Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.insight From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE;JUSTICE IS BLIND Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 13:30:17 EST Message-ID: \SE FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE;JUSTICE IS BLIND \BY INSIGHT *****Club Dues. In November, Cincinnati businessman Donald Bohnert will leave prison, having done a year's time for illegally dumping hazardous waste. But his punishment does not end there. Under the sentence issued by Common Pleas Judge Thomas Nurre, Bohnert will be paying his dues for five years to come - as a member of the Sierra Club. The Associated Press reports that Nurre felt this enforced membership would help Bohnert see the error of his ways. "I came up with the idea of sentencing him to the [Sierra] club after thinking about what they stand for and what they do, as opposed to what he was doing to the air and to the ecology," the judge said. Bohnert agreed to the sentencing condition and thinks it is fair, his attorney said. Insight Public Defender George Lambroff calls Bohnert's sentence "interesting." The Washington Legal Foundation thinks it's illegal. The public interest law center filed a complaint with the Ohio Commission on Judicial Disability and Tender, saying Nurre's action violated Bohnert's First Amendment rights by requiring him to support "a highly activist and politically oriented special interest group." Bohnert's case is not unique. In February, another Ohio common pleas judge, Ronald Bowman, ordered Walter Mox to join the Sierra Club for three years as part of a penalty for illegally dumping lead-based sludge. He defended his actions, saying, "If I order you to join [Alcoholics Anonymous], why can't I put you in the Sierra Club? It's the same sort of thing." The Washington Legal Foundation says it is not the same thing. "AA is a nonpartisan help group, while the Sierra Club is highly partisan," says spokesman Paul Kamenar. The judicial disability commission denied the group's complaint without ruling on the underlying issue, saying it did not have jurisdiction to review Nurre's sentence. Sierra Club officials were unaware of this source of members. *****DO YOU KNOW OF: * A shocking waste of taxpayer money? * A wacky college course or professor? * An instance of revealing media arrogance? * A public utterance better never uttered? * A ridiculous case of hype? * A lawyer or lawsuit run amok? Let us hear about it. The first contributors of published items will receive a handsome memento depicting the Insight Public Defender. Write to: Insight, For the People, By the People, 3600 New York Ave. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002. Or better still, fax us: (202) 529-2484. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM