Write a letter to Judge Wu about Charles Lynch's sentencing. FLOOD his office with letters. I'm going to be working on my letter and will post it when I am done. Please do the same.

On August 5, 2008 Lynch was convicted in Federal Court for operating the Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers. Supporters who wish to write a letter of support regarding sentencing should use the Letter salutation "Dear Judge Wu" and then send the letter to:

Reuven Cohen
Federal Public Defender
321 East 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012-4702

[kennabis]

i was planning on writing mine this eve. i will always expect you to be a couple steps ahead of me at all times, . you are filled with do good, and i love that. i will share mine with you as well. i'm going to do my best, and use the "kiss" approach.

freedom for charles lynch, and others like him.

[ASA Field]

This is a great idea! Remember to keep your letters extremely polite and professional - the judge is not the enemy here. Talk about Charles Lynch's characters and feel free to discuss how he was operating legally under California law and how the locals welcomed him. If anyone needs help drafting a letter or wants a pair of eyes to help edit, feel free to PM me.

Originally Posted by ASA Field

This is a great idea! Remember to keep your letters extremely polite and professional - the judge is not the enemy here. Talk about Charles Lynch's characters and feel free to discuss how he was operating legally under California law and how the locals welcomed him. If anyone needs help drafting a letter or wants a pair of eyes to help edit, feel free to PM me.

Thank you. I'll probably post mine here to be edited. I want others to see what we're doing to motivate them to do the same. The judge knows all about Mr. Lynch's character and th local officials. He knows more the jury did. I'll post soon.

[Xeth]

The longer this protest is planned and organized the better the turnout will be. Two or Three months from now would be perfect, it will allow those from out of state time to get here. It should be half the size of the Seattle Hemp fest put on twice a year I mean my god people this is LA !! Please everyone put aside your differences and combine your efforts stop thinking of the petty rhetoric that keeps us all apart accept the idea that we all have a common goal.

The larger the crowd the greater the influence.

All websites that cover Cannabis should be made aware of the protest well in advance.

All dispensaries, collectives, and cooperatives should be made aware and asked to attend.

All Organizations such as MPP, ASA, NORML, GLACA , LEAP, the Patients advocacy group as well as any other which I have forgotten to mention should actually pick up the damn phone and call one another to help coordinate.

Doctors Nurses Lawyers Teachers Soccer Moms and Pastors, as well as their entire congregations should be made aware.

All Politicians as well as Media outlets should be made aware.

I implore my fellow Cannabis users to stand up and fight for every one of our constitutionally guaranteed legal rights and to end the wasteful war against Cannabis NOW !!

The Government our Government has chosen to target the weakest and the sickest among us. I promise you that we will win this war once and for all when enough people understand the truth about Cannabis.

I dare all organizations as well as this site to allow this to occur :

Allow in this thread a correspondence for sites that have been notified and for you to put up a huge banner Months in advance as to the whereabouts of the protest.

Finally organizations need to pick up the phone, suck it up and communicate with one another as to the when and where.

If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it invites every man to become a law unto himself: it invites anarchy Louis Brandeis 1856-1941 Supreme Court Justice

Here's a copy of my letter to Judge Wu:

Dear Judge George H. Wu,

I’m writing to implore you for Charles C. Lynch’s freedom, I’m genuinely optimistic that you will deem the positions within this letter and permit him to maintain his freedom with other productive tax-paying individuals in our community, rather than incarcerating him.

During the trial Charles Lynch established his true law-abiding and honest character on the stand in your courtroom.

For example, when Federal Prosecutor, Dave Kowal objected to Charlie referring to his phone bill while testifying about his phone conversations with the DEA, Mr. Cohen removed the phone bill from the projection screen and then continued his direct examination. Charles stopped him and sincerely announced “I still have the phone bill in front of me”. Then he closed the evidence book upon Cohen’s request.

Yet again, Charlie showed his trustworthy nature when you begin advising him about his attorney-client privileges regarding his former lawyer. Charles looked to you for advice and inquired “How am I supposed to answer then?” This inquiry correlates directly with character testimony from the Mayor of Morro Bay, Janis Peters and City Attorney, Robert Sholtz; Charlie looks to authorities for counsel about how to do things right.

