Latest news with #Stogner
Newsweek
a day ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Texas DA Could Face Prison for Weed Smoking Protest
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A Texas district attorney could face a prison sentence for livestreaming herself smoking marijuana to protest a proposed ban on weed-associated products. Sarah Stogner, a Republican district attorney for Texas's 143rd Judicial District, said she bought the marijuana from New Mexico, where it is legal to do so and transported it to Texas to smoke outside her home in Ward County to make a point. In doing so, she could be arrested on a misdemeanor possession charge. Stogner told Newsweek that she wasn't concerned about being prosecuted because, as a district attorney, she has jurisdiction in the area she smoked in and because juries don't want to prosecute those who possess or even deal marijuana. "I did this to raise attention," she said. "Its silly that our elected officials want to completely ban THC when that's not what our constituents want." Why It Matters Stogner's action follows a sustained conflict about whether to permit certain cannabis products in Texas. THC is an $8 billion industry in Texas, and a number of experts say the drug is beneficial for medicinal reasons. Others warn of safety concerns about the use of THC. In June, Texas Governor Greg Abbott vetoed a proposed ban on cannabis-derived compounds, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) products. However, similar legislation is to be mooted in a special session item in the state Senate, after it passed the House on Friday. It would ban the sale of products containing THC but would allow the sale of other cannabinoids. THC products that Texas lawmakers were seeking to ban are seen at the Dope Daughters dispensary in Austin on May 29, 2025. THC products that Texas lawmakers were seeking to ban are seen at the Dope Daughters dispensary in Austin on May 29, 2025. AP Photo/Eric Gay What To Know Possessing cannabis in Texas is classed as a Class B misdemeanor. This carries up to 180 days in prison and up to a $2,000 fine. Transporting cannabis across state lines also carries a potential $250,000 fine or a five-year prison sentence, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. In her video, Stogner addressed Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a proponent of banning marijuana. She also posted an image of her smoking marijuana on X and directed it to Patrick, whom she called on to "free the plant." Stogner told The New York Times she lined up a defense lawyer and alerted the local district judge before her stunt. What People Are Saying Matthew Mangino, a former district attorney in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, told Newsweek: "I don't see Sarah Stogner getting prosecuted by the state of Texas. First, she is a Republican, recently recruited to unseat a Democrat DA in rural Texas. Second, she targeted the lieutenant governor for his support of a THC ban, while Governor Abbott is not seeking a ban on THC, only regulation." Texas Governor Greg Abbott previously told Newsweek: "Texas can and should reasonably regulate consumable hemp products to protect public health and safety. THC products for Texans under 21 should be banned, as should be dangerous synthetic products. We can do that without also eliminating consumer access to adults." Stogner told Austin news station KVUE-TV that she would consider posting similar videos again: "Because it raises awareness, and I'm a nobody from nowhere. With social media and the ability to have a voice, that's how you have a voice." "I'm tired of our elected officials not doing what's best for the people on the ground," she added. "We've got real crimes to prosecute—oilfield theft, rape, murder—and right now, we can't enforce the law as written on marijuana because of testing requirements." "If we want to protect kids, then we need to legalize and regulate it, and we need to tax it, just like we do with alcohol," she said. What Happens Next Whether Stogner faces legal consequences for her protest remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the ban will need to face the Senate and, if passed, Abbott's approval before becoming a law.
New York Times
18-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
An Unlikely Prosecutor Is Now the Law in Texas Oil Country
The pickings are slim in the wind-whipped West Texas oil towns of Monahans and Pecos when it comes to people who know their way around a courtroom. An assistant district attorney who used to shoulder some of the load for the elected prosecutor is now the area's only judge. A court reporter was fired for passing out drunk at the courthouse after a lunch break — and then was snapped up by a neighboring district. So when Republicans needed a candidate to take on the Democratic district attorney in a deeply conservative stretch of the Permian Basin that's more than half the size of New Jersey, they had to settle on Sarah Stogner. She disliked President Trump, made a name for herself by once posing nearly naked on an oil pumpjack for a campaign ad and had never tried a criminal case in her life, but at least she had an active law license. Then, in November, she won. 'I didn't really have time to process,' she said of her victory. 'I had to go into that office and walk into a whole bunch of pending felony criminal cases, and I had zero experience.' It hasn't been easy. Locals may enjoy the storied tales of the Wild West justice west of the Pecos River (and, for Ms. Stogner's district, a little east of the Pecos as well) and profess strict beliefs in law and order. But they frequently give the benefit of the doubt to the accused, who might be a friend, or a cousin, or the friend of a cousin. Ms. Stogner, 40, lost the first three cases she tried, including a seemingly slam-dunk drunk-driving trial where jurors improbably decided that the avuncular older defendant, who was drunk when officers found him in his car on a roadside, may not have driven there. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
