Why should you care about Henry Walter Wooten?
Because he’s getting screwed:
A Generational Moment for Drug Policy Reformers
John Lennon’s voice is echoing somewhere over Texas tonight.
That’s because a moment has arrived – a very special moment, the likes of which drug policy reformers have not seen in a generation.
It all centers around a man named Henry Walter Wooten, a 54-year-old Texas resident who will likely be spending the rest of his life behind bars. That’s because a jury in Tyler sentenced him to 35 years in jail after he was caught in possession of just over a quarter pound of marijuana. The prosecutor in Smith County originally sought 99 years, due to the man’s prior felony convictions in the 80s and his proximity to a day care center, deep within one of the dreaded “drug free zones” where legal penalties become much more stiff.
Thirty-five years. That’s 420 months. This jury, this court and this prosecutor are sending a message directly to marijuana consumers the nation over.</em>
