Loretta Sapp

1974 -  (46 years)

• Name	Loretta Sapp  [1]
  Born	1974
  Gender	Female
  Biographical	2002  [2]
  	founded the U. S. Marijuana Party
  Occupation	Abt 2002-2004	Vancouver, , British Columbia, Canada   [2]
  	news anchor of Pot-TV news for Marc Emery and Cannabis Culture
  Biographical	12 Feb 2004  [3]
  	she was featured in Cannabis Culture magazine in an article by Pete Brady
  	Pot-TV newswoman Loretta Nall "guilty" by Pete Brady (12 Feb, 2004) Alabama judge and police conspire against courageous activist Loretta Nall Pot-TV anchor Loretta Nall, who is also president of the US Marijuana Party, went to court in Alexander City, Alabama on February 10th.  In 2002, local police raided her home when she and her family were gone. They claim to have found 0.87 grams of marijuana, which is barely enough to roll a small joint. They also seized a pair of scales that Nall used for weighing candle-making ingredients.  The raid was led by Officer Eric McCain. In an affidavit filed before the raid, McCain claimed that community complaints, a pro-pot letter to a newspaper written by Nall, and alleged statements made by Nall's elementary school-age daughter caused him to believe that the Nalls were growing marijuana.  The raid did not turn up any evidence of marijuana being grown, but Nall was charged with second degree possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia.  Police, school officials, and other government agents then tried to have Nall declared an unfit parent so they could take her children away.  Nall hired "Libertarian" attorney Rick Lyerly, but he showed up late for an important hearing in 2003, and Nall says he failed to follow her instructions about how to conduct the case. When Nall insisted that Lyerly vigorously defend her by pointing out numerous irregularities in the search warrant and police procedures, Lyerly stopped representing her, and demanded she pay him more money.  At the February 10th trial, Nall was represented by defense attorneys Wilson Myers and Charles Salvaggio. Myers vigorously questioned McCain and other police witnesses, forcing them to contradict themselves with testimony that lacked factual accuracy, consistency and credibility.  Nall says presiding District Court Judge Kim Taylor, the same judge who signed the search warrant, appeared to be asleep during much of the trial, and that whenever he made a ruling, it was in favor of the prosecution.  By the end of the trial, Nall says, attorney Myers had elicited what appeared to be numerous incidents of perjury from the prosecution witnesses. It didn't matter to Judge Taylor, however. He found Nall guilty of the two charges and sentenced her to 30 days in jail for each charge. If Nall had not previously posted $2000 bond, she could have been immediately sent to jail unless she agreed to a "court referral" program and a suspended sentence. Instead, she remains "free," and has appealed the convictions.  Nall explained the dubious convictions by saying that Alabama has a "bizarre" legal system that allows a person to be convicted of a crime and sentenced to jail before the person has had the opportunity to fully examine the witnesses and evidence against them.  "It's almost impossible to get justice at the District Court level," Nall says. "It's totally against the defendant. If you want a neutral judge and jury to examine the evidence and witnesses against you, you have to endure the police lies and judicial bias in District Court, and hope that the appeals court does a better job of evaluating the case."  Nall says her legal ordeal has taught her a lot about Alabama and America. She says that her case shows how the constitution and Bill of Rights have been slammed by the drug war.  "I am appalled at what I witnessed in court," she lamented. "How many innocent people are in jail because of judges like Kim Taylor? How many lives have been destroyed because people did not have the resources or determination to fight on? The judge did not bring any dignity or consideration to my trial. He did not care about my innocence, or about the obvious lies of the police."  Nall says she does not know how long the appeals process will take. In the meantime, she says, she will continue to do Pot-TV news and other activism.
  Biographical	7 Jun 2004  [4]
  	was featured in an article by Pete Brady in Cannabis Culture Magazine
  	Activist found guilty by Pete Brady (07 Jun, 2004) Pot-TV star and leader of the US Marijuana Party convicted in Alabama. Loretta Nall: Fighting injustice and harassment. Pot-TV News anchor and US Marijuana Party president Loretta Nall was found guilty of two misdemeanor drug charges in Alabama on February 10, 2004.  Nall immediately appealed the convictions, claiming police, prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.  The activist's legal problems began in November 2002, when the Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force raided her home while she and her family were absent. Police claim to have found .87 grams of marijuana, which is barely enough to roll a small joint. They also seized rolling papers and a pair of scales that Nall used for weighing candle-making ingredients.  The raid was led by Officer Eric McCain, a policeman stationed at Horseshoe Bend Elementary School, where Nall's daughter was attending kindergarten. In an affidavit filed before the raid, McCain claimed that community complaints, a pro-pot letter to a newspaper written by Nall, and alleged statements made by Nall's daughter Bell caused him to believe that the Nalls were growing marijuana.  