Timothy Leary v. United States, 383 F.2d 851 (5th Cir. 1967)  Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: No. 23570, Brief for Appellant by Joel Finer

Joel Finer

 Joel Jay Finer, Counsel for Appellant, Austin, Texas, 1966

[Timothy Leary Marijuana Case] 383 F.2d 851; No. 23570. Bound in fine modern navy cloth with gold lettering.  Original blue front wrap bound in. Hardcover.  129 p. Revision 3, with minor corrections, hand written in (unknown if by counsel).

Leary's counsel, Joel Finer's written brief appealing Leary's conviction for transporting and illegally importing marijuana.  Leary's conviction was eventually overturned and his conviction quashed. Finer, a law professor at the University of Texas, used religious rights as his primary argument for his appeal. Finer's argument: "This unusual criminal case delves into the new realm of psychedelic experience, and into mysticism, religion and its free exercise. The principal issue we must decide is whether the conviction of appellant for violations of federal criminal statutes relating to marihuana-- a psychedelic drug which the defendant claims he uses as a religious sacramental aid-- contravenes the accused's First Amendment right to the free exercise of his religion."