From the March 2007 Idaho Observer:

Olson files quo warranto

Federal drug war prisoner Duane Olson filed a writ of quo warranto in U.S. District Court March 5, 2007. Olson wants to know by what authority a Georgia District federal judge was able to seal a public record he believes undermines the government’s justification for its infamous "war on drugs."

Olson’s research shows the "Penalties and Punishments" prescribed at Public Law 98-473, the COMPREHENSIVE CRIME CONTROL ACT OF 1984, is a fraud.

Title 21 (Food and Drugs), Section 841 (a)(1) of U.S. Code is the "law" that allegedly makes it illegal for "any person" to possess, manufacture, distribute or dispense drugs or other controlled substances." Olson believes this code and section is a cryptogram being unlawfully interpreted by the U.S. Department of Justice (and all its state and federal subordinates) as having jurisdiction over "any person" in the enforcement of a regulatory scheme for the manufacture, trafficking or possession of "drugs."

To understand how high the stakes are, realize that about half of the 2.2 million state and federal prisoners are doing time for drug law violations that did not involve violence or damage to property. Those million or so people doing time now (and the tens of millions before them) have churned $billions through the justice system in attorney fees, court costs, law enforcement, jail and prison construction/operation and asset forfeitures.

The federal "war on drugs" is arguably the most comprehensive wealth redistribution scheme in U.S. history. Common, non-violent, generally law-abiding, working-class people enter the system with whatever assets they had at the time of their arrest—possessions, real property, businesses, savings, friends, families, futures—and come out the other end almost as naked as the day they were born.

And where is the combined wealth of millions of hapless federal drug war victims going? Open the yellow pages to "attorneys." Open the blue pages to "government." Look at the marble floors and cherrywood trim (and state-of-the-art security features) of new and/or upgraded state and federal courthouses. Look at the fleets of brand new (city, county, state and federal) police patrol cars, trucks and SWAT vehicles. Compare the wages, salaries, perks and retirements enjoyed by justice industry functionaries to those "enjoyed" by their private sector counterparts.

During his decade-long attempt to decode and defeat the federal drug war, Olson has been playing a dedicated game of chess with government adversaries whose concept of fair play is to ignore Olson’s moves or tip the board over.

While relentlessly prosecuting his statutorially-guaranteed (but functionally non-existent) administrative remedies, Olson has come across some interesting drug war tidbits. One, from a New York Times editor, acknowledged that the war on drugs is a lawless fraud but the NYT can’t touch it as a "matter of national security."

"I happen to know for a fact that Chief Federal Judge B. Advant Edenfield of Savannah holds the ‘mystery motion’ that proves the COMPREHENSIVE CRIME CONTROL ACT OF 1984 to be unconstitutional—null and void—without force of law," Olson stated in a letter to IO editor Don Harkins.

Olson also indicated that former Georgia Rep. Newt Gingrich is involved in the coverup.

So, following the lead of Augustus Blackstone, Olson filed the following question with the D.C. District Court on March 5, 2007, in the nature of a writ of quo warranto:

WHAT CONSTITUTION OR STATUTORY AUTHORITY CONFERRED FEDERAL JURISDICTION UPON UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA, SAVANNAH DIVISION, CHIEF JUDGE B. ADVANT EDENFIELD PRESIDING, TO ISSUE AN ORDER TO SEAL AND IMPOUND THE ENTIRE CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS OF CASE NO: CR-491-124-01 FROM THE PEOPLE’S REVIEW AND SCRUTINY?

Olson is an optimist and always a step or two ahead of the guys who habitually tip over the chessboard. We will keep our readers posted on developments as they unfold.