During and after the trial, however, McCain and presiding District Court Judge Kim Taylor gave confusing, contradictory versions of what Bell allegedly said.  "Her daughter had leaves at school for a project and stated that she had other leaves she wanted to bring but her mother said those leaves are illegal," Taylor said after the trial. "Judge Taylor was asleep during the trial, and he has no business stating as fact something which is merely an unproven assertion made by police in a situation where the facts are in question and his decision to find me guilty is being appealed," Nall countered.   "My daughter was five years old at the time. She didn't say anything about illegal leaves, and we didn't have any marijuana in our home. None! The entire case against me is based on lies. If the judge had been awake and fair, he would have thrown out the charges and the search warrant. Problem is, he is the same stupid judge who signed the search warrant, so if he had thrown it out, he would have been admitting he made an error."  Trial transcripts reveal a glaring lack of credibility in McCain's testimony about Bell's statements, as well as his assertions about informants and other crucial information.  Another officer testified that Nall and her husband pulled up in their car during the raid, and that Nall leapt out of the car saying, "That's my medicine, I use it for insomnia."  Nall says she had never before seen the officer who testified, and that she never admitted to possessing marijuana.  Other trial irregularities include a claim by prosecutor Damon Lewis that the scales seized from Nall's home "can only be used for weighing drugs; they have no other purpose."  After the trial, Horseshoe Bend principal Roger Swann defended McCain, but Nall said that Swann, McCann, teachers, and police officers have conspired to harass and interrogate Bell Nall. "I found out last year that the husband of Bell's new teacher was a police officer who had been luring Bell to a secluded area of the schoolyard to interrogate her about my husband and I," Nall said. "I had previously told Swann in writing that nobody was to question my children at school. After the trial, Bell's former teacher, Mrs Shaw, came up to Bell in the lunchroom and tried to discuss the case with her. All along, they have been trying to take my children away from me. I am going to file a lawsuit against these people for what they have done to my family."  Judge Taylor sentenced Nall to 30 days in jail, suspended for one year, and $250 in fines. If she loses her appeals court trial, which will be heard by a jury instead of just by a judge, she could be sentenced to one year in jail.  "No jury is going to believe the police testimony and incompetence in this case," Nall predicted. "They lied so much, and it's obvious. Judge Taylor decided my guilt before he ever heard a word of testimony. The police are so dumb that they seized catnip from our house and tried to allege that it was marijuana. It is astonishing that police can invade your home, plant evidence, lie, and yet, you can still be found guilty. It shows how the drug war has stolen away our rights and given too much power to police and corrupt judges."  Nall says she does not know how long the appeals process will take. In the meantime, she says, she will continue to do Pot-TV news and other activism.  "What I've learned is to never trust the police, make sure your attorney fights hard, never give up your rights, and always confront their lies with truth," Nall said. "They thought when they raided me that I was some dumb-ass country girl who would just roll over and plead guilty. They were wrong. I am going to be vindicated, and I am going to make them pay for all the harm they have done to me and my family."
  Biographical	3 Aug 2004  [5]
  	was featured in an article in Cannabis Culture that announced her trip to Columbia
  	Nall to travel to Columbia by press release (03 Aug, 2004) Activists plan to document US foreign policy Loretta Nall In these difficult times of war and violence, it may seem crazy to leave the country at all, let alone voluntarily visit a war zone. Yet from August 15-27 2004, that is exactly what local resident and national drug policy reform activist, Loretta Nall will do when she travels with the grassroots organization, Witness for Peace to Colombia.  Loretta and 20 others will travel to war-torn Colombia, as part of a citizen documentation team to learn about U.S. foreign policy in a region that has fallen out of the headlines, but not out of U.S. strategic interests. In Colombia, Loretta will meet with those affected by U.S. policies: government officials, community leaders, union representatives, farmers and businesspeople, women's groups and peace organizations. The delegates will spend time in rural and urban settings, staying in family homes and getting to know the daily lives of their hosts. Through this contact they will learn how the policies of the United States affect the most vulnerable in Colombia, and hear ideas for changes.  Loretta's documentation team will also meet with U.S. Embassy and consular officials in Colombia. They will voice concerns, ideas and dreams of the local communities to policy makers, speaking truth to power.  When Loretta returns to the U.S. she will share what she has seen and heard with the community, media and policymakers.  This delegation is a model for "pre-emptive peace" on the belief that learning about the root causes of conflicts and building relationships can do more to prevent war than military force. In an era of increasingly globalized markets, Witness for Peace works to globalize solidarity and human relationships. Since the 1980's Witness for Peace has promoted social justice through human contact and education, recognizing that peace cannot be bought with military force or economic pressure.  