By Steve Kubby
ShadowCabinet.US
Phillip Garrido has been charged with kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991, when she was 11, and raping her over the course of years. Dugard was kept hidden for 18 years in a backyard compound, despite a 2006 call a neighbor made to 911, reporting that women and children were living in tents behind Garrido’s house.
Since Garrido has blamed his history of rape and kidnapping on his use of marijuana and LSD, it has been suggested by some activists that the Garrido case will be used as a “Willie Horton” style attack on this year’s crop of voter initiatives to legalize the possession, use and cultivation of marijuana. However, it would seem that this case shows just the opposite and is actually a classic example of how the war against pot diverts police from fighting real crime.
Garrido was registered as a sex offender, regularly visited by parole officers and fitted with an ankle bracelet to track his movements, yet Placerville law enforcement refused to follow up on complaints by neighbors about children living in his backyard.
The shocking truth is that Garrido was only able to abduct his victim, because he had convinced a judge to reduce his sentence, by claiming it was really marijuana and LSD that made him do bad things. Court documents show Garrido requested that his 50-year sentence be reduced to 25, making him eligible for parole in eight years and the judge agreed. However, once he arrive in Nevada, Garrido was automatically eligible for state parole because of the time served in federal prison. Garrido celebrated his freedom by abducting Jaycee Lee Dugard, as she waited for her school bus to arrive and while her horrified father watch helplessly from a distance.
Meanwhile, Placer County conducted a full SWAT raid on my home and family with 20 heavily armed agents, based upon an anonymous letter alleging I was growing cannabis, when they knew I was a legal patient. Placer County didn’t hesitate to commit 20 officers to raid my home — threatening the lives of innocent children, for the crime of growing plants. After being arrested and nearly killed while in custody, I was charged with 19 felonies and threatened with 40 years to life. Only after raising and spending $500,000 and fighting in courts for a decade, was I able to get everything dismissed.
Contrast the SWAT raid by Placer County against me and my family — for growing a healing herb, in accordance with state law — with Placerville responding to a 911 call, by a concerned neighbor, about a sex offender having children living in his backyard, with the Sheriff’s department sending one officer to talk with Garrido, outside his home.
What if police could no longer raid suspected cannabis gardeners, because of re-legalization and they were actually forced to investigate real crimes instead? What if all those officers who are ready to organize a mass SWAT raid on medical marijuana patients were forced to deal with stuff like kidnapping, sex offenders, or even something as mundane as auto theft?
Police say legalizing marijuana would endanger the public safety, but the facts suggest just the opposite. All that anyone can say for sure is that so long as marijuana remains illegal, the Phillip Garridos of this world will be free to abduct and rape all the little girls they desire.
25 responses so far ↓
1 MarijuanaLobby // Sep 21, 2009 at 11:06 am
What your community and State could save on taxing Marijuana, and how much we spend on the War on Marijuana…
MarijuanaLobby.org
Change we can engage in…
2 libertariangirl // Sep 21, 2009 at 11:52 am
Not to mention if prisons werent so full from non-violent drug arrests , real criminals wouldnt get an auto kick out due to overcrowding. Like the killer of Polly Klaas who also should have never bee out.
3 Louis E. // Sep 21, 2009 at 12:55 pm
It was a marijuana-possession parole violation that briefly re-jailed Garrido in 1993.Jaycee’s ordeal would have been cut by 88% if Garrido’s wife had had the decency to let her go then.
4 Steve Kubby // Sep 21, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Good points, libertariangirl.
5 Robert Milnes // Sep 21, 2009 at 1:10 pm
“All that anyone can say for sure is that so long as marijuana remains illegal, the Phillip Garridos of this world will be free to abduct and rape all the little girls they desire.” That doesn’t quite sound right. You had a pretty good argument until that last line, Steve. Now all of a sudden I desire to look back at the article & see what other faulty conclusions might be in there. So, if/when marijuana is legalized ALL the kidnappers & rapists will no longer be free? I don’t think so. You didn’t need that last sentence to make your point. You ruined it.
