Inmates Want Probe Of Judge's Use During Years They Were Tried Phoenix, Ariz. -- The judge bought marijuana by mail. He paid with a cashier's check, and he used the office stationery. The envelope bore a handsome imprint: "Philip Marquardt, Superior Court Judge, Phoenix, Arizona." Marquardt lost that job and his license to practice law after his second marijuana conviction, in 1991, and he is today a retired ski instructor in Carefree, just north of Phoenix. Now, two men he sentenced to death in the 1980s are asking courts to look into whether his use of marijuana deprived them of a fair trial. [continues 374 words]
Pippins Gets 43 Months For Extortion Conviction; Diaz Receives Maximum 12-Month Term A federal judge in Mobile handed down sentences Tuesday for the last two of six former Prichard police officers convicted in a high-profile corruption case. U.S. District Judge Charles Butler Jr. sentenced Frederick Pippins, convicted of extorting thousands of dollars from a California drug dealer, to 43 months in prison and ordered Pippins and two other defendants jointly to pay $10,000 in restitution to the city of Prichard. [continues 502 words]
The National Football League is known for giving second chances to players, but the San Diego Chargers and New York Jets are taking it to an extreme. Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer, who should have learned something from the way the Bam Morris experiment blew up in the Chiefs' faces, couldn't resist giving kick returner/wide receiver and convicted felon Tamarick Vanover a reprieve and signing him to a one-year contract. And the Jets -- directed by club president Terry Bradway and coach Herman Edwards, two former members of the Chiefs organization -- were so desperate for defensive linemen that they signed tackle Larry Webster, a three-time violator of the NFL substance-abuse program. [continues 863 words]
McLellan Said To Be Misrepresenting Rock's Weed Crop OTTAWA — A high-level dust-up about the quality of government-grown pot is creating a buzz in the capital. In fact, the marijuana mess threatens to spill over into Prime Minister Jean Chretien's cabinet. Senior government sources said yesterday they believed Health Minister Anne McLellan was deliberately misrepresenting the quality of the weed being grown in northern Manitoba because she has developed cold feet and does not want to follow through on a government plan to provide marijuana to Canadians who need it for medicinal purposes. [continues 245 words]
QUINTER - Besides considering whether to impose corporal punishment, Quinter USD 293 is considering purchasing a breath-testing machine in order to test high school students for alcohol use at dances and will continue to hire a firm that uses trained dogs to detect illegal substances. Quinter High School Principal Fred Irwin said the request to purchase a breathalyzer machine is a proactive disciplinary measure, and that it was not prompted by any particular incident. Rather, he said, it was an accumulation of reported incidents that could not be verified that prompted his request. [continues 555 words]
Since the early 1980s, the Mountain City Police Department has sponsored a DARE program each school year. Sheriff Roger Gentry, who was then Chief of Police, started the program, and the focus was on teaching sixth graders to say no to alcohol and drugs. Each year officers from the Mountain City Police Department visit schools once a month, and often bring with them a guest speaker. On Monday, May 13, Dan Lipford and Police Chief DC Pierce came to Mountain City Elementary School to present a special DARE Program, and they brought two very special guests with them. [continues 463 words]
The state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a proposal to let some drug offenders avoid jail by entering treatment programs can go on the ballot, but it won't happen until 2004. A month ago, the Florida Campaign for New Drug Policies said it was giving up its push to make the November ballot because the high court had not yet ruled on its proposed constitutional amendment. To get before voters, sponsors of petition drives must collect half a million signatures and be cleared by the state's high court, which reviews citizen initiatives to make sure that their ballot language is clear and that they deal with only one subject, as required. [continues 374 words]
NEW YORK - Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are reporting that 26 patients in an intensive care unit at one hospital contracted a rare bacterial infection through infusions with the pain killer fentanyl. The infusions are believed to have been contaminated with Serratia marcescens bacteria by a staff respiratory therapist who was apparently taking the drug illicitly. Fentanyl is a powerful opiate narcotic 80 times more potent than morphine. Hospital administrators became concerned during the summer of 1998 when nine patients became infected with S. marcescens. After initial testing failed to identify the cause, and new infections were discovered, the CDC was invited to assist in the investigation, which lasted until March 1999. [continues 210 words]
Staff Seeks To Push Free Vaccinations BARTOW - The Polk County Health Department wants more help in its battle against hepatitis A. The department hopes within two weeks to begin sending staff members and others into areas at high risk for hepatitis A to encourage drug users to come to clinics for free vaccinations. The department wants the state to help. Daniel Haight, director of the county health department, said he has asked the state Department of Health to lend him about three staff members trained to go into neighborhoods with high drug use. The vaccination is confidential, he said. [continues 391 words]
John Ashcroft scares the bejesus out of me. If he had his way, he would detain people right and left, for flimsy legal reasons, just because he thinks they might be up to something. And if he could get away with it, there's no doubt he would ban scrutiny of tribunals that would determine the guilt or innocence of people he's hauled in. For a conservative, he's peculiarly antipathetic to states' rights. No assisted suicide in Oregon, he's ruled; the voters who supported it be damned. No medical marijuana in California, he's decided; even though an election said it was OK. [continues 702 words]