About the delegate:  Loretta Nall, 29, wife, mother of two children living in her native Alabama, became involved in drug policy reform in September of 2002, after enduring a terrifying helicopter raid by local, state and federal agents looking for marijuana.  Mentored and suitably funded by Canadian philanthropist and anti-prohibition activist Marc Emery, Loretta Nall has founded and organized 35 state chapters of the US Marijuana Party, has hosted the POT-TV.net News (see www.pot-tv.net ) for 12 months , interviewing Jesse Jackson, Dennis Kucinich in regards the drug war in America. Loretta Nall has appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine, lewrockwell.com, and numerous daily newspapers across America on behalf of her campaign to reduce the destructive effects of prohibition in America. Currently, she is assisting in guiding a medical marijuana bill through the Alabama state legislature in concert with the Drug Policy Alliance and was recently appointed to an advisory board being commissioned at the request of Alabama's Prison Commissioner.  Mrs. Nall plans to run for Governor of Alabama in 2006.
  Biographical	25 Oct 2006  [6]
  	(and her boobs) appeared in 129 newspapers just before the election
  	Loretta Nall's USA Midterm Election Media Blitz! by CC Staff (25 Oct, 2006) A "cleavage campaign" news story is on fire, giving Loretta Nall hot media coverage in mainstream media! Libertarian candidate for Governor in Alabama, Cannabis Culture contributor, Pot.tv anchor, US Marijuana Party leader, and more... Loretta Nall is an activist to admire! Her campaign for the November 7th US election is gaining international attention in the UK, Canada and, of course, all across the USA. What is the latest hot topic for her campaign? Cleavage, if you can believe it! An old photo and story has thrust Loretta into the media. She's appearing in hundreds of news sources and landing big mainstream coverage, and uses every opportunity to promote her message. Associated Press: How to attract voters' attention? Cleavage!  Alabama Libertarian runs for governor on boobs vs. boobs platform  MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Loretta Nall, the Libertarian Party's write-in candidate for governor of Alabama, is campaigning on her cleavage and hoping that voters' eyes will eventually refocus on her platform. "It started out as a joke, but it blew up into something huge," Nall said.  Nall, who spoke in an interview Friday on the Capitol steps, realizes that's about as close as she is going to get to the governor's office. But her "anything goes" style of campaigning – including campaign gear showing her smiling in a low-cut dress – has helped her attract attention not normally enjoyed by write-in candidates in Alabama, including spots on conservative radio talk shows and speeches at staid civic clubs.  Nall said that once she gets voters' attention, they eventually notice her campaign platform, which calls for tax credits for sending children to private school and home schooling, opting out of the No Child Left Behind Act, legalizing marijuana, and not complying with the Patriot Act and the Real ID Act. Nall said one issue in her platform that seems to be getting lots of positive response is trying to withdraw the Alabama National Guard from Iraq. "When people in Alabama get tired of kicking the ass of brown people, it's time to pull out," she said in her characteristically over-the-top style.  Political handicaps  Campaigning for Nall has been difficult. The Libertarian Party couldn't collect the 40,000 signatures from voters that were needed to get her name on the ballot as a regular candidate, and she hasn't reached the $25,000 threshold in campaign contributions that would require her to file a campaign finance report with the state.  Despite the political handicaps, the 32-year-old with dyed blond hair knows how to get plenty of free attention. Early in her campaign, she talked about how her misdemeanor arrest for marijuana possession in 2002 caused her to start the U.S. Marijuana Party and become an advocate for decriminalizing marijuana. Then she entertained readers of her campaign Web site with lots of information about her personal life, including a discussion of why she doesn't wear panties.   'More of these boobs'  Now her campaign is offering everything from T-shirts to marijuana stash boxes adorned with a photo of her in a dress with a plunging neckline and the words: "More of these boobs." Below that are pictures of other candidates for governor – including Republican incumbent Bob Riley and Democratic Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley – along with the words: "And less of these boobs."  Nall, who designed the campaign art work, said the idea came to her after a weekly newspaper columnist wrote about her campaign one week and then wrote an apology the next week for the paper accompanying his column with a picture of Nall that showed lots of cleavage. Nall said she was offended at first that her neckline was being discussed in the newspaper, but then realized that when a campaign budget runs lower than a neckline, "you have to be outrageous to get attention."  No matter how far back Nall finishes on Nov. 7, that won't be the last that voters will see of her. She's already making plans to run against Republican Rep. Mike Rogers in Alabama's 3rd Congressional District in 2008. "I enjoy this," she said.
  Name	Loretta Nall  [2, 7]
  Person ID	I17415	If the Legends Are True...
  Last Modified	30 May 2014

