Posted on 05/24/2019 4:56:32 PM PDT by Twotone
Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts and the Idaho State Police, collectively referred hereinafter as the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, continue to defend the arrest and prosecution of truck drivers who were innocently transporting non-narcotic hemp through the state.
Bennetts and the ISP keep up the persecution despite an onslaught of criticism, public outcry, and a rare appeal by the public and legislators to drop the charges.
“Those of us who enforce Idaho’s laws are bound by the laws which currently exist, not those which may exist at some future date,” the Ministry of Vice and Virtue said in a news release.
The statement came a day after three courageous lawmakers, Reps. Dorothy Moon, R-Stanley; Ilana Rubel, D-Boise; and Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, delivered more than 13,000 petition signatures to the Ada County prosecutor’s office calling for the dismissal of the charges against the accused truckers, Andrew D’Addario, Erich Eisenhart, and Denis Palamarchuk. Kudos and heartfelt gratitude to the trio of lawmakers for going the extra mile and for being the only grownups in the room when it comes to the pursuit of justice.
Rubel noted that there’s no defensible reason for Idaho to confiscate their truck, the hemp, or to pursue felony drug trafficking charges against the young men who, by all accounts and records, are law-abiding citizens and productive members of society.
“It is entirely within the prosecutors’ power to not bring charges,” Rubel said during a press conference on the steps of the Ada County Courthouse. “They have every freedom in the world to make this case go away today.”
True enough, there’s a thing called “prosecutorial discretion” wherein the government can choose to dismiss or simply not pursue a case due to any number of circumstances.
(Excerpt) Read more at idahofreedom.org ...
What are they gonna smoke the hemp...?
The law is an ass, and so are the prosecutors...
Pennies From Heaven syndrome.
Rigs aren’t cheap and bring a pretty penny at auction. Not what they’re worth but who cares about that?
Not to mention the fines against the drivers and their losing their ability to get a driving job with that felony on their records.
“...Those of us who enforce Idaho’s laws are bound by the laws which currently exist, not those which may exist at some future date,..”
So what are you going to do when the law says to seize all semi-automatic firearms and kill all those who resist?
Stupid law. Stupider enforcers. If they really wanna be hard about “we gotta enforce our laws” they still have plenty of discretion to plea these cases down to traffic misdemeanors. Save the state the risk of a potentially embarrassing and costly loss at trial, and save the truck drivers a boatload in legal fees. Prosecutors do it all the time with all kinds of cases. Why not here?
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