(Drug War Chronicle) Medical marijuana patient Will Foster is en route to prison in Oklahoma after being picked up Friday by Oklahoma law enforcement officials. He had been held at the Sonoma County Jail in Santa Rosa, California, for the past 15 months as he fought bogus marijuana cultivation charges there–he was a registered patient with a legal grow–and, after the California charges were dropped, on a parole violation warrant from the Sooner State.
Foster had been arrested and convicted of growing marijuana in Oklahoma and sentenced to 93 years in prison in the 1990s. After that draconian sentence focused national attention on his case, he was eventually resentenced to 20 years in prison. He later won parole and moved to California, where he served three years on parole and was discharged from parole by California authorities.
That wasn’t good enough for vindictive Oklahoma authorities, who wanted to squeeze more years out of Foster. He refused to sign Oklahoma paperwork requiring him to return there to serve out the remainder of his sentence. He also refused to sign paperback that extended his original service. Oklahoma authorities issued a parole violation warrant, and the governors of both states signed it.
Foster had sought to block extradition by filing a writ of habeas corpus–he had won a similar writ against Oklahoma earlier–but that effort failed on Friday, and Oklahoma authorities were there to whisk him away. Foster is scheduled to be held at the Tulsa County Jail before being assigned to a prison in the Oklahoma gulag.
Drug War Chronicle has an excellent recap of the Foster case if you’re interested. This basically comes down to Oklahoma pursuing Foster out of spite. Foster beat Oklahoma on the original 93 year prison sentence, then beat them when the Oklahoma Supreme Court reduced the sentence to twenty years. He beat Oklahoma when his twenty years were converted to probation and he beat them when he was able to be paroled in California. He beat them once again when California wouldn’t hold him on parole for longer than three years and again as he filed a writ of habeas corpus to beat back extradition to Oklahoma the first time.
Oklahoma is upset that at every turn, they have been unable to punish Will Foster to the extent they find just but everyone else finds cruel and unusual. Will Foster will now be returned to Oklahoma to spend years in a prison, all for the “crime” of growing a 5′x5′ tract of marijuana to use medicinally to treat his degenerative arthritis. Rather than live peacefully with his new family using marijuana to safely treat his ailment under California’s Prop 215, Will Foster gets to live in a cage suffering from his ailment and from the harsh side effects of the legal pharmaceuticals they will give him instead.
This is why I wake up every day dedicated to end adult marijuana prohibition. This barbarism and cruelty must stop!
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Will Foster is a criminal! Mostly for endangering children. During his arrest, his a women and her 4yr old daughter where also arrested. That little girl had to go to CPS thanks to YOU Will Foster and your poor lack of judgement. You were caught while manicuring over 7 lbs of processed and packaged pot. Along with over 1500 plants at 2 locations…. Get a grip on reality, keep the kids out of it you loser.
Very well said. I’ll find out who these people are.
This has unfortunately gone beyond ANY form of justice and into the realm of personal vendetta perportrated by these officials and officers in Oklahoma against Mr.Foster. As a native-born Californian and former resident of Sonoma County, I can say that not only I am appalled by our Governor’s idiotic signing of the ‘supposed’ parole violation, (well Arnie is just an idiot anyway you cut it), but also the judge sending Mr.Foster back to serve even MORE time? This is outrageous! If he is a resident now of Calif. and has served the terms of his previous sentences, abet reduced, then SKREW these OKLAHOMA legal extortionists. Everyone wants to know how you are gonna pay for Heath Care Reform? This is a prime example of how our system is wasting money that could pay for it. Everyone please write the Governors and Legislators telling them they will NOT have a seat in the next election unless they get on board with the ‘will of the people’ by repealing marijuana prohibition, reforming the corrupted prison industrial complex and FREEING Will Foster!
It’s a scary world where the Terminator signs you over to 1937 Oklahoman “authorities”. They’re authorities on lining their prison complex pockets, that’s for sure.
There is a disconnect when you say “Oklahoma” is upset and “Oaklahoma” wants to punish him.
There is a real life person, with an axe to grind, here. He is a prosecutor. Who is he?
How many tax dollars has he stolen from the people of Oaklahoma to fund his insane crusade against Will.
Is there really so little goin on in OK. that prosecuting Will is the best use of their money?
I think we are getting closer to ending this illegal war – hopefiully in time to get war crime charges going against the justice dept. officials and the OK prosecutor(s).
I’ve been listening to the eric sterling/seattle hempfest debate/controversy elsewhere and learned a lot including his belief that he too believes that war crimes and perjuries are routinely committed and prosecutions for war crimes may take place in the future? HE certainly makes a good case… too bad it took him so long to figure it out…. something civil libertarians instinctively known. WTF were they thinking?
Might be a way to appease the prison industry…. swap-out the prohibitionists punishers & profiteers for those being unlawfully detained? They won’t skip a beat… probably have to built new prisons and hire new guards… could be the next bubble to fix the economy. Just need to pass “The Perjurors & Punishers Incarcarations Act of 2010″ which will usher in “The Age of Legality”!
Truth is treason in the kingdom of lies!