Noelle Bush

Noelle Bush (born July 26, 1977) is the daughter of current Florida governor Jeb Bush, the younger sister of George P. Bush, the older sister of Jeb Bush, Jr., the niece of the current president George W. Bush, and the granddaughter of former U.S. president George H.W. Bush.

Related Topics:
July 26 - 1977 - Florida - Jeb Bush - George P. Bush - Jeb Bush, Jr. - George W. Bush - U.S. - George H.W. Bush

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1995: A female with Noelle Bush's name and birthdate was arrested for shoplifting at an Arizona mall.

Related Topics:
1995 - Shoplifting - Arizona

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2000: Noelle Bush graduated from Tallahassee Community College. She resided with her parents in the Florida Governor's mansion.

Related Topics:
2000 - Tallahassee Community College - Florida Governor

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January 29, 2002: Noelle Bush was arrested at Walgreens on a charge of prescription fraud, attempting to obtain Xanax. She was sent to rehabilitation. If the woman involved in the Arizona shoplifting incident was this Noelle, the prior criminal record would have made her subject to harsh sentencing under Florida's drug laws.

Related Topics:
Walgreens - Xanax - Rehabilitation

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September 9, 2002: The Orlando Police Department received an anonymous call from within the Center for Drug-Free Living, where Noelle Bush resided. The transcript reads:

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"One of the women here was caught buying crack cocaine tonight. And a lot of the women are upset because she's been caught about five times. And we want something done because our children are here, and they just keep letting it slip under the counter and carpet... She does this all the time and she gets out of it because she's the governor's daughter. But we're sick of it here 'cause we have to do what's right, but she gets treated like some kind of princess. And everybody's tired of it, you know. We're just trying to get our lives together, and this girl's bringing drugs on property."

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September 9, 2002: Employee Julia Elias discovers 0.2 g crack cocaine hidden in Noelle Bush's shoe, while Bush is a patient at the Center for Drug-Free Living. Elias prepares a written statement to this effect, but supervisor Vilma Accison orders her to stop talking to police, and to destroy the document. Lacking the document or cooperation, police were unable to make an arrest.

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September 16, 2002: "While Noelle has been given every break in the book -- and then some -- her father has made it harder for others in her position to get the help they need by cutting the budgets of drug treatment and drug court programs in his state. He has also actively opposed a proposed ballot initiative that would send an estimated 10,000 non-violent drug offenders into treatment instead of jail." Arianna Huffington.

Related Topics:
Jail - Arianna Huffington

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September 30, 2002: A judge blocks police from questioning employees that found the crack cocaine in Noelle's shoe earlier in the month, citing privacy laws. Father Jeb Bush expresses pleasure at the court's decision.

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October 8, 2002: Noelle Bush asks that drug court records be closed on her case, citing a theory involving "expectation of privacy." One reason given was that her celebrity status was drawing attention to her.

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October 15, 2002: A judge denied Bush's request to seal drug court records.

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October 17, 2002: Noelle Bush was sentenced to ten days in Orange County jail for contempt, because of the crack cocaine.

Related Topics:
Orange County - Contempt - Crack cocaine

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August 8, 2003: Noelle Bush was released from rehabilitation to the custody of her parents. A judge dismissed the drug charges against her.

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Noelle's behavior sparked Bush critics to raise the possibility that the family might have a genetic drug dependence, given the current president and other Bush kin's reported problems with cocaine and/or alcohol abuse. Critics have found grounds for charges of hypocrisy in Governor and President Bush's records of advocating stiffer criminal penalties for substance abuse, given family members' records of reportedly light penalties for these crimes.

Related Topics:
Drug dependence - Cocaine - Alcohol - Hypocrisy

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Pro-drug organizations have used Noelle Bush's run-ins with the law, and those of the Bush Twins, to argue in favor of legalizing and regulating certain drugs that are now illegal to possess. On the other hand, anti-drug organizations have made their position known that Noelle Bush, President Bush's daughters, or anyone else in the Bush family who abuses illegal substances should be penalized in the exact same way as any other lawbreaker is penalized in addition to their receiving counseling and rehabilitation.

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