. . . muttered the ogre

No surprise here: ‘Guru of Ganja’ Found Guilty of Federal Marijuana Charges. (Link from Rational Review.)

Deliberating for a day, the 12-member jury concluded that Rosenthal, the self-described “Guru of Ganja,” was growing more than 1,000 plants, conspiring to cultivate marijuana and maintaining a warehouse for a growing operation. He faces 10 years to life when sentenced June 4.
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Under strict orders from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, Rosenthal couldn’t tell the jury he was growing pot as “an officer” for Oakland’s medical marijuana program.
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“There is no such thing as medical marijuana,” said Richard Meyer, a DEA spokesman. “We’re Americans first, Californians second.”

That’s interesting epistemology.

Outside the courtroom, jury foreman Charles Sackett III said jurors suspected Rosenthal was growing medical marijuana, since a host of protesters outside the courthouse held constant demonstrations.

Sackett, however, said the jury followed federal law when it reached its “tough decision.”

“We had no legal wiggle room,” Sackett said. When asked if he hoped the verdicts would be overturned on appeal, Sackett replied: “Personally, yes, I do.”

Does anyone believe an appeal will get anywhere? Every Federal drug law obviously violates the Ninth and Tenth Amendments; but judges practically never enforce either of those quaint clauses. It’s high time for jurors to remember the Nuremberg Principle and resume enforcing the Bill of Rights on their own initiative.