Baca To Push For Funding WASHINGTON - Congress is poised to shortchange California and other states that jail high numbers of criminal illegal immigrants, as Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca prepares to testify before a federal panel on the need for adequate funding. Legislation headed for the U.S. Senate includes $415 million nationwide for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, which states depend on to repay some of the incarceration costs. California spends more than $600 million annually on what it views as a federal responsibility. [continues 443 words]
Speaker Of The House Refuses To Back Bill Spurred By Conviction Of Rosenthal WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert will not support federal legislation to protect pot growers and smokers in states such as California, where medical marijuana is legal, a spokesman for the Republican leader said Thursday. Dealing an early and likely fatal blow to the future of the legislation inspired by the recent conviction of Oakland cannabis grower Ed Rosenthal, Hastert spokesman John Feehery said, "I doubt very seriously that the speaker would support that kind of provision." [continues 312 words]
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert will not support federal legislation to protect pot growers and smokers in states such as California, where medical marijuana is legal, a spokesman for the Republican leader said Thursday. Dealing an early and likely fatal blow to the future of the legislation inspired by the recent conviction of Oakland cannabis grower Ed Rosenthal, Hastert spokesman John Feehery said, "I doubt very seriously that the speaker would support that kind of provision." The Truth in Trials Act, sponsored by Rep. Sam Farr, D-Monterey, and supported by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, and most other Bay Area Democrats, would let individuals accused of violating federal marijuana laws introduce evidence showing they possessed, cultivated or distributed pot in accordance with state laws. [continues 253 words]
Justices Criticize Argument Favoring Oakland Tenants WASHINGTON -- An attorney for four Oakland residents who were thrown out of public housing because they could not control their relatives' drug use took a verbal beating Tuesday before the U.S. Supreme Court. In a case that tests the national one-strike-and-you're-out policy for federally subsidized housing, attorney Paul Renne argued that the law allowing housing officials to evict an entire household because of one member's drug use is fundamentally unfair. [continues 835 words]
Justices Weigh Violation Of Fed Laws WASHINGTON -- In a case that could upend medicinal marijuana distribution in California and several other states, members of the U.S. Supreme Court questioned Wednesday whether a desire to ease the pain of disease really justifies violating federal drug laws. Anti-drug advocate Robert Maginnis with the Family Research Council said later those questions made him hopeful that the high court might reject the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative's argument against the government that people should be able to obtain marijuana as a "medical necessity" even though it has been classified as illegal under federal law. The court's decision is expected this summer. [continues 754 words]
