Andrew Sullivan's Drug Case Dismissal Approved by Highest Levels of DOJ
September 11, 2009
As other media outlets have reported, famed blogger and Atlantic writer Andrew M. Sullivan was cited for possessing marijuana on federal property. That anyone would be prosecuted for possessing marijuana in the United States is itself sad. What is worse, however, is the special treatment Andrew Sullivan received.
The Constitution does not guarantee you a right to smoke marijuana on federal property. The Constitution does guarantee you the right to equal protection under the law. Do we live in an Orwellian world where more equal protection?
We've obtained the Docket Sheet, Dismissal of Violation of Notice, and the Violation Notice. We've upload the relevant documents:
The documents are ordinary stuff. However, while reviewing the documents, something struck me.
The man who dismissed the Sullivan complaint was NOT some low-level AUSA. Instead, it was the Acting Deputy Chief, of the District of Massachusetts, who moved to dismiss the Violation of Notice. Why did Deputy Chief James F. Lang dismiss the Violation of Notice? Who leaned on him? Were favors traded? What happened? We have a right to know.
As Judge Robert B. Collings noted in his moving and thoughtful opinion, garden-variety drug offenders face prosecution for possession of marijuana on federal land. What was special about Andrew Sullivan?
Will the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility open an investigation? While it's almost certainly the case that OPR will clear Lang, someone at least needs to review his misconduct. There is something rotten in our justice system when wealthy and well-connected people like Andrew Sullivan avoid prosecution while everyone else pays their dues.
Are there two tiers of criminal justice in Massachusetts? Sullivan gets one form treatment; while the working stiffs get another?