By Murphy Woodhouse | Arizona Daily Star
In response to an online campaign, Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall sent a letter to the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona asking that it “cease and desist from disseminating a misleading solicitation.”
The ACLU was “dumbfounded” by the letter, which it found to be without “legal merit,” a spokesman told the Star.
Earlier this month, the civil rights group urged people to contact LaWall and ask her to withdraw her support for House Bill 2241, which would increase penalties for people convicted of several crimes involving certain opiates, including heroin and fentanyl.
“This is a dangerous bill that will force Arizonans suffering from drug addiction into prisons for years without treatment,” a March 19 ACLU of Arizona Facebook post reads. “Take action now and tell Barbara LaWall to publicly withdraw her support for HB 2241!”
It is the claim that the bill would result in addicts spending years in prison that LaWall objected to, as well as the suggestion that she supports “putting those suffering from addiction in prison.”
