The charge was possession of a small amount of marijuana on a national seashore, and the defendant a prominent blogger. A prosecution could interfere with his effort to become a US citizen, so why not dismiss the whole thing? Acting US Attorney Michael Loucks did just that, and left behind a raft of questions. Did he think pot possession was no big deal because Massachusetts voters decriminalized it, even though the move didn’t apply to federal lands? Was he concerned about British writer Andrew Sullivan’s desire to become an American? Did he fear being attacked in a blog?
Three other men faced charges in the same incident, but Loucks, apparently concerned with Sullivan’s immigration application, let him off. Prosecutors should use their discretion to assess the relative merits of cases, but they shouldn’t take the law into their own hands. US Magistrate Judge Robert Collings was right to rebuke Loucks for violating “the bedrock principle of our legal system that all persons stand equal before the law.’’ It applies to bloggers, too.
