more than 20 defendants made their initial hearings in drug cases.

"People should be able to choose what goes in their body," said Ben Eisner, 18. "Caffeine has more deaths per year than marijuana," he said.

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Pewaukee School District officials are riding high on their student drug testing program, now in its third year, and they're spreading the news.

Officials from Hamilton and Arrowhead School districts in Waukesha County and Cedarburg in Ozaukee County, all at various stages of considering a similar program, have turned to Pewaukee for information.

Will they drink the Kool-Aid?

"It's awesome," activities director John Maltsch said in describing Pewaukee's program.

Each year Pewaukee tests 20% of its high school students in athletics or other activities - a total of 100 in each of the first two years and 130 this year because, contrary to one opposing argument, participation in athletics and other activities has increased even as its high school population dropped a bit, Maltsch said. There were three positives the first year, five last year and none so far this year.

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It takes discipline to balance a family budget on a middle-class income.

Costly temptations - from high-definition TVs to the weekly "sale of the year" - make it more important than ever to know where to draw the line. The proliferation of quickie-loan businesses is proof of the number of people who find themselves caught short at bill-paying time.

It's the same with government. We want the best public services, a seemingly endless list including roads, jails, courts, schools, police and fire protection. But in the end, taxpayers collectively are no different from the young couple paying bills at the end of the month.

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A former Clark County district attorney faces three drug-related charges following an investigation that started with a traffic stop in Illinois, according to court records.

Gene Radcliffe, 55, of Neillsville, was charged in Clark County Circuit Court with felony manufacture and delivery of marijuana and two misdemeanors, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

His attorney, Tom Harnisch, declined comment Thursday.

Radcliffe was elected district attorney in 1977 and ran unsuccessfully for the state Assembly in 1979.

Jackson County District Attorney Gerald Fox is serving as special prosecutor in the case against Radcliffe. Fox said a hearing is set for April 18 on whether Radcliffe is competent to proceed after Radcliffe checked into a mental hospital for evaluation.

Police in Washington County, Ill., stopped Radcliffe for a traffic violation and found a gun, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and hydroponics supplies in his car, according to court records.

[end]

Wisconsin can lay claim to a dubious new title. The state leads the nation in underage drinking, according to a report released last week on substance use and mental health.

The rate of underage drinking (ages 12 to 20) was highest in Wisconsin, 39.5 percent in 2004-2005 and lowest in Utah, 21.3 percent according to a report released last week from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The new data analysis shows that in 2004-05 Wisconsin had the highest rate of alcohol use among those 12 years and older, 65.3 percent. Utah had the lowest rate, 30.1 percent.

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As an assistant district attorney in the Dane County District Attorney's Office for more than two decades, I have had the opportunity to work under five district attorneys, most recently Brian Blanchard.

I write this without his knowledge to give an insider's perspective on his recent decision to drop prosecution of simple possession of small amounts of marijuana.

There is not an ounce of fat to cut from the bone in the funding of state prosecutor positions. In Dane County, as in the district attorney offices throughout the state, the counties pick up the cost of equipment, supplies and support services.

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I applaud Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard for his announcement that his office will no longer criminally prosecute over small amounts of marijuana. It's a refreshing slice of common sense.

In a county with an ever-rising violent crime rate and limited resources with which to deal with it, the DA's office can't afford to have its hands tied with something as minor as pot possession for personal use.

Blanchard gets it. Hopefully, the county's police departments will as well.

- -- Dale M. Schultz

Madison

[end]

In the face of shrinking budgets, increased methamphetamine production and growing crime rates, the Dane County district attorney's office is going on record to say the county will not file criminal charges for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard told The Associated Press early this week that state funding has not kept pace with the county's growing population, and his shrinking staff will soon fall to its lowest level since 1988.

This policy is a welcome attempt toward freeing up resources, especially as area law enforcement officials devise new strategies aimed at reducing more pressing criminal activity. The Madison community should be pleased that the district attorney's office has its priorities straight and is more interested in protecting potential victims than creating criminals. They have correctly acknowledged that possession of less than 25 grams of marijuana does not constitute a serious threat to public safety. Thus, criminally prosecuting such minor cases would represent a gross misuse of the department's already sparse funding.

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More prison inmates could be eligible for early release under the state's "truth in sentencing" law, which was intended to make criminals serve their entire sentence behind bars, if lawmakers approve Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed budget.

The document includes a provision that would allow the state Parole Commission to review inmates' petitions for early release under the decade-old sentencing law. The sentencing provision and other surprises came to light Tuesday with the release of the Legislative Fiscal Bureau's analysis of Doyle's 1,700-page budget, which he introduced in February.

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