Louis Gatewood Galbraith (January 23, 1947 – January 4, 2012) was an American author and attorney from the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. He was a five-time political candidate for governor of Kentucky.
Early life and education
Born in Carlisle, Kentucky, to Henry Clay and Dollie Galbraith, on January 23, 1947, Gatewood was the fourth of seven children. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1974 and from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1977.
Legal career
Galbraith's law practice focused on criminal law and personal injury civil actions.
This case made U.S. legal history in a marijuana trafficking cases before the Kentucky Courts and the Honorable Judge John D. Minton, Jr. (then known as "hang 'em high Minton") in 2001/2002, when Judge Minton granted a stay in the case after the appeal in the case had been denied by the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 2001. Shortly after this, a review of tax law changes enacted the Marijuana Tax Stamp by the 2003 General Assembly. John D. Minton, Jr. was later elected to the Commonwealth Court of Appeals and then moved up to the Supreme Court and on March 3, 2011, Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office released a press statement headed "Beshear signs landmark corrections reform bill into law" which decriminalizes personal use of up eight ounces of marijuana, reducing it to a ticketable offense.
Political activism
He worked closely with his longtime friend and supporter Norm Davis, gun rights advocate, activist and founder of the grassroots organization "Take Back Kentucky" in support of "smaller government and preservation of our constitutional freedoms and rights with-in the commonwealth."
Galbraith supported the legalization of recreational marijuana use, arguing that the framers of the US Constitution "did not say we have a Constitutional right to possess alcohol. They said we have a Constitutional right to privacy in our homes, under which fits the possession of an extremely poisonous alcohol. Now this is the law in Kentucky today. In fact, it is these rulings that keep the Kentucky State Police from kicking down the doors of people possessing alcohol in Kentucky's 77 'dry' counties right now and hauling their butts off to jail. Now Marijuana is a demonstrably less harmful substance than alcohol and presents far less of threat to public welfare. So it also fits in a person's right to privacy in their home. It's beyond the police power of the state as long as I don't sell it and it's for my own personal use."
Galbraith appeared in the 2010 Michael P. Henning documentary film Hempsters: Plant the Seed, along with Woody Harrelson, Ralph Nader, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Julia Butterfly Hill. He was featured in the documentary film A NORML Life.
Political campaigns
Galbraith ran for various offices in Kentucky, including Agriculture Commissioner, Attorney General, and for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. Galbraith also ran for Governor five times – as a Democrat in 1991, 1995, and 2007, as a Reform Party candidate in 1999, and lastly as an independent in 2011.
Galbraith was a vocal advocate for ending the prohibition of cannabis and was known for his quips.
Included in Galbraith's platform were campaign promises of implementing a freeze on college tuition, a $5,000 grant or voucher provided to motivated high school graduates to any college or vocational school, incorporating more technology into the education process, restoring hemp as an agricultural crop, ending cannabis prohibition in Kentucky, restoring of voting and gun rights of non-violent felons, agricultural market development, stricter environmental protections, recreational and tourism development, water standard enforcement, expansion of fish and wildlife programs, abolition of state worker furloughs, expansion of energy development, Internet access to all counties, abolition of the income tax for those who earn fifty thousand dollars or less, small business tax exemptions, job development, a return investment policy, the establishment of regional economic development offices, marketing Kentucky's signature industries, the prohibition of fracking and mountaintop removal mining. He raised $100,000 of his $500,000 budget and was endorsed by the United Mine Workers of America, the first time the union had backed an independent.