Update: Man Who Exposed Local Police Corruption Released From Jail Amid Public Outcry

in #news7 years ago

In recent weeks we have been paying close attention to the story of Matt Qualls,  a man from Alabama who was arrested in a police raid just 4 days after  he made a statement to the local media about how the county sheriff was  pocketing money from the food fund for the town’s jail. 

Qualls was arrested at a friend’s house while they were making  cannabis butter. The police say that a neighbor called in an anonymous  tip, and the timing was merely a coincidence, but police also carried  out searches at multiple other addresses that were connected to Qualls,  which seems excessive in a case that would otherwise be trivial. 

Even  though there was just a small amount of cannabis found at the scene, the  Etowah County Sheriff’s office wanted to charge him with trafficking,  since the weight of the butter was over 2 pounds, even though most of  that weight came from the butter, not the cannabis. 

Phil Sims, deputy commander of the Etowah County Drug Enforcement  Unit, told AL.com that the department was bringing additional charges  against Qualls, and was considering the mound of butter to be 1,042  grams or just under 2.3 pounds of cannabis. “Once that marijuana was mixed with the butter then the whole butter becomes marijuana, and that’s what we weighed,” Sims said.

News of Qualls arrest spread fast, and quickly spread through Reddit  and alternative news sites like The Mind Unleashed. When the story went  viral, readers around the world began emailing and calling the sheriff’s  office demanding the young man’s release. Just a few days later they  dropped the most serious charges against him, and sentenced him to drug  court, a more severe form of probation. 

The trafficking charges, which  were ultimately thrown out, carried a mandatory minimum sentence of  three years in prison. Some people have even been given life sentences  for marijuana trafficking in the state of Alabama. “Matthew Qualls was released from the Etowah County Detention  Center on Friday. The Etowah County Sheriff’s Office does not have  information concerning any court actions concerning Mr. Qualls. You will  need to contact the Etowah County District Attorney’s Office or his  attorney,” 

Natalie Barton, a spokeswoman for the Etowah County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Qualls’ attorney, Sam Bone told AL.com that “If  Mr. Qualls successfully completes the drug court program, his charges  will be dismissed. In addition, if his charges are dismissed, he will be  eligible to apply for an expungement of the entire criminal record of  arrest and the criminal charges.” 

There is still an ongoing lawsuit against dozens of Sheriffs  throughout the state of Alabama, relating to the theft of funds from  prison food budgets.

The Southern Center for Human Rights and the Alabama Appleseed Center  for Law and Justice have been investigating this issue and were forced  to file a lawsuit to gain access to the financial records of prisons and  police departments throughout the state. The organizations sued 49 Alabama county sheriffs over their “refusal  to produce public records showing whether, and if so by how much, they  have personally profited from funds allocated for feeding people in  their jails,” according to a statement they released last month. 


AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:

My name is John Vibes and I am an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. I write for numerous alternative media websites, including The Free Thought Project @tftproject and The Mind Unleashed. In addition to my first book, Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance, I have also co-authored three books with Derrick Broze @dbroze : The Conscious Resistance: Reflections on Anarchy and Spirituality, Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion and Manifesto of the Free Humans

I just won a 3-year-long battle with cancer, and will be working to help others through my experience, if you wish to contribute to my medical bills, consider subscribing to my podcast on Patreon. 

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yes for independant journalism!

I'm quite concerned about law enforcement getting in car access to personal, social media information.

I can imagine all kinds of flagging and sorting stuff that could go down within certain jurisdictions. Singling out undesirables and under the color of law. Targeting of any arbitrary demographic. Sheriff Arpaio, I'm looking at you.

I would love to see us get a handle on law enforcement – federal, state, and local. And we have to before Big Corporate & the Oligarchs get the inside dope on Torch & Pitchfork Futures.

Some great news! Have a #jeffsesh for him ready!!! image.jpg

Love the snarky use of that fascist's moniker on strains. Happy dabbing. ;-)

See that mason jar? It was full of sugar wax about two months ago 😳

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Feliz noche amigo @johnvibes, excelente post muy interesante te felicito,exitos saludos

Enjoyed @johnvibes, this is just more of the same. The very idea of a government only breeds corruption as it allows those hungry for power to grow and expand their control over others

great post, although this is a predictable reaction from the authorities nowadays. It is a shame that this doesn't work in the uk. Apathy is killing the UK. We have a Child-abuse victim named Melanie Shaw who has been imprisoned on kidnapp charges for the last 2 years. It happened after she had accused high level politicians of abusing her and others at the infamous Beechwood carehome in Nottingham(My Town) Melanie is accused of stopping a male paramedic from leaving her house (Kidnap) They keep moving her all over the UK and often make changes to her name so she can't be traced. It really start to stink when the UK gov hold an "independant" inquiry about the abuse at Beechwood and 13 other homes in the midlands.
I'm posting all the live feeds to this inquiry but I do try to warn people that this is the mafia putting themselves on trial. Pantomime.
Rant over... Thanks for the interesting post and a peak into your life. Doth my cap to you mate.

you are just a nice writter. Have some information and good story. like your post. Happy steeming.

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