Independent
Standing for the Average American
Robert Underwood For State Representative
Ninth Hampden District 2012
Ninth Hampden District 2012
Robert Underwood
83 Cherrelyn St.
Springfield, MA 01104
83 Cherrelyn St.
Springfield, MA 01104
The Failure of the War on Drugs
The Problem:
The war on drugs has failed to stem the flow of drugs. Making it illegal has merely increased the value of the drugs. In the case of marijuana it is a weed which commonly grows in some areas. It also has some useful purposes, such as cloth, rope, and alleviating pain for some illnesses.
The federal government as well as the legislature as made special grants available to cities for the enforcement of anti-drug and anti-marijuana laws. There are no grants for the apprehension of burglars, car thieves, murders or rapists.
The drug cases are also clogging up the courts and the jails in spaces needed for serious repeat offenders.
The federal government as well as the legislature as made special grants available to cities for the enforcement of anti-
The drug cases are also clogging up the courts and the jails in spaces needed for serious repeat offenders.
Class Warfare
Did someone mention class warfare? Property owed by relatively small people are being targeted. Property which is owned by banks is not being confiscated. Could this be because my opponents are receiving donations from people in the finance industry?
At this time a motel owner is having his modest motel confiscated because since 1995 there have been 30 arrests for dugs at his motel, according to the police who stand to gain money be making the figures look high.
If drug deals are in large hotels owned by powerful companies they would be able to fight back easier. So, simply do not look in their motel. Predators always look for an easy victim
At this time a motel owner is having his modest motel confiscated because since 1995 there have been 30 arrests for dugs at his motel, according to the police who stand to gain money be making the figures look high.
If drug deals are in large hotels owned by powerful companies they would be able to fight back easier. So, simply do not look in their motel. Predators always look for an easy victim
Drug Forfeiture - Policing for Profit
To help “alleviate the cost to the tax payers forfeiture laws have been passed where property can be declared to have been used in the drug trade and confiscated. Once again, if thieves and murderers are apprehended no one gets money, other than for the time they spend on the case.
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Police arrest someone for using marijuana
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Police petition the court to seize the property, though the people arrested may not own the property
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The court seizes the property which is then sold
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Someone buys the property the money goes to the police budget, it is used to fund jails, courts, etc. In effect the money is used to fund patronage jobs.
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Back to the Old Ways of Corruption
Colonial Massachusetts already had such a system where the criminals would lose their property. Those convicted of witch craft lost their property. Even if they were not convicted they had to pay the constable for their upkeep in Salem Dungeon. The cops were in the kidnapping and confiscation business. My Republicrat opponents like this corrupt system.
Crime at the State Crime Lab
Presently the state is in the middle of a scandal in which tests were altered. The technician in question was performing 150 tests a month when most people were performing 50 tests a month. Was there corruption? Or is the leadership rally that stupid? Are the legislators who voted to fund it corrupt? Or are they really that incompetent? According to the media this has gone on for years. This helped to drive up the conviction rate.
The District attorneys liked it. It made it look like the war on drugs was successful People were jailed so that some corrupt politician could look good at election time. Is this the type of corrupt government that we want?
Of course the prosecutors and the judges will deny all knowledge of what happened and blame the lab technician.
Those innocently jailed and the tax payers will pay for it. People went to jail. They did not get jobs because they had a drug conviction. Their reputations were ruined. I presume that many will file suit for damages against the state, and rightfully so. The worse that will happen to the prosecutors and judges is that they will go into private practice and bill their clients for $300 plus per hour.
The District attorneys liked it. It made it look like the war on drugs was successful People were jailed so that some corrupt politician could look good at election time. Is this the type of corrupt government that we want?
Of course the prosecutors and the judges will deny all knowledge of what happened and blame the lab technician.
Those innocently jailed and the tax payers will pay for it. People went to jail. They did not get jobs because they had a drug conviction. Their reputations were ruined. I presume that many will file suit for damages against the state, and rightfully so. The worse that will happen to the prosecutors and judges is that they will go into private practice and bill their clients for $300 plus per hour.
Solutions of Robert Underwood
The federal government is involved in drug forfeiture procedures, so what a State Representative can do is limited. But a State Representative Underwood would have a louder voice than a plain citizen Underwood. The forfeiture laws have been abused by State, City, and National government. They should be abolished. The process gives the government an economic incentive to lie. Vested interests have an incentive to lie to help enrich their friends. Someone ends up with the confiscated property.
But the state government can control what their state and local officials do. We can demand that they enforce laws without regard to a persons wealth. I would attempt to pass a law whereby any law enforcement officer, Police, District Attorney’s. Etc. Who is targeting small businesses or working class people’s property and avoiding property owned by banks and large companies be removed from office. If they did it deliberately they would go to jail for 10 years.
Since it would now be risky to conspire to illegally confiscate property they would have to take property owned by banks. They would probably not do that. It may sound harsh, but so is taking someone’s modest motel that he has worked in all his life.
Those involved in the crime lab scandal should be punished more, not only the lab technician. The judges and prosecutors are getting off to light simply by not saying what they knew, or be deliberately being ignorant of what happened. We have the right to expect more than irnorance from people who are getting $100,000 a year and have spent 6 years in college. Legally all we can do now is disbar people and impeach judges. But it should be done.
We also need to raise the standards for public officials. They should not be allowed to live off the tax payers by being ignorant.
But the state government can control what their state and local officials do. We can demand that they enforce laws without regard to a persons wealth. I would attempt to pass a law whereby any law enforcement officer, Police, District Attorney’s. Etc. Who is targeting small businesses or working class people’s property and avoiding property owned by banks and large companies be removed from office. If they did it deliberately they would go to jail for 10 years.
Since it would now be risky to conspire to illegally confiscate property they would have to take property owned by banks. They would probably not do that. It may sound harsh, but so is taking someone’s modest motel that he has worked in all his life.
Those involved in the crime lab scandal should be punished more, not only the lab technician. The judges and prosecutors are getting off to light simply by not saying what they knew, or be deliberately being ignorant of what happened. We have the right to expect more than irnorance from people who are getting $100,000 a year and have spent 6 years in college. Legally all we can do now is disbar people and impeach judges. But it should be done.
We also need to raise the standards for public officials. They should not be allowed to live off the tax payers by being ignorant.
Vote
for
Robert Underwood
For
State Representative
Ninth Hampden District
because I am the only on running that has the interests of working class America at heart
for
Robert Underwood
For
State Representative
Ninth Hampden District
because I am the only on running that has the interests of working class America at heart