Edited and managed by students at the Universityof Michigan Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individdal opinions of the author. This must be noted in all reprints. SATURDAY, AUG. 19, 1972 News Phone: 764-0552 The $5 pot penalty: Grass isn 't legal yet candidates need more publie exposure ONCE HERALDED as the emergence of a true "open" political party, the Human Rights Party is now pre- paring to nominate candidates in such a manner as to limit the influence of all except those who are party "regulars." This weekend, HRP is holding its "open county nomi- nating convention." At this meeting, upwards of one dozen persons will declare themselves candidates for various HRP nominations. These candidates will only be well-known to a small group of devoted HRP workers. To the others, the emer- gence of these persons as candidates will be a complete surprise. They will have little if any knowledge about any of the candidates, and can hardly be expected to cast an informed ballot. This system of choosing candidates has resulted largely from HRP's fear that it will be infiltrated by Democrats and Republicans. It is for this reason that HRP has rejected primary elections as a means of nomi- nating candidates. They believe, and rightly so, that their ticket could be determined by "crossover votes" from Republicans and Democrats. And even if the party wanted to turn to a primary system, it would be impos- sible at this time, because of restrictions on minor party primaries written into state law. It is that same fear of outside domination that made HRP decide that all those who want to vote at their con- vention should sign a statement affirming that they be- lieve themselves to be members of HRP. While this type of oath may seem to be inconsistent with the party's ideals, it is certainly an understandable and necessary evil at this time. PUT BETTER ARRANGEMENTS could have been made to introduce the potential nominees to those'out of the mainstream of HRP. As the situation stands now, most HRP regulars have a fairly clear concention of who among them plans to run for which offices. Yet this has largely remained privileged information within the party office. No public announ-rsent of the candidates will be made until Sunday afternoon, after the party's platform has been finalized. At this time, the convention will interview the po- tential candidates, and then the convention will be re- cessed until Thursday when the actual nominations will take place. This Sunday mass interview plan is neither a suf- ficient nor a desirable way in which to have a serious and open community debate on candidates. While The Daily has consistently supported HRP candidates, we would like to know more about each as- piring nominee before the convention begins. Perhaps next year HRP can schedule a campaign period in which party supporters could meet and question potential can- didates prior to the start of the harried convention. N PREVIOUS YEARS, we could excuse HRP's cliqueish nominating procedures as being the inevitable re- sult of starting a political organization on a grass-roots level. But the party has grown. It has two elected mem- bers on City Council and has the potential to elect two county commissioners, a state representative, several more Council members and perhaps other posts this year. ' With this added political power, comes added respon- sibility. If HRP is to become a dominant political force in this town, it must constantly strive to live up to its own stated goal of being a more open, responsive institution. -THE MICHIGAN DAILY Editorial Staff Today's Staff: News: Lorin Labardee, Carla Rapoport, Gloria Jane Smith Editorial Page: Alan Lenhoff Photo technician: Denny Gainer Summer Staff EDITORIAL STAFF Dan Biddle, Jan Benedetti, Meryl Gordon, Jim Kentch, Lorin Labardee, Alan Lenhoff (co-editor), Diane Levick, Maynard, Chris Parks, Carla Rapoport (co-editor) Marilyn Riley, Gloria Smith, Paul Travis, Ralph Vartabedian. PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF Denny Gainer, Rolfe Tessem, Gary Villani, Jim Wallace. SPORTS STAFF Bob Andrews, Dan Borus, Elliot Legow. By PAUL TRAVIS I T WAS LIKE a government scare movie,Kor perhaps like the stories your mother told you wen you were a little kid. He stood there, under a street- light at the corner of State and Hill, whispering to all long-hairs who passed by. "Wanna buy some Jamaican weed?" But there was one small differ- ence in the script. One of the passers-by stopped to try the dope, and asked the tall thin man with green knapsack if he wasn't afraid of getting busted. "Getting busted?" he laughed as he rolled a joint. "What differ- ence does it make? It's only a five dollar fine." IT'S ONLY A FIVE DOLLAR FINE ! Since City Council passed the five dollar marijuana ordinance, that has been the response of dope smokers and sellers all across the city - whether they are walking down the street smoking a joint, or sitti ng onthe steps of the Un- ion selling hash. But it is not clear whether it is ONLY A FIVE DOLLAR FINE, or whether you can be put on proba- tion for a year or two if you plead guilty to possession of grass. The city attorney and, the sst. city attorey disagree and admit they really don't know. Judge Pieter Thomassen thinks he can put people on probation under the city law. And if you violate the terms of probation a judge can send you to jail. The cop took the plants and asked Robertson who they belong- ed to. Robertson told the cop they belonged to him because "there was no reason to get the whole house busted," he said yesterday. The cop took his name and told him he would be contacted later. ON WEDNESDAY, the day aft- er Robertson pled guilty, Daily reporters were on the phone try- ing to find out why the State wouldn't test Ann Arbor mari- juana. They found out that State was testing grass from here and had never delayed on any of the samples. "The policy (of the lab) has been that any case that comes in is processed," said Sergeant Thomas Nasser of the Plymouth Crime Lab. City officials were hard pressed' to explain why they had said the samples were being held up. Asst. City Atty. Robert Guenzel main- tained that his misinformation had come from a police detective. Oth- er city officials had similar ex- cuses. But the facts stood for themselves. At least ten mariju- ana samples from Ann Arbor had been processed by the State Po- lice with no special delay. In calling the State Police in Lansing it became clear that up until that time, there had been no policy of delay but that samples from Ann Arbor were being clas- sified as "Low Priority." "It doesn't seem proper that we put a high priority on a city ordinance that has a fine of five dollars," said State Police Direc- tor John Plants Wednesday. "That kind of analysis would be done if we had nothing more urgent." IT WAS ALSO CLEAR that Plants didn't like the new law. He thinks it is unconstitutional and worse yet - that it will make Ann Arbor a state-wide distribution center for marijuana. Plants is new to his job and doesn't realize yet that Ann Arbor has always been the state distribution center for marijuana. At least for the last. ten years. Plants indicated that "We (the state police) won't allow Ann Ar- bor to become a sanctuary" and implied that the State Police may ride into town and arrest all the dirty hippies who lay around all day and smoke and sell dope on the streets of this fair city. "If we thought the Ann Arbor Police Department was ineffec- tual because of the ordinance we would move in without consutting them," Plants said. He suggested that the city should bust people under the harsher state law in order to get higher priority in the lab. Under State Law, possession of grass is still a misdemeanor but the penalties are much harsher than a five dollar fine. Jerold Lax, the city attorney, is the person who makes the determination of whether a -person is prosecuted under the state or city law. There are not clear guidelines for what qualifies as a case for the state law and which will be han- dled under the city law. At the present time Lax is making the determination by the amount of drugs confiscated. BUT THE REAL QUESTION at this time is what will happen to Robertson when he comes up for sentencing on Sept. 15. The city attorney and Robert- son's lawyer were both surprised when Judge Thomassen did_ not allow Robertson to pay his five dollar fine and walk out. Thomas- sen postponed sentencing one month and ordered Robertson to talk to a probation officer prior to sentencing. This was a real shock. Most peo- ple in the city had thought that the marijuana fines would be han- dled just like a parking ticket. You get busted. You come into court. You plead guilty. You pay your five dollar fine. You walk out. Beautiful. Such is not the case. Thomas- sen says he really doesn't know what he is going to do when the sentencing comes up in Septem- ber. He says he has to talk to the probation officer and work out a consistent policy with the other District Court Judge, Sandorf El- den. But-and it's a big but-Thom- assen thinks he has the power to put somebody on probation along with imposing the fine. Lax isn't so. sure. "I was under the impression, perhaps the naive impression, that probation could only be given if the sentence in- volved a jail sentence. But I'm not sure." NOBODY IS SURE, and the point may remain in doubt until it is challenged in court. The thing to keep in mind is that if you violate the terms of your probation you can be sent to jail. At the present time it is clear that the new law is not operating as was expected when it was passed in April. And it should be pointed out that the law has a lot of enemies in high places. The State Police hate it. The city po- lice like it just about as much. The Republicans and other right- of-center groups would like noth- ing better than to find a way to kill it. And if there is a way, they will probably find it. That's right. Maybe, just may- be, you can end up in jail if you are caught in this town with a joint. But nobody really knows for sure. ON TUESDAY, a Daily reporter talked to several city officials and was given the impression that the State Police Crime Lab was de- laying the analysis of suspected marijuana samples from Ann Ar- bor because of the low fine. The implication of this was that the first six authorizations for marijuana prosecutions under the new law, which had been-request- ed by the city attorney, were in limbo because the samples were not being tested. Also on Tuesday, William Rob- ertsonappeared in District Court and had the honor of becoming the first person to plead guilty un- der the city marijuana ordinance. Ie is awaiting sentencing. Robertsonwas sitting on his front porch June 6, when an Ann Arbor cop walked by and noticed four or five tiny six-inch pot plants growing in milk cartons in the front yard.