Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 Source: Express-Times, The (PA) Copyright: 2015 The Express-Times Contact: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/sendaletter/ Website: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/expresstimes/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1489 Author: David Rose DA'S NEWSLETTER DOESN'T ACKNOWLEDGE FAILURE OF THE 'WAR ON DRUGS' I received the "District Attorney's Drug Task Force Newsletter" and noticed the fact that it was paid for by drug forfeiture money, not taxpayer dollars. Considering this "newsletter" is largely an account of activities of District Attorney John Morganelli, I had the thought the "war on drugs" might be just a cover to fund the re-election campaigns of district attorneys. While I do not want to question the sincerity of the district attorney in informing us about initiatives that are "keeping your community safe," we need to keep in mind the war on drugs is largely a failed public policy that has led to massive incarceration of nonviolent offenders, disproportionately targets minorities and the poor, and cost the taxpayer an estimated $15 billion in 2010. When an elected government official finds an unlimited amount of money from drug forfeiture to fund what should be considered an election campaign expense, we can be sure we'll never hear any comment from him about the failures or cost to taxpayers of such a policy. Morganelli recently expressed his opposition to a moratorium on executions pending a study of the death penalty, saying there is no need for another study since one was commissioned by the state Supreme Court in 2003, and he proudly served on the commission. He didn't mention that the study, the "Supreme Court Commission on Racial and Gender Bias in the Criminal Justice System," recommended a moratorium on executions until problems noted in the report were addressed. Morganelli supported Tom Wolfe for governor. It will be interesting to see how he responds to Wolf's support of a moratorium on executions. David Rose Easton - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom