GROUP CHALLENGES SEARCH FOR POT IN MAN'S HOUSE

Madison Police Chief Noble Wray says he will investigate the arrest of
Devin Golden, a 21-year-old man who was charged with possession of more
than 1,000 grams of marijuana after his car and entire home were searched,
allegedly without his consent.

"I have asked for a review of the circumstances surrounding this incident
and will get back to you shortly," Wray wrote in an e-mail Monday to
Stephanie Rearick of the Progressive Dane Drug Policy Task Force.

The task force, which supports liberalizing marijuana laws, wrote Wray on
Friday with its concerns over the arrest.

The group referred to a Nov. 6 article in The Capital Times that described
how Golden's car and home were searched after a police officer pulled him
over for speeding. According to the article, the officer smelled unburned
marijuana and proceeded to find about 23 grams of pot in the car.

Officers also later found 38 potted marijuana plants behind a false wall in
Golden's basement, although Golden had allegedly given them permission to
search only his room.

"We understand that the facts of the case will be sorted out in court and
that Madison's Ordinance 23.20 does not allow for the quantity of marijuana
allegedly eventually found in Golden's home," the drug task force wrote to
Wray. "But we do think that, had an officer been respecting the letter and
spirit of that ordinance, he or she would have recognized that the quantity
found in the man's car would warrant a fine and no further action. We find
it alarming that instead it was used to justify a search warrant."

The task force argued that "questionable searches" damage the community's
trust in the Police Department's commitment to civil liberties.

Prosecuting such marijuana cases is not worth the cost, the group added.

"Law enforcement priorities are a local decision and the people of the city
of Madison have made it clear that marijuana prosecution is extremely low
on our list of priorities. In our opinion, in a case such as this, the
amount of resources and public trust being squandered outweighs this man's
potential harm to society."