The jury found Charles Lynch guilty based on the Federal Controlled Substance Act’s scheduling of Cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug. The DEA maintains that ALL Schedule 1 have NO medical benefits and are highly addictive. Their position has repeatedly been proven wrong by hundreds of peer-review studies showing the magnitude of medical advantages of marijuana and the limited likelihood for abuse.

For example, the University of California at San Diego reported within the last year that moderate amounts of THC from smoked cannabis alleviate neurological pain [see attachment #1]. This study proves just one therapeutic aspect to cannabis. In addition, Stanford released a study proving cannabis less addictive than alcohol, heroin, and tobacco [see attached #2]. This study confirms cannabis has little risk of addiction.

The DEA refuses to accept the abundant scientific data regarding cannabis, even against a recommendation from one of their own. The DEA’s Chief Administration Law Judge Francis L. Young ruled after extensive hearings that “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known…” [See attachment #3]

Charles Lynch has repeatedly demonstrated that he respects the city, county and state laws and poses no danger to himself, others or society. Nor is he a flight risk. Charles Lynch unknowingly broke an unjust law; please exercise your power of justice and let Charles Lynch go free.

Sincerely,
Herbalicious [I signed my real name]

I'm going to actually be working on several different letters. It has come to my attention that some patients just are NOT able to remain professional enough to compose their own letters. I will generate as many as possible and other patients can sign and send them as they see if. Feel free to use all or any part of this letter.

Remember any communication to Judge Wu should be EXTREMELY professional; he [literally] holds Charles Lynch's life in his hands.

I mailed my letter to judge wu yesterday and today I am mailing a similar letter to Judge Wilken (Tainted's judge).

On tainted page he had a PDF with "Character reference letter- Outline". There was good info on there. Check it out.

I mailed my letter to judge wu yesterday and today I am mailing a similar letter to Judge Wilken (Tainted's judge).

On tainted page he had a PDF with "Character reference letter- Outline". There was good info on there. Check it out.

Here's another letter I cut & pasted together:

Dear Judge Wu,

I’m writing to appeal for Charles Lynch’s freedom, I’m extremely expectant that you will contemplate the information contained her within and agree to let him continue to be with us in society, as opposed to jailing him away.

Most people know that the "drug czar", -- the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) -- is an advocate for the government's position regarding the drug war. But not everyone knows that he and his office are mandated to tell lies as part of their Congressional authorization.

According to Title VII Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998: H11225:

Responsibilities. --The Director-- [...]
(12) shall ensure that no Federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall be expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical use or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812) and take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance (in any form) that--is listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812); and has not been approved for use for medical purposes by the Food and Drug Administration;

The issue of medical marijuana is one implication of this Congressional responsibility . If the government finds that marijuana has "currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States" or "accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision," then by law, marijuana cannot remain in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, which would immediately legalize it for medical purposes.

But by law, the drug czar must oppose any attempt to legalize the use of cannabis (in any form). Therefore, despite the fact that there exists extensive evidence of medical marijuana's safety and effectiveness (including the fact that even the federal government supplies it to patients), and clearly the drug czar would know about all this information, he is required by law to lie about it. The job description also means that since he must oppose any attempt to legalize, he has no choice but declare that the drug war is working, that legalization would fail, etc., regardless of any scientific facts.

This is particularly disturbing because on Tuesday, July 15, the Bush Administration's second-in-command of national drug policy, Scott Burns, visited Humboldt County as part of a California tour to condemn the state of the federally illegal cannabis industry. Burns, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) met with county officials, participated in a sweeps of grow houses in Eureka and points south, then came to Arcata. He spread so much misinformation during his visit. This "misleading information" creates undue fear in Congress, the media, and the American populace. It's extremely difficult to make progress on scientific and medical grounds regarding cannabis when the White House pays official to supply "misleading information".

Charles Lynch should not suffer at the hands of a Federal government that fails to accepts scientific research

Sincerely,

Here's another letter I wrote, this time I had JOV sign it. It will go to Charlie's & Mickey's judge:

Dear Judge Wu,

I’m a lung-cancer patient that finds relief with medical cannabis and I’m tremendously optimistic that you will contemplate the facts below and consent to let Charles Lynch to receive the lightest possible sentence.

The first experiment documenting pot's potent anti-cancer effects took place in 1974 at the Medical College of Virginia at the behest federal bureaucrats. The results of that study, reported in an Aug. 18, 1974, Washington Post newspaper feature, were that marijuana's primary psychoactive component, THC, "slowed the growth of lung cancers, breast cancers and a virus-induced leukemia in laboratory mice, and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent."

