Peter
McWilliams
Update
--
Some
Supporting
Letters
Lost
in
Computer
Crash,
Requests
Resend
3/17/00
In our February 4th update, we printed a plea from author Peter McWilliams for supporting letters to send to the Judge who will be sentencing him. McWilliams has reported that some of the letters sent by e-mail were lost in a computer crash, and asks that supporters resend them. McWilliams writes: "If you received a LONG e-mail thank you from me, I have your e-mail. If you did NOT receive a LONG e-mail thank you from me, your e-mail went down with the Titanic, my name for the crash incident." And "I have all letters sent by fax and regular mail." If you believe your letter was among those that were lost, McWilliams requests: "If you have a stored copy of the e-mail letter you sent (usually in the SENT folder of your e-mail program), please forward it to me. If you did not include a complete mailing address (PO Box addresses are fine), please add it. If you do not have a copy of the e-mail you sent, a single sentence asking for 'home detention' is all that is necessary. Please begin the letters, 'Dear Judge King,' and kindly include the phrase 'You have my permission to reformat, modify, and sign this letter.'" We reprint Peter McWilliams original call for help, and ask your support for him. You can subscribe to McWilliams' e-mail distribution list by visiting http://www.mcwilliams.com and clicking on "Add Your Name to My E-mail List." 2-2-2000 Please help keep me out of federal prison by writing a letter to the judge My name is Peter McWilliams. I am a cancer survivor living with AIDS. I was arrested in July 1998 on federal medical marijuana charges, even though I live in California, a state that approved medical marijuana use in 1996. In November 1999, the federal prosecutors success fully obtained an order prohibiting me from mentioning to the jury that I have AIDS, that marijuana is medicine, that the federal government supplies eight patients with medical marijuana each month, or that California has a law permitting the very act that I was accused of violating. As I never denied my medical marijuana cultivation, that left me with no defense whatsoever. To avoid an almost certain guilty verdict and a ten-year mandatory-minimum sentence, I pled guilty to a lesser charge. (The whole story is at http://www.petertrial.com.) My sentencing for this charge will be on March 27, 2000. The deadline for turning in letters of support is February 20, 2000. Would you please take the time to send a letter, or a fax, or even an e-mail, to the judge on my behalf? It would make all the difference in my world. The letter need not be long or eloquent. One sentence is sufficient. The judge can sentence me to 0 to 5 years. The federal sentencing guidelines place my recommended (but not mandatory) sentence in the 5-year range. It is probably unavoidable that I get a sentenced to some time -- perhaps the full five years. What I am asking the judge -- and what I am asking you to ask the judge -- is that I be able to serve my sentence under "home detention," also known as "electronic monitoring." (An electronic transmitter would be permanently fastened to my ankle and my whereabouts would be monitored 24 hours a day. I would not be able to leave my home except for medical or court appointments. As I live in Los Angeles, this will allow me to write my books, including Galileo LA.) In writing the Judge King, please observe these commonsense guidelines: Please be respectful. The judge owes me, or you, nothing. You are asking for a favor. When Judge King was asked to allow me to use medical marijuana while out on bail, he said to the attorneys on both sides, in a voice trembling with compassion, "I am struggling mightily with this. Please, struggle with me." Alas, there was nothing in federal law that permitted him to allow me to break federal law, even to save my life, but I believed the sincerity of his struggle. Personally, I don't want judges rewriting law as they see fit. Judge King is a good judge upholding a bad law. My sentence, however, is at his discretion. I believe he will be fair, that he will read the letter you send, and he will be moved by your heartfelt request. I believe we owe courtesy to the King. Please focus on my health (http://www.petertrial.com/undetectable.htm) and my contributions to society (through my books -- http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/) as reasons why I should receive home detention or electronic monitoring (the term can be used interchangeably). The legal arguments will be made by my attorney. If you know me, please say so, and state any positive character traits you may have noticed wafting by from time to time. (This letter is not written under oath, so you will not be arrested for perjury.) If you have read any of my books, please say so. If they helped you, please say how. (Exception: Please do not mention "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do." See 5.) Please do not give your opinion of the War on Drugs (unless you're in favor of it), how the government treated me in this case (unless you approve), your views on medical marijuana (unless you're against it), or anything else critical of the status quo. Save those remarks, however well-reasoned and accurate, for letters-to-the-editor. Such comments may be counterproductive in a letter to a federal judge. If you can, please keep the letter to one page, and no longer than two. Actual letters (those things made popular in the last millennium, printed on paper, put into envelopes, and sent through the Post Office) are best. Typed is better, but handwritten is fine. Please use the most impressive letterhead to which you have legitimate access. (Your business stationery is better than your personal stationery, for example.) If you don't have stationery, you can create a letterhead on any word processor in about two minutes. Please address the letters to "The Honorable George H. King" and begin the letter "Dear Judge King,". Please mail the letters TO ME at: Peter McWilliams, 8165 Mannix Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90046. If you know you're probably not going to get around to writing a letter (and I know just how you feel -- I don't know where to find an envelope any more, much less a stamp -- please send a fax (signed, on letterhead, if possible, but if not, that's fine) to (323) 650-1541. If you think you might not get around to sending a fax, please send an e-mail. Please write at the bottom of the e-mail "You have my permission to reformat this letter, print it, and sign my name at the bottom." Your name will be signed for you, next to which will be the initials of the person signing it. Please include your complete mailing address. The e-mail address is [email protected]. Finally, please circulate this request as widely as you can -- post it on bulletin boards, send it to receptive people on your e-mail list, send it out in newsletters, put it on your web page. Kindly use your creativity, but, please, no spamming. If you cannot post the entire message of this missive, the online address of this request is http://www.petertrial.com/letters.htm. Thank you from the bottom of my weary but very grateful heart. Peter McWilliams
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