  
  

  Father	Sapp
  Family ID	F6507	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Terry Nall
  Last Modified	7 Mar 2007
  Family ID	F6508	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Nall → Loretta Sapp
  		Nall → Loretta Sapp
  		Nall → Loretta Sapp "Boobs" poster.
  		Nall → Loretta Sapp Nall for Governor

  
  

• Notes

  (Research):At twenty-eight years of age, Loretta Nall appears to be a typical wife and mother, but there was nothing typical about what happened to her on September 17. That day her quiet rural Alabama life was invaded by agents of the Alexander City Police Department, the Tallapoosa County Sheriff's Department, the Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, the Marijuana Eradication Project, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation. She had been puzzled by the appearance of a helicopter that had hovered over her house for nearly an hour, but the puzzle was solved when all of the police vehicles began pulling onto her property. You see, exactly one week earlier, Loretta had taken a trip to Vancouver, BC, to visit Marc Emery, a well-known Canadian marijuana-legalization activist. She took the trip not to get high, but to learn the art of political activism. Loretta had it in her head to start an Alabama arm of the American Marijuana Party. Upon her arrival in Canada, she notified customs officials where she was going and whom she was going to see, at which point all her papers were seized and she was held in limbo for several hours while the Canadian authorities checked her background to see if they had any reason to stop her from entering the country. Then they returned her passport and told her she was free to go. Loretta had no police record. That is, she didn't have one, until last Wednesday. Loretta is convinced that the sudden appearance of the authorities at her doorstep is a direct result of her trip to Canada. She claims that no one would have had any reason to suspect her of anything. She leads a quiet life rearing two children. Knowing her rights (something the police probably assumed a high-school dropout in rural Alabama would know nothing about), Loretta gave the authorities permission to search outside her house, trying to spare herself a huge hassle, but she insisted that if they wanted to come inside, they would need to get a warrant. When Loretta brought out her video camera to record what they were doing, they high-tailed it off her property. Less than a month later, Loretta formally founded the Alabama Marijuana Party, and a little more than a month after that, on November 7, she had her first letter to the editor published in the Birmingham News calling for the legalization of marijuana. On November 13, Judge Kim Taylor of the Tallapoosa County District Court received a request from the Tallapoosa County Sheriff's Department to issue a search warrant for Loretta's property on the basis of an alleged anonymous phone-in tip that she was growing marijuana inside her house. The search warrant was issued, and less than three hours later, it was executed. Loretta returned home from a morning of job hunting to discover that the police had broken into her home. What did the police find after breaking in Loretta's front door? Well, they found a mess. Loretta, by her own admission, is not the world's best housekeeper, but the police did a fine job of making an even bigger mess by ransacking her house, looking for a crop that didn't exist. Of course, one wouldn't expect to find a marijuana crop in her diaries, which were seized, or in the plates of catnip, also seized, or in her copy of the November 7 Letter to the Editor, seized, or in the Salvia leaves in the freezer, seized (Mr. Nall is a horticulturist), or in the printed materials regarding marijuana and political action, seized. The police did not even stop to think twice about sifting through the ashes contained in an urn, the ashes of Loretta's son who had died at the age of three