Happy Birthday Timothy Leary- a Harvard Professor, leader of psychedelic therapy, prophet of the LSD lifestyle and Godfather to Winona Ryder. Leary had numerous criminal cases filed against him. Learys first run-in with the law came on December 20, 1965. Leary decided to take his two children, Jack and Susan, and his girlfriend Rosemary Woodruff, to Mexico for an extended stay to write a book. On their return from Mexico to the United States, a U.S. Customs Service official found marijuana in Susans underwear. They had crossed into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico in the late afternoon and discovered they would have to wait until morning for the appropriate visa for an extended stay. They decided to cross back into Texas to spend the night, and were on the U.S.-Mexico bridge when Rosemary remembered she had a very small amount of marijuana in her possession. It was impossible to throw it out on the bridge, so Susan put it in her underwear. After taking responsibility for the controlled substance, Leary was convicted of possession under the Marihuana Tax Act on March 11, 1966, sentenced to 30 years in prison, fined $30,000 and ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment. Soon afterward, however, he appealed the case on the basis that the Marihuana Tax Act was, in fact, unconstitutional, as it required a degree of self-incrimination in blatant violation of the Fifth Amendment. On December 26, 1968, Leary was arrested again, in Laguna Beach, California, this time for the possession of two marijuana roaches. Leary alleged they were planted by the arresting officer but was convicted anyway. On May 19, 1969, The United States Supreme Court concurred with Leary in Leary v. United States, declared the Marihuana Tax Act unconstitutional and overturned his 1965 conviction. On that same day, Leary announced his candidacy for Governor of California against the Republican incumbent, Ronald Reagan. His campaign slogan was Come together, join the party. On June 1, 1969, Leary joined John Lennon and Yoko Ono at their Montreal Bed-In, and Lennon subsequently wrote Leary a campaign song called Come Together. How cool is that? Here is Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin with George Martin producing Come Together cover for the tribute album In My Life. youtu.be/k9_4itRSEvI
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 19:36:06 +0000
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