By PETER HUSSMANN
A self-described "marijuana rights advocate" and prisoner at the Newton Correctional Facility on drug charges has filed suit against employees of the state institution saying his civil rights were violated due to his removal from a required substance abuse treatment program for using materials in class written by a Newton native that advocate for the legalization of the drug.
Bradley Aukes, 52, filed suit in Jasper County District Court last week stating his belief that marijuana should be legalized ran counter to the chemical dependency class "belief system that marijuana use leads to crime" and that his use of source materials by Doug McVay, a Newton native who is now a board member and director of research for Common Sense for Drug Policy, a non-profit that advocates for changes to marijuana laws, led to his dismissal from the class that is required to be completed in order to be considered for parole.
Aukes suit names Scott Versteeg, a chemical dependency instructor at the Newton prison, Larry Lipscomb, the treatment director, and Assistant Warden Jill Dursky.
According to the petition, Aukes arrived at the Newton Correctional Facility in December 2011. A rehabilitation plan was devised in January 2012 that included the requirement that a substance abuse treatment program be completed after which his counselor "would initiate parole recommendation," the suit contends.
In May, prior to the start of the class which runs until the middle of September, Aukes claims that he informed the Versteeg, the chemical dependency instructor, that he was a marijuana rights advocate and he did not want "to be punished" for his beliefs. Aukes claims that he was told that as long as he satisfactorily completed the course work "he would not be punished by termination."
During class periods over the course of the next several weeks, Aukes would sometimes challenge the validity of the information Versteeg was providing concerning marijuana, though the prisoner and instructor agreed to disagree.
In late June, Versteeg assigned a group project where class members would join in small work groups by drug of choice to create a poster concerning the drug, whether the group member could live without it and identify how they as a group were attached to the drug. Aukes said class members were encouraged to use a variety of outside sources to create the collage.
During discussion with his group members. Aukes claims in the suit that it was decided their poster project would be a written response to convey the answer to the third part of the assignment, why they were attached to marijuana, using outside materials Aukes would provide. The group agreed they were attached to marijuana "due to its medicinal qualities and other scientific evidence."
As the group project continued the next day, Aukes group began discussing outside material he provided, such as McVay's "Drug War Facts," a common sense approach for drug policy, a book Aukes had received pursuant Iowa Department of Corrections policy for approved publications.
Following a class break, Aukes returned to find that Versteeg had taken the book. Attempts by Aukes to get the book returned were unsuccessful for several days, a violation of prison property policies, the lawsuit contends.
On June 26, Aukes was ordered to his counselor's office where he was informed a review committee had been formed where it was being recommended that he be removed from the class due to his use of the outside resource material.
At the review, Defendants Versteeg and Lipscomb accused Aukes of admitting that he was not going to stop using marijuana. Aukes responded that he was not to going to use marijuana in a recreational setting but did intend to use medical marijuana for tinnitus, a ringing sensation in the ears.
Aukes was also asked at the review why he was using "a non-approved source for class?"
"Plaintiff Aukes explained the book was an approved publication, the Instructor Defendant Versteeg told us to use any factual based resource material to complete the answers," the petition states. "I was following all classroom guidelines to complete the assignment."
"I am taking the class seriously; I am only following the guidelines in place and being truthful with you," Aukes states he informed the committee at the review hearing. "I intend to use marijuana for medicinal reasons and I'll probably relocate to Colorado, Oregon or California because I do not intend to violate the laws. Would you rather I lie to you? I am trying to be a better person; isn't that what rehabilitation is?"
Following the review hearing, Aukes was dismissed from the class. He appealed the decision to the deputy warden, which was denied.
In his petition, Aukes asks that he be reinstated to the treatment program and that all negatie notations regarding his termination be removed from his prison file.
In addition, he is seeking $1,500 per day after Sept. 14 (the completion date of the treatment program) that he is "staff initiated for parole, $700 per day for every class day missed and $10,000 from each defendant for defamation of character.
Aukes filed the suit on his own behalf.
(Full disclosure: The author of this report has known Doug McVay for more than 20 years.)
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