August 17, 2010 | 8:47 PM | By

The stoner case against Prop 19 and more of today’s headlines

FILED UNDER: Corrections, Courts, Politics, Jury Duty, Marijuana, Prison, Proposition 19, Steve Cooley, Three Strikes

Here’s some of the best stuff we read today:

The Sac Bee provides a roundup of recent criticism coming from the pro-pot community targeted at Proposition 19, which would legalize recreational marijuana in California. The arguments? Alternatively that the proposition is too restrictive–placing regulations and restrictions where previously there were none–and that it doesn’t go far enough in legalizing the drug. . .

Think you know how prison inmates feel about a proposed plan to relieve prison overcrowding that would see the release of thousands of inmates before their sentences end? Don’t be too sure. A New America Media piece asked two inmates to pontificate on the idea of early release, and their perspectives are nuanced and revealing. . .

California Watch reports that Steve Cooley, the Republican candidate for California attorney general, is being sued by a union that represents assistant district attorneys statewide, including his own staff. The suit claims that Cooley would punish union members with demotions, benefit reductions, and punitive transfers, among other measures. It also claims that Cooley, the current district attorney of Los Angeles, tried to suppress a campaign mailer that criticized him. . .

And California legislators are going after yet another way to get out of jury duty: hitting Google. Revelations that a San Francisco judge dismissed 600 jurors last year because of internet usage has prompted state lawmakers to look into ways of getting jurors to refrain from blogging about their experiences during trial and googling the cases they’re supposed to be impartially judging. Some lawyers attribute these internet explorations to a lack of education as to correct juror demeanor. Having been in the box myself and having seen not only what people will do to get out of jury duty, but how lax people seem to take the judge’s instructions once they’re chosen, I’m not sure it’s so innocent. Neither, apparently, is the legislature, which has a bill pending that would clarify that judges can not just dismiss, but fine or jail jurors who thwart the rules.