On Dec. 5, 2014, San Francisco police were on the corner of Hyde Street and Golden Gate Avenue in the Tenderloin, arresting crack sellers. It was a busy day: Shortly after busting one man for selling a few rocks to an undercover police officer, a cop returned to the scene of the crime to gather data to fill out his report when he witnessed another drug deal in action. The cop busted that seller, who identified himself to police as "a Sureno from the south side," according to court records. Police later found that both sellers had extensive rap sheets for narcotic sales. [continues 953 words]
When it comes to political corruption, serious crime pays in the Ocean County, New Jersey Superior Court. Case in point: Howard Birdsall of Birdsall Services Group, pleaded guilty to corporate misconduct and fraud charges, admitting to making countless illegal political donations to score high-value government contracts. Under the terms of his plea before Judge James Den Uyl, he will get a four year sentence, with likely immediate Intensive Supervision Parole release. Mr. Birdsall might never see a day in prison. [continues 96 words]
As Canada heads toward a new era of legal marijuana use, federal prosecutors are still trying to jail people who grow small amounts of cannabis in their home to sell to others, sending a tough-ondrugs message that some say is at odds with the new approach. And they continue to seek criminal records, and sometimes jail time, for people charged with simple possession of marijuana for their own use. In a case in Victoria Harbour, Ont., the public prosecution service is seeking a six-month jail term for a man who grew 29 plants in his home, and who sold a small amount - one ounce a week - to his friends, what his lawyers refer to as "social trafficking." Stephen Morris is a single father and first-time offender, and he pleaded guilty. The prosecutor said in a legal filing he deserves six months in prison because he grew the plants in a room adjacent to one occupied by his teenage daughter. "It's a remarkable thing to have the government say they want to legalize and still want to put people in jail for minor infractions," Osgoode law professor Alan Young said. [continues 565 words]
Despite Recent Setbacks, Utah Republican Says Legislation Has Traction The co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation to reduce some mandatory minimum drug and gun sentences said Wednesday that he is hopeful Congress can still pass the bill despite recent setbacks. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said issues have arisen that have slowed the legislation - considered by advocates of sentencing reform to be the most significant in decades. But "I don't believe it's stalled," he said at "Out of Jail, Into Society," a Washington Post Live event about prison reform. [continues 533 words]
Now a Professor, He Writes to Obama About Mandatory 55-Year Term A former federal judge in Utah asked President Obama on Tuesday to "swiftly" give clemency to Weldon Angelos, a man he sentenced to 55 years in prison in connection with selling marijuana. Calling the sentence "one of the most troubling that I ever faced in my five years on the federal bench," Paul G. Cassell, now a professor at the University of Utah's law school, said the mandatory minimum sentence he was required to impose on Angelos was one of the chief reasons he chose to step down as a judge. [continues 761 words]
I'm passing a joint at The Joint and pondering while on pot. Through hazy eyes I watched FoxNews coverage of the armed takeover of a federal building in Oregon, feeling helpless. I've decided to do something about it here in Trenton. I think I'm going to take over the front steps of the Clarkson S. Fisher Federal Building and United States Courthouse located on the next block from The Joint on State Street. Ummm next week or the week after, hum, or when I get off this couch. (In my "Jay and Silent Bob" voice:) Dude... not in solidary with those fools in Oregon, but just the opposite. [continues 1386 words]
The Supreme Court of Canada will soon decide the fate of the mandatory one-year jail sentence for trafficking certain drugs. The mandatory minimum has come under fire by civil liberty groups for constituting cruel and unusual punishment, arbitrary imprisonment and restricting security of the person contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The case at issue concerns Ryan Joseph Lloyd, a drug addict in his mid-20s, who lived in Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside. He was found in possession of less than 10 grams of three drugs, enough to be charged with three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. He was eventually convicted and faced no less than 12 months in jail because he had a prior conviction for trafficking within the last 10 years. The British Columbia Court of Appeal sentenced him to 18 months. The appeal of this sentence has reached our top court, in part because it sparked debate over how our courts deal with markers of disadvantage, including addiction, poverty and race. [continues 630 words]
This is in response to John R. Hunt's column The saddest or highest of times which appeared in the Jan. 9 Nugget. To the editor: In the column, John R. Hunt posed the question I'm sure many people are asking themselves: When pot becomes legal, will they try it? As someone who "came down on the side of law and order to resist pot's temptations," It's clear the decision is not weighing very hard on Mr. Hunt's mind. But as he reflects on his 60 years of experience, he comes away with some questions that Canadians really ought to be asking themselves. [continues 309 words]
EARLIER this month, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida opened up on a subject he had once chided reporters for asking about: his daughter, Noelle, who, he said, "was addicted to drugs." In a video released by the campaign, Mr. Bush speaks plainly about his daughter's struggle, her time in jail and drug court, and her recovery. "I can look in people's eyes and I know that they've gone through the same thing that Columba and I have," he said, referring to his wife. [continues 874 words]
Regarding the Dec. 29 letter "Who's to blame for a long sentence?": Lawrence J. Leiser of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys seems to stand alone in bemoaning President Obama's clemency initiative. Public-interest groups and legislators from the most conservative right to the most liberal left have joined in sponsoring and supporting sentencing reform legislation that would offer relief to prisoners, such as my brother, Weldon Angelos, who would serve essentially life sentences for low-level drug crimes. [continues 159 words]
Five Republican presidential contenders this week addressed a New Hampshire forum concerned with a crisis swamping certain regions of the country, including New England: heroin addiction. The candidates spoke passionately, some sharing personal experiences. Jeb Bush spoke of his family's turmoil as his daughter Noelle, now 38 and in recovery, struggled with an addiction to prescription drugs and cocaine. "What I learned was that the pain that you feel when you have a loved one who has addiction challenges and kind of spirals out of control is something that is shared with a whole lot of people," he said. [continues 571 words]
