UPDATE: Lafayette Marijuana and Judge

Quick update on a recent post about Lafayette Judge Leonard Frieling's decision to step down in protest of the city's decision to increase the penalty for possession of less than one ounce 10 fold from $100 to $1000 and up to one year in jail.

First the Honorable Judge Frieling responded to our post, meaning much like the Libertarian party boasts on and on about their sheriff, we can now claim an actual Judge among H-Blog readers!

Speaking of Judges, on to the update. As Judge Frieling says in his now famous reply to the post, the City of Lafayette reversed course and withdrew the Ordinance. Judge Freiling's decision to step down, and not "work from the inside" (really bad comment on my part, since when have I not championed the bold gesture?) was clearly the catalyst. The resulting media attention and resulting local outcry killed the ordinance. We at Hydrablog humbly accept our small role in this action (the great thing about a group blog like Hydrablog is that those contributers who don't support an action pressed by another, are along for the ride. So while the rest of the H-blog gang may not support the Council's Ordinance withdrawal, we're all in it together. Much like when Stalin finally pulls off replacing the Star Spangled Banner with Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" as our national anthem, I'll be dragged along with him.).

Some fun facts.

53% of Lafayette citizens supported Colorado Amendment 44 , which would have decriminalized possession of less than that very ounce that the City Council wanted to increase the penalty for holding. Much like the South Dakota Abortion Bill, this shows a real disconnect between legislators and citizen.

"Lafayette Judge Marijuana" gets 123,000 hits on Google. Again, Judge Frieling's decision to step down was the correct one.

Again, with the disconnect between the city council and the citizens, all it took was the right catalyst to get everyones attention. 123,000 Google hits was more than enough to alert the Lafayette citizens that their legislators weren't acting in accordance with their wishes. And the the 123,000 hits came from on man's decision to take action. This is also the time to congratulate the City Council for reversing course rather than stubbornly continue down a path at odds with the citizenry. Believe it or not, this is roughly how a democracy is supposed to work.