6 Ken Driessen // Sep 21, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I met Steve in Canada when I too was a refugee from the US drug war, was eventually sent back to California spending a month on the chain from jail house to jail house then when I returned to Red Bluff California, my felony charges were lowered to Misdemeanor and time served. Now I’m facing a 3 year max and felony in Wisconsin for second possession offense of .36 grams. I think the point Steve is trying to make is violent and property damage crimes are crimes whether or not the person used drugs or not and the vast majority of marijuana users are respectful good people who do not deserve to be hassled and jailed by an out of control police state. While I appreciate the creative criticism offered by Robert. I think Steve is correct in his last sentence. With the prevalence of the use of a natural herb criminalized for irrational sadisitic reasons I am all but certain that a good person or two who choose to use marijuana and lived near this narcissistic rapist pig Garrido would have come forth to report him if they were not afraid of being criminalized for using marijuana. I my self have such distrust and ill feelings for police officers it would be hard for me to report a violent or property damage crime to criminals with badges, although I probably would risk it because I consider myself a compassionate honest loving person in spite of smoking marijuana for over 37 years. Thank you for all you have done toward a peaceful naturopathic movement of humanity Mr. Steve Kubby.
7 Robert Milnes // Sep 21, 2009 at 3:45 pm
There is no direct evidence that Garrido’s neighbors did not report him due to fear of police due to personal marijuanna use even including growing it in yards. Steve is parlaying popularity from medical marijuana advocacy into political power & further portraying the legalization as a general panacea. I knew some teenagers that used marijuana quite routinely & were often unemployed & petty criminals. I don’t exaggerate that into marijuanna use makes one a lazy criminal.
8 Jill Stone Pyeatt // Sep 21, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Steve, this is an excellent article and I wish more than just Libertarians would read it.
9 Angie // Sep 21, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Since when is intoxication rationality for committing a crime? As far as I know, being under the influence of alcohol, or cold medicine, is not a defense for violent I concur with Robert that the last line is inflammatory at best, and while it attempts to tug at the heartstrings, as a staunch anti-prohibitionist myself, I found it to be reaching & near the level of scare tactics usually seen from the sadomoralists in the prohibitionist camp.
I am a victim of childhood sexual abuse, and while I was not raped or kidnapped, I know what it’s like to be a child, and to have an adult take advantage of me for their own pleasures. To think that the actions that man took with me & his other victims could be seen as the same as an adult who chooses to ingest marijuana seriously disgusts & enrages me. Marijuana is not illegal because it’s evil, it’s illegal for a multitude of complex reasons which have very little to do with protecting the public good. As long as we equate crimes which harm others with the action of taking drugs, we are encouraging crime & disrespect for the rule of law… even the ones which serve to protect.
The main point I felt Steve was trying to make:” Resources currently devoted to enforcing our pot prohibition laws could be used to fight crimes which are far more harmful to our communities and society.”
Still rings true for me, but I do think that his attempt to summarize that point at the end of his article was less than helpful for the movement which seeks to RE-Legalize cannabis.
Overall, great article, but I do have to concur that the last line oversimplifies a very complex justice system conundrum.
10 libertariangirl // Sep 21, 2009 at 4:38 pm
thanx Steve , its an argument I use often.
I wonder if there’s a list somewhere that shows stats of violent criminals released due to overcrowding that reoffend vs number of non violent marijuana incarcerations from the same time period.
