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For many, medical marijuana is a panacea capable of alleviating a wide range of symptoms. As Pennsylvania begins allowing the drug’s medical use, patients are relieved — and business is booming.
They call themselves “gangsta rappers,” but Jamal Knox and Rashee Beasley may have crossed the line between protected free speech, and terroristic threats and intimidation when they called out two Pittsburgh police officers by name in a rap song.
The attorney for a Monroeville man told a Westmoreland County judge on Monday that Pennsylvania’s new law legalizing medical marijuana prevents his client from facing drug possession charges police filed after finding what they described as a grow operation at his former North Huntingdon home.
Last Friday afternoon I was on a Skype call with Patrick Nightingale. Patrick K. Nightingale is a former prosecutor and practicing criminal defense attorney since 1996.
Eleven people accused in violent protests outside of the Allegheny County Jail were supposed to go before a Magistrate Judge Tuesday. “There are some very serious allegations, but there are some interesting civil rights here,” said attorney David Shrager, who represents James Griffin.
Next year, medical marijuana will be available for purchase across Pennsylvania. So, is legalizing recreational pot soon to follow? State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale thinks it’s time the Commonwealth join other states that have.
Pennsylvania’s highest court is reviewing the conviction of a Pittsburgh man for making threats against police in a rap song after he was charged with drug offenses.
Despite the fact that there are now two bills to decriminalize pot in the Legislature, chances of them being approved are also very slim. But Nightingale, a marijuana advocate and lawyer, wants decriminalize marijuana thorough the court system.
The Supreme Court on Monday said it would take up an appeal by Jamal Knox, who argues his song, which was briefly posted online, is protected by the right to free speech. Knox wants the court to set aside his convictions for witness intimidation and making terroristic threats.
In 2014, Pittsburgh rapper Jamal Knox was sentenced to prison for recording and publishing an anti-cop track called “Fuck the Police.” Less than three years after his conviction, the Supreme Court has agreed to take up an appeal by Knox, who argues his work is protected by the First Amendment.