Despite these favorable preliminary findings (eventually published the following year in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute), U.S. government officials refused to authorize any follow-up research until conducting a similar – though secret – preclinical trial in the mid-1990s. That study, conducted by the U.S. National Toxicology Program to the tune of $2 million, concluded that mice and rats administered high doses of THC over long periods had greater protection against malignant tumors than untreated controls. However, rather than publicize their findings, the U.S. government shelved the results, which only became public after a draft copy of its findings were leaked to the medical journal AIDS Treatment News, which in turn forwarded the story to the national media.

In the years since the completion of the National Toxicology trial, the U.S. government has yet to authorize a single additional study examining the drug's potential anti-cancer properties. (Federal permission is necessary in order to conduct clinical research on marijuana because of its illegal status as a schedule I controlled substance.)

Fortunately, in the past 10 years scientists overseas have generously picked up where U.S. researchers so abruptly left off, reporting that cannabinoids can halt the spread of numerous cancer cells – including prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and brain cancer. (An excellent paper summarizing much of this research, "Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment: Progress and Promise," appears in the January 2008 edition of the journal Cancer Research.) Not one mainstream media outlet reported their findings. Perhaps now they'll pay better attention.

What possible advancements in the treatment of cancer may have been achieved over the past 34 years had U.S. government officials chosen to advance – rather than suppress – clinical research into the anti-cancer effects of cannabis? It’s too bad we have to speculate.

Please take into consideration the Federal law does not represent science and allow Charles Lynch to remain free.

Sincerely,

please feel free to copy.paste any or all of the letters or parts of the letters I've posted. We need as many letters from as many patients as possible.

If you can't actually make it to the protest, you can write a letter.

Here's what one of Charles Lynch's lawyers had to say in response to questions about sending letters to Judge Wu.

Thank you so much for all you're doing. The short answer is that the focus of the letters should be about Charlie's decency and a call for leniency. Charlie's website has pretty decent instructions about the substance. As to timing, I'd like to start seeing the letters within the next two or three weeks. We are now in the process of litigating whether we will go forward on October 6 and October 20. We should have an answer for you by the middle of next week, but I'd like to start receiving the letters as quickly as possible just to be safe.

Thanks.
R

Charlie's website is www.friendsofccl.com

Originally Posted by stanleyk

Herbalicious, Can we turn in letters directly to you or is it better to just send them?

Hey Stanley,

I'm NOT in LA right now. I'm in Nor Cal with family and friends. Please mail the letter directly to Charlie's lawyers. The address is above. If I was still in LA, I would say stop by Western and I'll mail it because I bought a bunch of envelopes and stamps for this purpose. If you want to bring it to Western you can but I think it's best just to send it. If you don't feel comfortable using your own address, Use Western's address.

If you don't mind, please post your letters here so we can see the different responses.

Let me know if any more questions, comments, concerns. Thank you very much for helping.

Here's a letter I just finished. I need to print it and send it still but I wanted to share it with you all:

Dear Judge George Wu,

I’m writing to implore you for Charles C. Lynch’s freedom, I’m extremely expectant that you will appropriately judge the line of reasoning below and permit Charlie to stay with us in our community, where he can continue to contribute to society, rather than putting him in prison.

Putting Charles C. Lynch in prison endangers his physical and mental well-being and restricts his positive impact on society. Please consider the following, Charles recently broke his arm and it has not healed properly which limits his ability to protect himself from physical or sexual assaults in prison. Also, it is illegal to have sexual intercourse in custody and therefore condoms are not allowed within prisons. It is estimated that between 30-70% of inmate are raped or engage in homosexual behaviors with prisons. Furthermore, there were 22,480 state and federal inmates who were HIV infected or had confirmed AIDS on Dec. 31, 2005. Sending Charles C. Lynch to federal prison is propelling him into a dangerous rape situation with a high potential of AIDS infection.

In the 1982 book, Male Rape, edited by Dr. Anthony M. Stacco, Jr., American prisons are noted to be places where homosexual activity is common, and sexual violence is rife. As stated by Dostoevski, "In Prisons there is an excellent chance that a boy, or a physically weaker younger adult male, will be raped by one or more stronger males.” Charles C. Lynch weighs 150 pounds and has lived a non-violent life. He will be an easy target for hardened criminals. Here are some remarks raped inmates:

'The guys that raped me put a straight razor to my throat and held me down,' he testified, adding that he had to become a 'wife' to one prisoner in order to protect himself from the random sexual attacks by others.

