John's Appeal

John's Appeal

The struggle to free John Sinclair from his heinous prison sentence of 9 1/2 to 10 years for possession of two joints of marijuana reaches a new level in the next two weeks as plans are completed for moving the appeal of John's conviction to the Michigan Supreme Court.

THE APPEAL

Central to John's appeal is the contention that the laws against marijuana and the prescribed penalties are grossly violative of the letter and spirit of the U. S. Constitution. This is common sense to anyone familiar with the document who has ever smoked a joint. The appeal also seeks to correct several glaring "irregularities" in the trial with which John was convicted, among them the callous use of evidence which had been, by the trial judge's own ruling, obtained illegally by the Detroit snake force and was therefore legally inadmissible as evidence.

APPEAL BOND

Reapplication for bond pending appeal will be made when the appeal is filed (the exact date has not yet been determined). Briefs to be argued in this connection demonstrate that the state has no goddam legal right to deny appeal bond to a man whose "crime" was obviously not aggressively atrocious and whose appeal raises substantial questions with regard to the constitutionality of the laws and to the trial itself.

YOU

Chuck Ravitz, Buck Davis, and plenty other revolutionary lawyers and law students are about to back the Michigan Supreme Court politely against the wall, saying, in over one hundred pages of briefs, "Free John Now!" If you dig what they're saying, take the time to write to the governor, the symbol of state power in Michigan, and add to the pressure to secure John's release, If you don't, don't. Free all marijuana prisoners! Free John Now!

--Dave Sinclair