Was the Drug War Imposed on Black America, or Did Black America Demand It? Black Silent Majority: The Rockefeller Drug Laws and the Politics of Punishment, by Michael Javen Fortner, Harvard University Press, 368 pages, $29.95 We Sell Drugs: The Alchemy of US Empire, by Suzanna Reiss, University of California Press, 328 pages, $29.95 In 1973 New York's blue-blood governor, Nelson Rockefeller, declared drug treatment programs a failure and called for a newer, tougher approach, including mandatory life in prison for selling any amount of "hard drugs." Later that year, New York lawmakers enacted legislation that, while slightly more lenient than Rockefeller's initial bill, prescribed harsh punishments for drug crimes, including prison terms of 15 years to life for low-level drug sales and possession. In 1973, the state had fewer than 1,500 prisoners doing time for drugs; by 1999, that figure had ballooned to over 20,000. [continues 2351 words]
A man who was busted for hiding heroin in his prosthetic leg has sparked the latest battle between judges and prosecutors - two powerful factions who are fighting over mandatory minimum sentences. Imran Laltaprasad was convicted of possession with intent to distribute heroin and two counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine in July. He hid the heroin in his artificial leg. He had been convicted of the same offenses in the past. Under state law, sentencing should have been easy. The mandatory minimum sentence for the crimes is 3 1/2 years. Prosecutors asked for concurrent sentences of 3 1/2 to five years in state prison. [continues 388 words]
At 9:10 a.m. Friday, the intercom blared at the federal prison here as Weldon Angelos walked the track on this sprawling campus of drab gray buildings in California's Central Valley. The booming voice of a prison official called an inmate to the main office. About 25 minutes later, the official came on the intercom again, summoning another prisoner. Angelos knew exactly what was happening. The prisoners had heard a rumor the night before that President Obama might grant early release to certain drug offenders before he left Washington for the holidays. Angelos was excited, anxious. This was it. The lucky inmates on Obama's list were being called inside to take phone calls from their attorneys, who would tell them the good news. [continues 1532 words]
Third Time This Year Obama Has Commuted Terms Under Initiative President Obama commuted the sentences of 95 drug offenders Friday, more than double the number he granted this summer, in an effort to give relief to drug offenders who were harshly sentenced in the nation's war on drugs. It is the third time this year that Obama has used his unique clemency power to release federal drug offenders, whose harsh sentences have contributed to the phenomenon of mass incarceration. The commutations are a centerpiece of the president's effort to make the most significant changes in the nation's criminal justice system in decades. He and former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. have spoken passionately about the need to fix what they say is a broken system - one they argue has subjected too many nonviolent inmates to decades behind bars, disproportionately hurting minority communities. [continues 1185 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Friday commuted the sentences of 95 prisoners and pardoned two more, part of a broader effort to rethink a criminal justice system that critics say has resulted in overly harsh and expensive sentences for thousands of drug offenders. The commutations, the most Obama has issued at one time, mostly benefit nonviolent drug offenders - many of whom are serving long sentences for cocaine and crack crimes. Obama is also pardoning an Ohio man sentenced to probation in a counterfeiting case and a Virginia woman sentenced to home detention and supervised release in a bank fraud case. [continues 125 words]
GOP Candidates Move to Treatment Vs. Jail, but Racial Impetus Is Seen. More than 40 years after Republican President Richard M. Nixon coined the phrase "war on drugs," many GOP presidential candidates are calling for an end to one of its central tenets - by agreeing with Democrats to treat low-level drug offenders rather than incarcerate them. The Republicans are selective, however, about who is deserving of their compassion. Several GOP presidential contenders have advocated treating the nation's growing heroin epidemic as a health crisis, not a criminal one. But most stop short of advocating the same approach to other drug laws, notably those involving marijuana and crack cocaine, which disproportionately affect African Americans. [continues 1337 words]
Candidates View 'White' Epidemic As Health Issue, Less So for Pot and Crack More than 40 years after Republican President Richard M. Nixon coined the phrase "war on drugs," many GOP presidential candidates are calling for an end to one of its central tenets - by agreeing with Democrats to treat low-level drug offenders rather than incarcerate them. The Republicans are selective, however, about who is deserving of their compassion. Several GOP presidential contenders have advocated treating the nation's growing heroin epidemic as a health crisis, not a criminal one. But most stop short of advocating the same approach to other drug laws, notably those involving marijuana and crack cocaine, which disproportionately affect African Americans. [continues 1344 words]
Now that Congress is within sight of passing the most significant federal sentencing reforms in a generation, it's worth taking a closer look at where the legislation falls short. The main driver of the federal prison population is, by far, the dramatic increase in the time people spend behind bars - specifically, those convicted of drug offenses, who account for nearly half of the nation's 199,000 federal inmates. From 1988 to 2012, the average time served for drug crimes more than doubled in length, according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. That increase in the length of drug sentences comes at a great expense: an estimated $1.5 billion each year, based on how much it costs to keep a federal inmate behind bars. [continues 483 words]
SINCE the official beginning of the drug war in 1971, the law-enforcement community in the United States has spent just over $1 trillion. Tens of thousands of citizens have died, sacrificed on the altar of this modern prohibition. Millions have suffered from a drug arrest, which haunts them forever - and the difference on the streets? Federal research shows drugs are cheaper, stronger and more "readily available" to America's youth. As a street cop and detective in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, I had a ringside seat to this unfolding social disaster. [continues 639 words]
