Homeless in Arizona

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When I wrote the initial RAD marijuana and all drugs initiative a few years back Travis Vandenbrul asked me to make it a crime for a cop to violate somebody marijuana rights when I wrote the RAD initiative a few years back?

While I didn't make it a crime I did make it a civil penalty that the cop could be sued for with this blurb:

Any government employee, agent, elected official, judge, police officer or prosecutor that arrests a person, passes a law or issues a ruling, guideline or edict that that interferes with a person's marijuana use shall be personally and civilly liable to each person for each incident for a minimum of $1 million in damages or 10 times the actual amount of damages whichever is greater. There shall be no immunity to a person who claims to be "acting in good faith" or for any other reason.

Remember it would have been impossible for Arizona cops to violate a person's "drug rights" so it didn't really bother me when Tom Dean got it removed from the Safer Arizona initiative.

You know because marijuana would have been legal in Arizona. And it would be impossible for an Arizona cop to violate a person's marijuana rights.

But even if the Safer Arizona initiative passed it would still be a FELONY under Federal law to commit a marijuana crime. Such as selling or growing marijuana in Arizona.

And I suspect that Tom Dean lobbied to get it removed from the Safer Arizona initiative. It would have made Federal cops, like the DEA thugs, liable for the $1 million civil penalty if they violated a person's marijuana rights by illegally searching them.

And thus it would have made Federal cops super careful when arresting people not to violate their rights with illegal searches.

Yea, as usual, Federal cops would not have been hit with criminal charges for violating a person's rights.

But if that blurb was in the Safer Arizona initiative, then a civil lawyer could sue the Federal cop in an Arizona court and get the $1 million from the cop for violating a person's marijuana rights.

And thus Federal cops would be super careful in Arizona when making marijuana arrests.

And I suspect that would have cut into Tom Dean's remaining legal business profits. I.e. people who hire him to defend themselves against Federal marijuana charges.

So I suspect Tom Dean lobbied to remove the blurb from the Safer Arizona initiative for that reason. It would cut into the number of Federal marijuana arrests. And thus cut into the profits of his law firm.