After three years in a federal detention without bail for the alleged crime of cultivation and distribution of cannabis, it has been decided that Roger Christie and his wife Share Christie will be able to use their religious defense in court.

This is a victory for the Christie's, for their supporters and family, and for religious freedom everywhere.

I have had long, heated arguments with agents of NORML like Russ Belville and Keith Stroup about how religious defense has worked, and can work.  But they continue to reject this possibility, even though there are plenty of cases that prove otherwise.

I believe that the Christie's will be set free by a jury of their peers, and I think that the federal government will look foolish after wasting all of this time and all of these resources to persecute an innocent man over a harmless plant.

"HONOLULU —A federal judge has ruled Roger Christie and his wife Share Christie will be allowed to use religion as part of their defense against charges they manufactured, possessed and distributed large amounts of marijuana on the Big Island. U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi made the ruling July 31 during a status conference.

 

 

 

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. ~Abraham Lincoln