Expatriate
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File this one under Good Cops.
He's now suing the department for suppressing his freedom of speech.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/20...cop_moonlights_as_pro_marijuana_activist.html
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2013/03/gary_wiegert_marijuana_lobbying_police_lawsuit.php
He's now suing the department for suppressing his freedom of speech.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/20...cop_moonlights_as_pro_marijuana_activist.html
U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill (C) and her husband Joseph Shepard (L) talk with Sgt. Gary Wiegert during a 2006 campaign stop in St. Louis, Missouri. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Crime is Slate’s crime blog. Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @slatecrime.
As long as we’re on the topic of cops who get mixed up with illegal drugs, I wanted to mention the strange case of St. Louis police officer Gary Wiegert, otherwise known as Sgt. Feelgood. In February, Wiegert got approval to take a second job, as many cops do. Unfortunately for the department, Wiegert’s second job was as a lobbyist for Show-Me Cannabis, a group that advocates for reforming Missouri’s marijuana laws. Wiegert’s embarrassed superiors moved quickly to harsh his buzz, revoking its approval of his outside employment. This week, Wiegert sued the department, alleging it was restricting his First Amendment rights.
You can understand the department’s chagrin. And I get the sense that Wiegert—he’s a committed libertarian who once hosted a radio show called Cop Talk—does this sort of button-pushing thing fairly often. But the department apparently has no problem with its officers pursuing political activities; before this, Wiegert was registered as a lobbyist for the St. Louis Tea Party. (The most recent post on the St. Louis Tea Party’s blog begins with “I sat down with some black folks on two occasions recently and listened to their conservations about the issues of the day.”)
“We all know that the upset here on the part of the department is the fact that he is ... lobbying for an organization that is named Show-Me Cannabis,” Wiegert’s attorney told the Riverfront Times. And while “cop becomes marijuana lobbyist” isn’t as embarrassing as “cop becomes murder lobbyist,” it’s still the sort of headline designed to irritate the top police brass. That’s a shame, because Wiegert has a really good point. His lawsuit notes that the “draconian charges and consequences arising out of possession of small amounts of marijuana, in Plaintiff’s view, has become a detriment on society’s resources and to society.”
It’s also a drain on police department resources: of the 204 controlled substance arrests the St. Louis Police Department reported in February 2013, 84 of them—just more than 40 percent—involved either the possession or sale of marijuana. Cops waste a lot of time and effort on marijuana violations, and I don’t think it undermines a police department’s authority if its members acknowledge that fact.
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2013/03/gary_wiegert_marijuana_lobbying_police_lawsuit.php
St. Louis Police Sgt. Gary Wiegert is Suing Department for Suppressing His Lobbying
By Sam Levin Wed., Mar. 13 2013 at 6:00 AM
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Sgt. Gary Wiegert of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department supports changes in local marijuana laws so that minor offenses would not needlessly drain police resources. That's why he decided to work on the side as a lobbyist for Show-Me Cannabis, a group that advocates for pot reform in Missouri.
But metro police officials were not pleased with this activity -- and have made efforts to block this lobbying. At least those are the allegations from Wiegert and his legal team, who will be filing a lawsuit this week that accuses the department of suppressing his free speech rights.
"The police department is not in a position to say, 'You can be a lobbyist only if we like what you're lobbying for,'" attorney Albert Watkins tells Daily RFT. "We all know that the upset here on the part of the department is the fact that he is...lobbying for an organization that is named Show-Me Cannabis.'"
See also:
- Marijuana Decriminalization: How Many Cases Does St. Louis Circuit Attorney Handle?
- Missouri Legislators Who Want to Legalize Or Decriminalize Marijuana
- Marijuana Bill: Shane Cohn Proposes Pot Fines Go To St. Louis Mental Health Board
Watkins continues, "The actions of the police department by and through its white shirts constitute nothing short of reefer madness on crack."
Police officials have little to say on the allegations.
"Sgt. Wiegert is not representing the Department," Chief Sam Dotson says in a statement sent to Daily RFT yesterday. "His comments are his own and not what is expected of our officers. The Department will not comment any further on an ongoing personnel matter that is subject to legal action."
After a Post-Dispatch column reported last week that Wiegert is now a lobbyist for Show-Me Cannabis, Dotson released an initial statement saying the lobbying was not appropriate.
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And since then, the department has made efforts to block the lobbying work altogether, Wiegert's attorney alleges.
Wiegert, a former St. Louis Police Officers Association president, supports the effort to decriminalize marijuana, which has gotten traction this year at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. This local initiative is aimed at moving minor offenses from the Circuit Attorney's Office to the lower court system. It is not a legalization effort.
Wiegert's lawsuit may be filed as early as this morning.
Watkins claims that Wiegert applied for a secondary employment permit with the department last month, which he says must be filled out by every officer looking to do outside work, whether it be moonlighting as a security guard, painting somebody's house -- or lobbying.
Wiegert disclosed that he'd be working as a lobbyist in Jefferson City, but didn't get more specific than that.
A week later, his application was approved by a handful of commanders, Watkins says.
But after the media attention around Wiegert's marijuana cause, the sergeant was given a verbal gag order by his captain, the lawsuit will allege. "Being a dutiful and compliant member of the...department, Sgt. Wiegert shut up and immediately engaged legal counsel for the purposes of ensuring that his protected rights under the constitution, including his First Amendment rights, are not compromised."
Then, officials told him yesterday that there was a problem with his application; he had apparently listed his home address as his business address and didn't have a business permit.
"They're telling him he needs to reapply," Watkins says. "That's malarkey."
Watkins says that having a business license has nothing to do with the department's approval process for this lobbying -- but notes that Wiegert will get his license anyway.
He emphasizes that Wiegert is just advocating for a more efficient use of resources when it comes to marijuana arrests.
"He is serving as a lobbyist to further a cause designed to grant additional authority to law enforcement to address illegal possession of marijuana," he says, noting that Wiegert wants to see fewer officers taken off of the street because they are stuck going through the lengthy process of handling someone caught with a single joint or a small amount of pot.
"He is a grizzled veteran," Watkins adds. "He has worked in the trenches for a long, long time."
Could you link the thread?
