The Free View-- weblog of a presidential candidate: Judge Jim Gray joins LP, may run for President!

February 18, 2003

Judge Jim Gray joins LP, may run for President!

Judge Jim Gray, a Superior Court judge, just joined the Libertarian Party, and is apparently considering seeking the party's nominaton for President.

Here's the scoop as it appeared in a recent e-mail on the LPCampusActivist e-mail list:

Jim Gray, a Superior Court Judge in Orange California, has joined the Libertarian Party, and in doing so has become one of the party's highest-ranking public officeholders. Gray has been an outspoken critic of our nation's drug policies, and is the author of the recent book "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed, and What We Can Do About It – a Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs."

Gray made his decision to join shortly after reviewing the Libertarian
Party's Drug War Focus Strategic Plan, which focuses party efforts to end the Drug War at the federal level. "Drug Prohibition is the most critical issue facing the world today, and the LP is the only party addressing it," said Gray. "I felt compelled to join."

"Much of what I see as a Judge brings a tear to my eye," Gray continued, in a phone conversation with LP Political Director Ron Crickenberger. "The drug war is destroying the fabric of society. We are ripping parents away from their children, who end up in forced adoption before the parents get out from the long mandatory minimums."

Judge Gray will be speaking at the California LP State Convention on Sunday, February 16. He is considering seeking the Libertarian Party's nomination for president. "I want to do everything I can do to stop the needless tragedy resulting from our misplaced drug policies," said Gray.

Gray's website is www.judgejimgray.com

I didn't get to see him speak at the convention I was just at -- he spoke at a dinner Sunday night, and I had to leave at the end of the afternoon that day. I've heard of Judge Gray for a while now-- he's been an increasingly-prominent voice in the fight against the War on Drugs. He could have a pretty big impact if he ran for President focusing on ending the drug war. It'd be pretty hard for most people to disagree with a judge on a subject like that-- obviously a judge knows more than most folks about the impact of the War on Drugs. And judges aren't exactly known for reckless disregard for the law. If a judge is willing to actively oppose a bank of laws based on his experiences in the courtroom, how do you argue with that? Is he a lawless hippie? Is he ignorant, or just swept up in the movement? Does he just want to get high legally, or want more people to do drugs? All the common anti-legalizer canards I hear so often seem to fall pretty flat when applied to a working judge.

Go Judge Gray!

Posted by Lance Brown at February 18, 2003 02:36 AM | TrackBack

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