RIGHT TO FAIR TRIAL?

University Judiciary's Verdict In NORML Trial Was Subjective, Unfair.

What a long, strange trip it's been.

University Judiciary announced Tuesday night the University chapter
of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws will
not only be sanctioned for trademark infringement and failure to
comply, but will be placed on University probation for two years.

We believe that NORML's case - three months of defending its logo as
political satire - was not handled objectively.

After being charged, NORML had to choose between signing a statement
of wrongdoing and one year's probation, or proceeding to a formal
hearing. Here the University Judiciary listened to NORML's defense,
but nearly doubled its sanction.

The editorial board believes that NORML essentially was punished for
standing up for itself. Although NORML may not stand for what
everyone believes should be legal, it deserves to be treated as any
student advocacy group would. Had NORML been advocating a legal
substance, and drawn a bulldog in that light, as many student groups
and off-campus businesses often do, it would not have been subject to
the same grievances.

NORML is encouraging every student who believes in its cause, or
simply its right to justice, to wear green this Thursday. It may not
change the outcome of the case, but this simple action will let
University Judiciary know that NORML's case should not be a precedent
for future hearings. We all deserve the right to a fair trial, even
those of us with radical ideas.

- - Chelsea Cook for the editorial board