Image courtesy of Cannabis Culture. To see the article, "Rastafari: The Secret History of the Marijuana Religion," click here.
(Rev. Nancy Harris, a Rastafarian minister, is charged with promotion of a detrimental drug, namely marijuana, and two counts of paraphernalia. She is to have a hearing in Third Circuit Court Tuesday. Email letters to newswoman@mac.com.)
Aloha,
It has been a long endeavor. We filed a “Motion to Dismiss Based on Violation of Constitutional Rights.” This motion, technically pre-trial, has taken quite a bit of time and dedication. We’ve put in long hours. We’ve cited the United States Constitution and the Hawaii State Constitution. We interviewed and presented witnesses. We looked up case law and quoted it, we consulted with the foremost legal minds in the country and developed cutting-edge Constitutional arguments. I entered into the docket my Declaration of Religious Use, with a multitude of exhibits. My attorney, Gary Zamber, made and filed with the court his own Declaration about my religion and religious use. When the judge asked about Kimmel, we briefed the court on Kimmel and the differences between the Kimmel case and this one. We generated mountains of documents. (If only they could have been printed on hemp!)The prosecutor has been zealous, a real character from a horror movie. He is big and oafish, he looms over me in a frightening manner as he attacks, which he did over and over, sucessfully intimidating me on the witness stand. He did scare me, but he did not cause me to lose faith. I’m sure I may have appeared afraid, but I’m also certain I did not look like a criminal. He wrote the same way in his briefs. Bullying. Accusatory. Lying. He called me a hypocrite and said that neither I nor my cronies (that means other clergy members, I suppose) were to be believed. He lied about the testimony. He even lied about the law. We caught him lying, over and over, and pointed it out to the judge in our last brief.
We sucessfully framed the question: Is there a compelling governmental interest sufficient to burden our sincere religious practice, and if there is such an interest, is this the least restrictive means of serving it?
Now the question has been put to Judge Glenn Hara. Tuesday is the day where we hear the decision on this Constitutional part of the case. I am satisfied that we have presented a thorough case. The real question now is the test of the Judge himself. Will the Honarable Judge Hara in fact BE honorable, and uphold the Constitutional rights of a citizen to practice her religion?
Please everyone, if prayer is consistent with your beliefs, and in your spiritual tradition, pray for Judge Hara, pray for him to be guided by Truth and Light. Positive thoughts are also truly welcome.
Court is at 9:00 on Tuesday. If you would concentrate prayers/positive thoughts in our direction before and during that time, that would be spectacular.
This has the potential to be a “Historical Moment.” If you can join us in the courtroom, please do. We will have a prayer circle right outside the courtroom at about 8:50.
One Louve,
Nancy
November 20th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
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