I
was recently walking out of the courthouse in Sanford and was asked to sign a
petition to protect our water. Since I am generally against any type of
regulation I didn't want to sign it. I also noticed that the individual asking
me to sign had a "legalize it" shirt on. As a criminal defense
attorney who handles Orlando marijuana cases, Seminole County marijuana cases,
Daytona Beach marijuana cases and Flagler County marijuana cases I'm not a huge
fan of the current drug laws in the United States and question the war on
drugs. It did not offend me that the guy wanted me to sign a petition for
legalizing marijuana what offended me is that he tried to trick me into signing
a marijuana petition by either mixing multiple ballot referendums or just lying
to me about what I would have been signing. I actually told him no as soon as
he told me he was petitioning to protect my water so I did not get to see what
the document said. This gives me some concern about the ballot referendum
process if people will lie to individuals on the courthouse steps in an attempt
to get enough signatures to get their issue on a ballot. I was talking to an
investigator I work with and he said the same thing happened to him in as he
was leaving the clerk of court in Orlando. The question that I have is if I
looked like a defendant instead of an attorney would they have asked me to sign
a petition for clean water or to legalize marijuana. Does everyone get the same
sales pitch or is it catered to what they believe you will be willing to sign? The
other question is does it matter what they say since the referendum only puts
it on the ballot for a vote. I guess in the end it all comes down to making
sure you carefully read anything you sign.
