Sentencing Law and Policy asks, "Why Does The Government Want To Shut Up Bryan Epis?"
Bryan James Epis is a well-known medical marijuana activist who is believed to be the first person to be tried in federal court for cultivating marijuana for medical purposes after the 1996 ballot initiative that legalized medical marijuana in California.
He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, a $15,000 fine, and 10 years supervised release. He has now had part of his sentence vacated -- imprisonment reduced to 90 months -- but the DOJ insisted on one condition.
He can't advocate for a change in marijuana laws for the duration of his sentence, including the 10 year supervised release.
As the linked post says, there doesn't seem to be any legitimate government interest here, and the condition is awfully vague. Is it now illegal for him to write to his representatives in Congress? To write a blog post complaining that Obama has gone back on his promise not to interfere with state medical marijuana operations?