Check the Schedule

The Rocky Mountain News reports that a 24-year-old Colorado woman named Allysan Isaac served 90 days in jail and nearly a year in a work release program for a crime that does not exist:

"You were incarcerated for a case that was not a crime," said Mesa County District Judge Brian Flynn, who presided over the case.

Flynn, the prosecutor and Isaac's defense attorney were unaware last year that the offense she was charged with was not a violation of the law.

No one had noticed that a prescription drug found in Isaac's possession, an anti-anxiety medication called Buspirone [a.k.a. BuSpar], is not a controlled substance.

Whoops. I'm not sure which is more ridiculous: the mistake or the idea that it would have been perfectly OK to arrest Isaac and lock her up if the drug in her pocket did happen to appear on one of the government's arbitrary lists.

[Thanks to Jack Farrar for the link.]

Comments

[Lowdog]

I'm not sure which is more ridiculous: the mistake or the idea that it would have been perfectly OK to arrest Isaac and lock her up if the drug in her pocket did happen to appear on one of the government's arbitrary lists.

Hear, hear, Jacob!

It's a fuckin' protection racket, as much as anything. Not to mention a great excuse to keep our military-industrial complex running at full tilt by providing military equipment to our police forces. As I've said before, it's all about money and control. Unfortunately, I'm not in control, so the gov't doesn't care about me there, nor am I in an industry that is making all this money, so again, I'm on the wrong side.

Hmm, maybe I need to start working for a pharmy company or become a cop. 😉

[bandini]

i love the last paragraph of the article. nobody ever checked to make sure it was a crime because the police said it was. i guess it doesn't matter what the law says because the police will go and do whatever they want anyway.

[Mr. Mackey]

"It's a fuckin' protection racket, as much as anything. Not to mention a great excuse to keep our military-industrial complex running at full tilt by providing military equipment to our police forces. As I've said before, it's all about money and control."

Lowdog,

You said it. It doesn't matter if it's not a controlled substance, it's a drug and drugs are bad, mmmkay.

[Rich Ard]

[Thanks to Jack Farrar for the link.]

Were you going to pass that joint - um, I mean link - along?

[zero]

Here it is.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4242013,00.html

[jeffiek]

From the article:
Isaac pleaded guilty last year to possession of Buspirone, which she had obtained through a prescription.

Is the whole justice system brain dead or have doctors started prescribing illegal drugs?

[mediageek]

In a fair world, the judge, cops, and every governmental official even tangentially related to this travesty would all be sued into indentured servitude.

[Galius_Persnickety]

Nice to know the Drug War is progressing nicely.

[quasibill]

While I heartily agree that the whole idea of "legal" drugs vs "illegal" drugs is ridiculous, and that cops and prosecutors generally earn the moniker jack-booted thugs -

this case falls squarely on the defense attorney. What the *&%$ was he/she smoking? You didn't even read the statute that your client was charged with violating? You didn't check whether she had a prescription?

I'll bet the defense attorney can't be sued for malpractice, either.

[Jacob Sullum]

I've added the link. Sorry about that.

[ig]

Amen with a bullet Quasi!! They must be scraping the outside of the bottom of the barrel for defense attorneys out there. I assume this was a court appointed job, I hope! If so maybe they have prosecutorial aspirations... Else, WTF!!!

Ig

[saw-whet]

New drug warrior code of ethics:

...and then let God sort 'em out.

[Kevin Carson]

At least there was some objective standard, even if it was ignored. In most areas of the drug war, it's entirely the cops' judgment call. For example, "drug papahernalia": a bong or crack pipe is distinguished entirely by cosmetic features, same as an "assault weapon." Another example: please point me to a law defining exactly how large a sum of cash it's illegal to carry. No? So it's up to the cop to decide whether you're carrying enough money for him to rob (yes, ROB!) you as a "suspected drug dealer," without your ever having to be criminally charged.

[ig]

No doubt Kevin, forfeiture (sp?) laws drive a lot of questionable "drug arrests"... I'm surprised at the absence of publicized challenges to them. They are at the top of my list of percieved systemic threats to individual liberty right next to p2p E-D abuse.

[vabs]

jeffiek and quasi,

Sounds like everyone involved was brain dead, or living in an alternate reality. I'm trying really hard to imagine how this woman never piped up and said "But I have a prescription!"

That said, it's true that the the defense attorney is guilty of serious malpractice. If I were s/he, I'd have to find a new career because I could never open my mouth in a courtroom again.

mediageek,

"In a fair world, the judge, cops, and every governmental official even tangentially related to this travesty would all be sued into indentured servitude."

Hell yeah.

My brain still hasn't fully absorbed that the story is real.

[jeffiek]

forfeiture (sp?) laws drive a lot of questionable "drug arrests"... I'm surprised at the absence of publicized challenges

Why? Did you think the cops would steal from someone who could stand up to them?

[kmw]

There are so many things about this case that are baffling.

(1) How did the cops come to be the arbiters of whether someone should or shouldn't have a validly prescribed substance? What do cops there consider valid proof that you may legally posses a substance? Even if it was a controlled substance, a valid prescription is a valid prescription. Isn't it true that controlled substances can be prescribed by a doctor? Some people want to debate the merits of that, but take it up with the doctor, not the patient.

(2) Why was the public defender such a dumbass?

(3) Why was district attorney such a dumbass?

This is really just a head scratcher. Is the one of those struck by lightning type things?

[Isaac Bartram]

Just when I'm thinking things aren't really that bad, a story like this comes along to remind me how bad things really are.

[poco]

So she had a script for a Schedule V (!) drug, was wrongly jailed, and THEN shared an Rx'd benzo (Schedule IV) with another inmate on work release? Duh...

Perhaps Szasz's worldview is entirely correct and demonstrandum by: "She was ordered to serve probation and receive intensive mental health treatment for passing her medication on to the fellow inmate." (emph. mine)

[poco]

PS. But: at least she was still allowed the Klonopin after her arrest.

[SR]

Apparently this news was so bad Warren started drinking before he even got to the "Post a comment" section to mention that he needed a drink.

[kmw]

And apparently Trey Parker isn't very far off in his portrayal of the rocky mountain men in blue.

[Adam]

Tangentially related, equally horrendous: 16 year old Missouri student Nicole James of Raymore, MO is not on drugs. How do we know? She went to the school nurse to report that she had cramps. Police were summoned to give her a field sobriety test (of course). She did not pass "with flying colors," and police gave her parents two choices: they would haul her in to jail, or they could give her a drug test.

Oh, and those cramps? She had her period, but didn't want to tell the school nurse about it. Or the police. Or all of Kansas City. However...

Read all about it at the Dare Generation Diary or Kansas City's

[kmw]

Adam,

I see what you're saying, and that's a nasty story... But public school prison wardens are easier to deal with -- just opt for private school.

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as choice in who polices your neighborhood. (Well, other than moving to a different city, but that's a big roll of the dice. Your new city might be worse.)

[Larry A]

"If you haven't done anything wrong, what are you worried about?"

[ig]

jeffieck, Of course they wouldn't intentionally, but as much money as legitimate(?) drug cartels actually have, I would expect at least one or two to have a high roller lawyer prop up a siezure case solely for the purpose of challenging it later. Or, in the more likely case of the Joe Schmuck who gets the financial equivalent of the rectal police baton probe, finding someone at the ACLU or IJ or similar groups to challenge the law pro bono. Ultimately that is my primary beef with the ACLU. They leap at the opportunity to argue the God vs the Girl Scouts or Pledge of Allegience type cases that while annoying to some are really pretty benign in the scope of their potential harm to individual liberty, but seemingly give the pass to real intrusions like these. Sorry for ranting, but geeeeez!

[Ruthless]

The War on Drugs is like the US's war on countries with WMD.
You can't figure that out either without a schedule.

[Mr. F. Le Mur]

"In work release, she was receiving another prescription drug, Clonazepam, which is a controlled substance. Another inmate talked her into sharing a tablet.
...
She was ordered to serve probation and receive intensive mental health treatment for passing her medication on to the fellow inmate."

IOW, she did exactly the same thing that They did: distribute Clonazepam.

I think the wrong people are being sentenced to "mental health treatment" in this case.

[thoreau]

"If you haven't done anything wrong, what are you worried about?"

Exactly, Larry A.

Anybody feel like telling me that we can trust them to only incarcerate guilty people, so trials aren't necessary?