Kathryn Johnston, a 92 year old resident of Atlanta, Georgia, was shot to death in a drug raid gone bad in November 2006. Three Atlanta police officers are now facing felony charges of conspiracy to violate civil rights resulting in death, voluntary manslaughter, and making false statements.

Officer Arthur Tesler allegedly filled out an affidavit stating that a confidential informant purchased crack cocaine at Johnston’s home. When later questioned by authorities, the informant denied ever being at the residence, which prompted further investigation by local authorities and the FBI. Upon investigation, authorities learned that Tesler, along with Gregg Junnier and Jason Smith had been falsifying documents for quite some time.

The raid that led to the death of Johnston was based off of false paperwork stating that drugs were present in the home. When the police came to raid Johnston’s home, they used a no-knock warrant (obtained through falsified statements). Thinking she was being robbed, she shot her old-style pistol once, way over the officers’ heads and through her front door. The police returned fire, shooting 39 times and hitting her five. After she was dead, Officer Smith planted marijuana in the home to cover his tracks.

All three officers, along with several others from the Atlanta Police, including a sergeant, have been fired and arrested for these preposterous acts.

All three officers apologized for their role in her murder. During the court proceedings, ex-officer Jason Smith said, I pray daily for Ms. Johnston. I also pray other officers in Atlanta will have the moral fortitude I didn’t have. The officers are splitting the cost of Johnston’s funeral, which totaled $8,180, and are now facing jail time: Jason Smith was sentenced to 10 years, Greg Junnier and Arthur Tesler were sentenced to six and five years, respectively. After serving their prison terms, all three men are to serve three years of supervised release.

This poor woman is yet another victim of the War on Drugs, and I can’t help but feel that this is also a hate crime. Ten years for planting evidence, lying under oath, obtaining a warrant under false pretenses, and murdering a 92 year old black woman – does this really seem like justice to you? If rolls were reversed – Johnston an elderly white woman, the cops black – I strongly believe there would have been a much different outcome.

So, I suck at life during the winter months. I won’t apologize or make excuses – I’ll just recap some of the things I’ve failed to mention in my absence and move along like it never happened. Okay? Okay. In no particular order…

Obama’s in The House! On January 20th, Barack Obama was inaugurated into the White House as the first African-American President in history. With this inauguration comes a lot of hope on the Marijuana Law Reform front – President Obama has admitted to using marijuana, and has said several times that he believes the War on Drugs has been “an utter failure” and that we need to rethink the laws concerning marijuana use. He has also been supportive of the medical marijuana initiative, and has promised to stop the raids of medical marijuana patients and dispensaries where they are legal.

Is Change Coming to the Drug Czar’s Office? Former Seattle Police Chief, Gil Kerlikowske, has been appointed as our nation’s next Drug Czar. Although Kerlikowske is a cop, he is from Washington, a state that has allowed the use of medical marijuana under doctors’ orders, and made marijuana-related ‘crimes’ their cops’ lowest priority. According to Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML, “Whereas Kerlikowske’s White House predecessor (John Walters) refused to even acknowledge that cannabis possessed even the slightest hint of therapeutic value, Seattle’s exiting police chief accepted the law and has made few, if any, efforts to undermine it.” Let’s be optimistic that some good might come of this…

Obama’s (Half)Brother Arrested for Marijuana Possession. On January 31st, George Obama, the half-brother of President Barack Obama, was arrested in Kenya for the possession of Marijuana. Although this happened a world away, I would hope this hits close to home and reminds our new President just how ridiculous marijuana prohibition really is.

Michael Phelps is the Gold Medal Winner of Bong Hits. On January 2nd, News of the World reported that Michael Phelps was pictured taking a bong rip at a South Carolina house party in November. Phelps later apologized for his “regrettable behavior” blaming bad judgment for his “youthful and inappropriate” act. Even after the apology, the Kellogg’s Company chose not to renew Phelps’ sponsorship contract because his behavior is “not consistent with the image of the company.” As a result, NORML has asked the Cannabis Community to boycott Kellogg’s.

Marijuana Law Reform is America’s Top Political Priority. In November, I made a post urging everyone to get Marijuana Law Reform on the agenda at Change.org. I am now happy to report that legalizing the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana was voted number one out of the top ten ideas to change America, with 20,158 supporters!