“During the 'indoor recreation' period of August 21 and 22 Donald was overpowered, beaten, threatened with death, dragged from cell to cell, and forcibly raped some sixty times.”

One U.S. group formed to hopefully put an end to male rape in detention facilities, estimates that 26,000 male rapes a day occur in American prisons; this is about one male rape every three seconds, and it is a much higher rape estimate than the ones reported for all females in the United States.

In each year since 1991, the rate of confirmed AIDS cases has been higher among prisoners than in the general population. At the end of 2005 the rate of confirmed AIDS cases for state and federal prisoners was about 2½ times that in the U.S. general population. Older inmates (ages 45 to 54—such as Charlie) in state prisons were about two times more likely to die from AIDS-related causes than their counterparts in the U.S. general population. In 2005 the rate of death due to AIDS-related causes among federal prisoners was 15 per 100,000 inmates.

Please allow Charles C. Lynch to remain free from the prison systems. His time is better spent serving the community and giving back to society than being imprisoned, raped, and infected with AIDS. Please keep Charlie’s health, well-being, and all potential circumstances in mind when sentencing Mr. Lynch.

Sincerely,

[labrat]

in my opinion it would be very wise to have his lawyers sscan all letters to the judge!!! it can back fire to people whom are not privy to the prision system or the type of judge that will sentence him !!! lab rat

Originally Posted by Herbalicious

Supporters who wish to write a letter of support regarding sentencing should use the Letter salutation "Dear Judge Wu" and then send the letter to:

Reuven Cohen
Federal Public Defender
321 East 2nd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012-4702

All letters are being sent to Charles Lynch's lawyers and will be read before going to Judge Wu.

Here's a letter of support from a former patient of Charles C. Lynch

Dear Judge Wu,
I have been following the case of Charles C. Lynch and was extremely disappointed to find that our federal government had chosen to prosecute and ultimately convict a person who was helping sick, disabled and less fortunate members of our community. Mr. Lynch was helping people that our own government has disregarded and has decided to put politics above our own personal health needs.

I was a patient at Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers and on many occasions spoke with Mr. Lynch regarding my Health, Safety and Access to Medical Marijuana. The first time we talked I told him he was a ‘Saint’ for opening the dispensary. His dispensary was one of the most professionally operated dispensaries I have seen and the only one within 100 miles from where I live. I don’t understand why the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department, DEA and federal government chose to shut down our own local dispensary when there are hundreds of dispensaries that continue to operate around the state. In fact, there are hundreds of Dispensaries within miles of the court house where Lynch was prosecuted. This is not fair to Mr. Lynch or his patients that depended on him for the Medicine that helps them in their daily lives. Now I, like many others in our community, must travel long distances or access the unsafe ‘black market’ to obtain the medicine that we need.

My late husband was a Physician in San Luis Obispo for over twenty years and recently passed away. While we were married I used Vicodin for chronic pain relating to a back injury. I had discussed Medical Marijuana with him but he feared government prosecution for writing me a prescription for this medicine. Even though his grandfather was a physician who had prescribed Marijuana for many of his patients in early years before it became a federal offense. After my husband passed away I sought a recommendation to use medical marijuana and discovered the healing and relieving properties that Medical Marijuana provides and am no longer taking traditional prescriptions for pain.

Our State of California constitution states that “All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.” I feel as though many of my constitutional rights granted by our state and our federal government have been violated by this unjust prosecution and denial of safe access. Not to mention the violation of Mr. Lynch’s constitutional rights granted by our State Legislators and Fore Fathers.

The conflict between State and Federal Laws seems extremely unfair especially in this case as Mr. Lynch was abiding by state laws and had a business license that clearly stated Medical Marijuana Dispensary as the type of business. Also he had a Nursery permit issued by the city to operate his Medical Cannabis Nursery. To prosecute and jail Mr. Lynch is not only unfair but a travesty of justice.

I beg of you to show leniency and fairness when deciding how to handle Mr. Lynch’s sentencing. I do not think he should be sent to jail and even probation seems unfair as he was helping our community and many people in our community obtain the Medicine that helped them in their daily lives.

Sincerely,
A former patient