i
IVoto ii can be told!
The real Truth abouit last May
by GENE BARRY
Reports continue to flood the
offices of the Administration
concerning the traffic jam at
the corner of 14th and R Streets
which occurred on the after
noon of May 2, 1970.
Though the actual event and
surrounding controversy took
place well over six months ago,
the University community has
been slow in reacting.
Only two facts surrouding the
event have been accepted by
all parties concerned:
A one bird sit-in (by a robin)
is acknowledged to be the
cause of the jam. The only
other established fact is that
the "voluntary boycott of traf
fic etiquette" ended only as the
result of continued negotiation
on the part of administrators,
student leaders and a flock of
Mallards who stopped by while
en route to a Navigator's con
vention in Toronto.
Of the many groups who
presumed to submit "ac
curate" reports of the events
the first was the Institute for
Traffic Analysis (ITA). The
ITA report consisted of three
parts: a summation of the
events, recommendations for
future disturbances, and one
fluffy grey pinfeather plucked
from the instigating bird.
(Editor's note: the major
difference between the ITA-
Prevalence of pot
means more arrests
by FRANK MANKEIWICZ
and TOM BRADEN
Usually, the call comes in the
middle of the night, ;. the
awakened party having just
time enough to reflect that
good news waits till morning.
Then he hears the voice on the
other end.
"Dad," or "Mother," the
voice says, "I'm in jail. The
charge is possession."
No fewer than 20 con
gressman or senators have
received these calls since the
marijuana era began, not to
mention other parents whose
names would add up to a cross
section of the American
Establishment The total
number of arrests for
"possession" is not accurately
known, even for the past year,
but one Justice Department
estimate places it in "the tens
of thousands."
The same estimator suggests
that roughly half of all
Americans between the ages of
11 and 24 have tried marijuana
at one time or. another, which
leads inevitably to another
estimate. It is that, if laws
against "possession were
rigidly enforced, half of our
children between 16 and 21
woald now have prison
records.
What is taking place is a kind
of civil war between American
children and American police,
and it is a mark of the
seriousness of that war that
Atty. Gen. John Mitchell, a
self-proclaimed law-and-order
man, has helped to pilot
through Congress much milder
federal penalties for
possession." The trouble is
that federal law has never been
important in "possession." It is
state and local law which
count, and it is in states and
localities where the war is
being fought
Both sides are uniformed:
(he cops in familiar blue or
brown, the kids in long hair,
mocassins, bell-bottoms, dirty
shirts, fatigue jackets and a
Volkswagen. The uniform of
the kids Is what the growing
number of legal experts la the
"possession" field sarcastically
define as "the basic elements
tl probable cause."
What they mean is that a
teen-ager wearing any part of
the uniform is a sure-fire can
didate for arrest. The arrest Is
for litering, failure to move on,
a defective taillight, hitch-hiking
or depositing trash (a
cigarette butt). Follow, the
uniform for a little while and
the arrest can be made. Once
made, the chances that a
"possession" charge will ensure
are better than fair.
It is at this point that the war
disturbs tough-minded men like
John Mitchell. State penalties
are severe. Three years is not
uncommon for a first offense,
and though few judges want to
levy such a penalty, some do,
which is why lawyers for the
young have evolved a set of
rules for the child of marijuana
possession cases. They are
worth noting as examples of
what "possession" is doing to
the national verities.
Rule 1: Plead "not guilty,"
no matter that you are. A
guilty plea forces a judge to
invoke the law, even when he
doesn't want to. A not-guilty
plea, on the other hand,
permits time for a defense
lawyer to entreat the pro
secutor to change the charge
back to loitering, hitch-hiking
or defective taillight.
Rule 2: Change the uniform.
Blue suit or sweater and skirt,
button-down collar, haircut
Symbols of regularity have now
become essential to American
justice.
Rule 3: Don't go to a jury
trial. The jury is not a Jury of
"peers." If Americans now in
their 70s had been tried In the
20s for possession of alcohol by
juries consisting of teen-agers,
a high percentage of them
would now have prison records.
Then too, juries must consider
law. Only judges can consider
justice and temper findings
with the knowledge that the law
is unjust.
For surely the law Is unjust.
It Is enforced at great expense
against one segment of the
population, and It is turning
that segment of the population
into a citizenry which believes
firmly that law la a mockery,
legal process a sham and
policemen people to hate.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1970
report and others Is that ITA
strongly contends that the bird
was not a robin, but a grey
pigeon who had braced for the
cool May weather by rubbing
Bea-Gay on his chest)
The group most active during
the actual disturbance was
known to its three active
members as the Society for
Correction and Rectification of
Extraneous Weather
(SCREW).
The Chief of the SCREW
people calls himself Wrecker.
Other independent analysis
groups feel that this is
SCREW'S goal.
The final group to be involv
ed in the sometimes heated
controversy is the Latent
Amerikans for Freedom
Forever (LAFF). Connonball
Teacup poses as head of this
group.
LAFF had the least relevant
material to present to bodies
deliberating the events of last
May, but it deserves mention
for its talent of presenting
completely i ncoherent
arguments as fact. This served
to distract substantially from
tlie other groups presenta
tions. The part of student govern
ment (ASUN) was well con
ceived and carried out. When
questioned about his role in the
activities, ASUN First Vice
President Bobble Hassenpfeffer
replied, "I had a real tough
time playing a non-partican
role, but I feel we all did our
best. I mean it was only fair
that we not let the Rambler
owner recline his seats to sleep
once it was apparent we were
going to be there all night."
Now that the air is cleared,
and Senator E. B. (Butch)
Winner is convinced that no
ASUN money was given to the
mayor for the overnight use of
the intersection, I would like to
share a little known fact with
the University Community.
The culprit bird was not a
pigeon, or a robin as originally
presumed. Indeed, it was a pet
canary belonging to state
senator Terry Woodpecker.
It had escaped from the
trunk of Terry's Hudson Hornet
as he was driving by the cam
pus. After falling out, it did the
one thing it had learned from
its master. It jumped into the
middle of something without
knowing anything at all about
it.
Passing his usual judgment,
this writer absolves Terry's
canary of all blame regarding
the disturbances and calls for a
close of the most irrelevant set
of investigations that has ever
occurred on this campus.
HAND JIVE
THE NEBRASKAN
- -a
) "
V V
;;
i !
v '
' ,
,
:
PAGE 3