months of SIDS. So what did the police get for all their efforts? One marijuana stem, three seeds, which they claim to have found in an envelope on Loretta's printer, and a package of cigarette papers. Not content with harassing Loretta by ransacking her house, the police called in the Alabama Department of Human Resources, whose agents declared Loretta's home unfit for her children. They informed her that if she did not have a place to send the children to stay, then the state would take them away. Loretta had not truly been afraid, until then. She had been certain the police would find nothing but an unclean home when they searched. It hadn't occurred to her how far the state would go to punish her for her activism. She hadn't realized she might lose her children. Her son and daughter were brought to her mother's house, some fifty miles away, but only after the agents of the state questioned her five-year-old daughter and ten-year-old son relentlessly. According to Mr. Nall, the authorities repeatedly asked leading questions of the little girl regarding how painful it was when Loretta brushed her hair. According to Loretta's son, the social service agents seemed quite interested in whether pornographic email was received in the house. As any little longhaired girl can tell you, hair gets tangled; as any Internet user can tell you, pornography is ubiquitous. Loretta was handcuffed and taken to jail, where she was formally booked for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia. She was held for several hours while her husband was given the bureaucratic runaround in his attempts to get her released. The police wanted to make sure the Nalls knew they were helpless in the face of the state's power. The irony is, Loretta doesn't feel helpless. She feels empowered by what has happened to her. She is determined to continue the fight. Her determination is all the more amazing because Loretta and her husband are not well off. They have a modest livelihood, and this fight could cost them thousands of dollars. Mr. Nall is employed as a laborer in a nursery, and Loretta is currently unemployed. She dreams of becoming a writer, a high aspiration for a woman with a GED, who married at 16 and had her first child at 18. Loretta might not have an advanced education, but she does have intelligence, and even more important, she has a conscience. She wasn't born an activist; she was made into one. She watched as several friends had their careers and families destroyed by marijuana convictions. To her, such punishment was plain cruelty, and she couldn't –  and still cannot –  understand how Americans can sit idly by and watch as the government turns the lives of thousands upon thousands of people upside down over something as innocuous as marijuana. After all, as it says on her Alabama Marijuana Party website, not a single person has ever been killed by cannabis. Loretta is like so many of the other John and Jane Does who have gone before her, who have fought for what they believe to be right. For Loretta, there is no sitting back and just accepting what the state decrees. She wants everyone to know that disagreeing with an immoral public policy doesn't make you un-American, it doesn't make you evil, and it doesn't make you anti-social. She wants to know what kind of country and what kind of people we have become when the police can search our homes simply because we have exercised our First Amendment rights. She wants to shout from the rooftops that we as Americans have a responsibility to fight for justice and freedom. If that isn't the American way, what is? Meet Loretta Nall: American. November 18, 2002 Elizabeth Bernard, mother, writer, and homeschooling advocate, resides in Covington, Louisiana. Lew Rockwell – 2002

  
  

• Reference

  If the Legends Are True... by J. Craig Canada, "Loretta Sapp" (accessed July 15, 2020) | http://www.palmspringsbum.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I17415&tree=Legends.