Georgia attorney, Herb Shafer, 88, outraged by drug war

Attorney, Herb Shafer, 88, often outraged, outrageous | ajc.com
[Georgia Defense Attorney Herb Shafer, age 88,] recently was in Rockdale County working himself into a lather as he described a traffic stop that led to a drug bust, one of minuscule proportions. Police spent an hour searching (“ransacking!” he called it) a car, including a baby’s diaper. They found less than 0.01 of a gram of marijuana.

“What did they find? Close your eyes — that’s what they found. Nothing!” he shouted, rolling his thumb and forefinger into a zero for effect. “This seemingly trivial case implicates illegal police misconduct.”

Shafer’s client, Julian Smith, had $12,000 in cash, which was seized and later returned because federal authorities “gagged when they got this [forfeiture] case,” Shafer said. Smith is a music promoter and needs cash for shows, the attorney explained.

“Why is he here?” Shafer said, turning and asking his client to stand up. “That’s why he’s here,” indicating the man’s dreadlocks. Shafer claimed the stop was racial profiling, a charge the county denies.

“If my outrage is startling, I apologize,” he added. “But after 58 years of lawyering, I am outraged.”

 

“There’s no one who knows the Fourth Amendment better …,” said Atlanta lawyer Don Samuel, who in recent years worked cases with Shafer until they had a falling out. “He’s winning the hand-to-hand drug cases [small-time transactions] like no one else.”

“Herb is one of the most articulate defenders of the Constitution,” echoed defense lawyer Bruce Harvey. “He never lets anyone cross the line. He’s not afraid to call anyone out.”

He mostly works drug cases because those clients more often than not have money. “I do pro bono work, but I like to get paid,” he said.

 

Herb is just one of thousands of lawyers out there who are defending your Constitutional rights.  NORML Legal Committee features hundreds of these lawyers who specialize in handling marijuana cases.  Many people feel hesitant to defend their rights, especially when they are carrying their stash.  They feel guilty, knowing they are breaking the law, embarrassed that they got caught, and feeling like a criminal.  Police are well-trained to exploit those feelings and to leverage their institutional power to help you waive your rights and make their prosecutor’s job of putting you in jail easier.

Know your rights.  Say no to searches.  Keep your mouth shut.  Hire an attorney.  And remember, even cannabis consumers are considered innocent until proven guilty in this country