Lafayette judge steps down: Frieling won't enforce new marijuana law

An associate municipal court judge in Lafayette resigned Monday in protest of stiffer penalties for marijuana possession in the city.

Leonard Frieling, a Boulder criminal-defense lawyer, said he is resigning out of principle after more than eight years as a backup to Lafayette Municipal Judge Roger Buchholz.

"I cannot in good conscience sit on the bench while being unwilling to enforce the municipal ordinances," Frieling said in a resignation letter to city officials. "Specifically, since you have seen fit to increase the penalty for cannabis possession from a $100 fine (which matches the state penalty) to a $1,000 fine and a year in jail, I find that I am morally and ethically unable to sit as a judge for the city."

The Lafayette City Council last week passed a first reading of an ordinance increasing the possible penalty for possession of cannabis or drug paraphernalia, which now carries a maximum $100 fine. The change is pending final approval next week.

Frieling said he was willing to enforce the old ordinance despite a personal belief that the war on marijuana is "ridiculous." He said it makes no sense for cannabis to be illegal for adults who are allowed to drink alcohol, and the proposed penalty in Lafayette would set a bad precedent.

"The state of Colorado has somewhat decriminalized small amounts for personal possession by making it a petty offense with maximum $100 fine," he said. "I think that it is inappropriate for a municipality that a crime is so much more serious within their city limits than it is statewide."

Lafayette Mayor Chris Berry said Monday night that he had not seen Frieling's letter and could not comment on its contents.

Berry said the new pot penalties were among several changes supported by the city's law enforcement. The idea was to increase the maximum penalty to give judges more discretion when sentencing marijuana offenders under different circumstances, he said.

"My interpretation was that it would be up to the judge," Berry said. "A sitting judge could still make (the fine) $100."

Mayor Pro Tem David Strungis — who cast the sole vote against the ordinance — said the police chief and sitting judge showed "no evidence that we have a pandemic of marijuana-possession arrests in Lafayette."

"My feeling was that punishments have to be within reason, and the punishment has to fit the crime," Strungis said. "To put someone in jail for a year for less than an ounce of marijuana — I couldn't justify that."