11 paulie // Sep 21, 2009 at 6:31 pm
http://digg.com/political_opinion/Steve_Kubby_How_the_War_on_Pot_Protects_Rapists_and_Kidnapp/who
12 RobZon69 // Sep 21, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Great Story Steve. Robert’s non-sequitur logic in trying to dismiss your reality based logic is a big miss. Steve did Not say ALL the kidnappers and rapists will be free”…he spoke of a particular case, in which the police were called out, with what many of us consider a heinous law breaker having little girls in his backyard, and the understaffed (the excuse they use, though they were not so in Steve’s case) police did not spend any resources to properly investigate, allowing this poor young girl to continue to be violated while this man who should be put to death, imo, remained free. Also, he used the pot as an excuse that got him out early. Not ALL, just him and others like him…I’ll bet Robert dollars to donuts there are hundreds of other stories just like this pig’s out there…THAT was THE point Robert…and a valid one…yes, he could have made more points about the prisons are now over 50%
13 KC Dude // Sep 21, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Bob, what? Do you have an English teacher’s stick up your backside. Steve wrote an excellent, original article with a creatively unique perspective. Are you trying to shoot the legalization movement in the foot with your petty critique of writing style?
Jill, I’ve never heard of this blog before. I simply get Google alerts on “pot legalization”. It’s great, try it. Three or four articles from all across the country every day.
14 RobZon69 // Sep 21, 2009 at 9:50 pm
(cont’d) non-violent marijuana users, which could be taken up by real criminals. Rapists get out easier than marijuana “traffickers”? This is not the United States made up by, of, and for We, The People. Socialism has taken over, and all the sheep stand idly by while every last right you have is stripped away. As a natural healer, I want the right to use EVERY beneficial natural healing substance, and this is one a former DEA Head called “one of the most beneficial substances in our pharmacopiea”. So Robert, you go ahead and keep going to your doctor and taking pills and getting diseased and more obese. I choose to take charge of my own health, I eat to live, not live to eat, and I use Medical Cannabis for Chronic Severe spasms and Chronic Severe Pain in place of potentially deadly narcotic pain killers and anti spasmodics. Wake up to reality, sheep of America, before there is NO MORE AMERICA to wake up to!
15 Robert Milnes // Sep 21, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Old McKubby had a farm, E-I-E-I-O. And on this farm he had some pot. E-I-E-I-O. Here a pot, there a pot. Everywhere a pot pot. E-I-E-I-O.
16 Big Tent Bozo // Sep 21, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Damn, that was corny.
17 argonot // Sep 23, 2009 at 8:45 am
We have to some how get this info out there to the people so they know whats going on, if we don’t things like this are going to keep happening, its injustice, the only justice seems to be for the criminals, and medical marijuana or just marijuana nsmokers in general are not criminals!
18 eric laughlin // Sep 24, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Uh … Mr. Kubby, I don’t think Garrido’s back yard was in Placerville. It was Antioch, wasn’t it?
19 Steve Kubby // Sep 24, 2009 at 7:20 pm
No, it was definitely Placerville.
20 Michael H. Wilson // Sep 24, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Great article Steve.
MW
21 Michael H. Wilson // Sep 24, 2009 at 11:10 pm
From another list:
“SF Weekly ?Rural sheriff’s departments in California may have to find a new pastime toreplace bullying medical marijuana growers. In a major victory for potadvocates, the California Supreme Court — right around harvest time! — hasrefused to review a landmark appellate court ruling protecting the right ofmedical marijuana patients and their caregivers to collectively grow weed. The 2-1 ruling by California’s Third Appellate District Court also affirmedpatients’ ability to take civil action when their right to collectivelycultivate marijuana is violated by law enforcement. The case, County ofButte v. Superior Court, involved a private seven-patient medical marijuanacollective in Paradise, California (oh! the delicious irony — props to Godor whomever is responsible). Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a nationwide medical marijuana advocacygroup, filed a May 2006 lawsuit on behalf David Williams, 56, and half adozen other collective members after the Butte County Sheriff’s Departmentconducted a warrantless search of Williams’ home in 2005. The officersforced Williams to uproot more than two dozen plants, threatening him witharrest and prosecution if he didn’t comply. Williams was incorrectly told by Deputy Jacob Hancock that his collectivelycultivated marijuana was illegal. California state law, in fact, does allowfor collective cultivation. Butte County Sheriff/Coroner Perry Reniff and his department were attemptingto impose a de facto ban on medical marijuana patient collectives, accordingto ASA. ?”By refusing to review this case, the California Supreme Court sends astrong message that local law enforcement must uphold the medical marijuanalaws of the state and not competing federal laws,” said Joe Elford, ASAchief counsel, who litigated the case for Williams. According to the July2009 appellate court ruling, the “deputy was acting under color ofCalifornia law, not federal law. Accordingly, the propriety of his conductis measured by California law.” The court went further, stating that to deny medical marijuana patientsprotection from warrantless intrusions and seizures by law enforcement”would surely shock the sensibilities of the voters who approved[Proposition 215].” The landmark decision said that the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 is notsimply an affirmative defense to criminal sanctions, holding that itconsisted of “…an opportunity for an individual to request the sameconstitutional guarantee of due process available to all individuals, nomatter what their status, under state state Constitution. The fact that thiscase involves medical marijuana and a qualified medial marijuana patientdoes not change these fundamental constitutional rights or an individual’sright to assert them.” The appellate court ruling upheld Butte County Superior Court Judge BarbaraRoberts’ ruling from September 2007, in which she stated that seriously illpatients cultivating marijuana collectively “should not be required to riskcriminal penalties and the stress and expense of a criminal trial in orderto assert their rights. Roberts’ ruling also rejected Butte County’s policyof requiring all members to physically participate in the cultivation,thereby allowing collective members to “contribute financially” rather thanwith sweat equity. The Butte County Sheriff’s Department was already known for its zealousanti-marijuana enforcement. The first medical marijuana supplier in thestate to be prosecuted in federal court after the passage of Proposition 215was originally arrested by Butte County officers. Chico resident Bryan Episreceived a 10-year sentence in federal court in 2002 for medical marijuanacultivation after Butte County officers raided his home in 1997 and seized458 plants. Observers of the medical marijuana scene say the court decision could haverepercussions statewide in other (predominantly rural) counties withpot-phobic local law enforcement. Elford said he has received hundreds ofcomplaints from medical marijuana patients about local anti-pot cops seizingtheir drugs on the logic that “we’ll take it from you and let the courtssort it out.” Repeated reports of problematic behavior by Butte County law enforcement, aswell as other police agencies throughout the state, resulted in the filingof the Williams lawsuit, according to ASA. “After uncovering Butte County’s de facto ban on medical marijuana patientcollectives, ASA decided to pursue the case to show that collectives andcooperatives are protected under state law,” said ASA media liaison KrisHermes. “In addition to protecting patients’ rights to collectively cultivate, theCourt has reaffirmed that medical marijuana patients enjoy the sameconstitutional rights as everyone else,” said Elford, “including theability to file civil rights actions when those rights are violated.”
22 Robert Milnes // Sep 25, 2009 at 12:17 am
Phillip Garrido, 1554 Walnut St, Antioch. For satellite view see Google Maps.
23 Michael H. Wilson // Sep 25, 2009 at 1:13 am
Robert my street address is in one city. Problem is I don’t live there.
24 Historicus // Sep 28, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Is there anything we can do to free Marc Emery?
http://tinyurl.com/FreeMarcEmery
25 Historicus // Jan 21, 2010 at 8:30 pm
Seriously, Steve. Is there anything we can do to help Marc Emery? I remember that you risked your freedom and health for this issue, and I personally went to bat for you with scores of faxes, emails and phone calls. My friends online and off thought I’d harmed your case, but you called me personally the next day and told me that it worked.
How about filing amicus briefs in his case, or even doing as I did for you and exposing to the press that evidence is being covered up in Marc Emery’s case with several dozen targeted faxes?
Anyway, I’ve submitted my email address with this post, contact me if you can think of something I can do to help.
Peace.
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