Does former President Bill Clinton want to become a drug policy reform advocate? On its face, it would seem that way following President Clinton's keynote speech at the University of Pennsylvania last week commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Kerner Commission report that addressed the causes of racial disturbances in the 1960s. Clinton admitted his administration's failure to end the racial disparities in sentencing of powder and crack cocaine offenses. He said he regretted not doing more about it, and that he would be prepared to spend a significant portion of his life trying to make amends. [continues 391 words]
Incarceration Ratedeclines for 8th Year ALBANY -- As other states see an increase in prison inmate populations, New York State has been bucking that trend for the past eight years thanks to falling crime rates and new laws that have kept an increasing number of nonviolent offenders out of jail. "It is a success. When you look at the other major states, and states all over the country, we haven't gone in a direction that they have," said Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, a Queens Democrat and chairman of the Assembly's corrections committee. [continues 878 words]
Christopher Buckley never fully recovered from his father's mayoral campaign in 1965. Mr. Buckley, barely a teenager then, vividly remembers distributing bumper stickers on the Upper East Side for his father, William F. Buckley Jr. "A 13-year-old girl walked by and, smiling sweetly, asked me if she could have all 50 of them," he recalled. "I gave them to her. She tore them to pieces, stuck her tongue out at me and sneered, 'I HATE Buckley!' " That childhood trauma, he said, left him, like his father, with a permanent twitch. [continues 892 words]
Scratch a pothead and ask them why marijuana is outlawed, and there's a good chance you'll get some version of the "hemp conspiracy" theory. Federal pot prohibition, the story goes, resulted from a plot by the Hearst and DuPont business empires to squelch hemp as a possible competitor to wood-pulp paper and nylon. These allegations can be found anywhere from Wikipedia entries on William Randolph Hearst and the DuPont Company to comments on pot-related articles published here on AlterNet. And these allegations are virtually unchallenged; many people fervently believe in the hemp conspiracy, even though the evidence to back it up evaporates under even minimal scrutiny. [continues 3294 words]
President Bush recently discussed his struggles against alcohol addiction with former prisoners in recovery who are enrolled in Jericho, a program to help them reenter productively into society. Bush recounted having given up alcohol the day after his 40th birthday, after a "particularly boozy night." He often credits his Christian faith for giving him the strength to stay sober. Although his presidency is almost over, it's not too late for Bush to do more good as a role model and advocate for people recovering from addiction. [continues 571 words]
New York's elected officials face two critical challenges in the 2008 legislative session: how to close the $4.4-billion deficit confronting the state, and how to break political stalemates and enact significant policy advances. One way they can both save money and show they can govern is to repeal the Rockefeller drug laws. Enacted in 1973, when Nelson Rockefeller was governor, the laws require harsh prison terms for the possession or sale of relatively small amounts of drugs. The penalties apply without regard to the circumstances of the offense or the individual's character or background. Whether the person is a first-time or repeat offender, for instance, is irrelevant. [continues 689 words]
Despite His Struggles With Addiction, The President's Policies Show Little Compassion Visiting Baltimore last week, President Bush shared his personal struggles against alcohol addiction with former prisoners in recovery who are enrolled in Jericho, a program to help them re-enter productively into society. Mr. Bush recounted having given up alcohol the day after his 40th birthday, after a "particularly boozy night." He often credits his Christian faith for giving him the strength to stay sober. Although his presidency is almost over, it's not too late for Mr. Bush to do much good as a role model and advocate for people recovering from addiction. To succeed, he will have to keep a few things in mind: [continues 626 words]
Twenty-three years after this country began its disastrous experiment with mandatory federal guidelines for sentencing, what has been obvious for those on the receiving end has finally trickled up to the highest policy-making bodies of our government. On Dec. 10, the Supreme Court gave federal judges the freedom to depart from federal sentencing guidelines, implicitly recognizing that the 100 to 1 disparity in sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine is a manifestation of racism. The penalty for possession or distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine is five years in prison, but one need only have five grams of crack to be sentenced to a minimum of five years. [continues 560 words]
In Response To The Dec. 22 Letter, "Reform Of Rockefeller Drug Laws Long Overdue": I thought Gov. Eliot Spitzer's feeble attempt to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws this year was a shame. Now, on top of that, his attempt to show compassion this holiday season fell way off of the mark. Spitzer's single pardon to an individual set free 10 years ago, coupled with the fact he did not grant one clemency, was nothing more than a safe political move. [continues 85 words]
Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer's approval rating is at an all-time low of 36 percent, according to a survey by the Siena College Research Institute. This is a far cry from his 69 percent approval rating when he took office. The survey polled about 1,000 voters in December, of which 47 percent said the governor should become a "kinder, gentler governor." But 41 percent of Republicans said they doubt whether the transformation can be made. The question I pose is: "How can Spitzer counter his downward spiral and start winning back the voters of New York State?" One answer is to show the citizens of New York that, despite the negativity generated from the trials and tribulations of his governorship, he is still an individual who shows compassion for others. Compassion, a virtue found in many great leaders, is said to be not sentiment but the act of making justice through works of mercy. [continues 314 words]
The Supreme Court rulings on federal sentencing affirms an important principle: The authority to impose a criminal sentence ultimately lies with the judge. It is time for the state Legislature to embrace this principle and restore judicial discretion to judges in cases involving drug offenses. Intended to target major drug traffickers, New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws have compelled judges to incarcerate low-level, nonviolent drug users. Perhaps more disturbing is the impact these laws are having on communities of color: Blacks and Hispanics comprise more than 90 percent of those currently incarcerated for drug felonies -- far out of proportion to their actual involvement with drugs. The state's harsh mandatory sentencing scheme has neither curbed drug use nor enhanced public safety. Instead, it has destroyed thousands of lives and wasted limited tax dollars. [continues 55 words]
The mandatory sentencing craze that began in the 1970s was a public-policy disaster. It drove up inmate populations and corrections costs and forced the states to choose between building prisons and building schools or funding medical care for the indigent. It filled the prisons to bursting with nonviolent drug offenders who would have been more cheaply and more appropriately dealt with through treatment. It tied the hands of judges and ruined countless young lives by mandating lengthy prison terms in cases where leniency was warranted. It undermined confidence in the fairness of the justice system by singling out poor and minority offenders while largely exempting the white and wealthy. [continues 287 words]
This is in response to Tonyaa Weathersbee's Dec. 10 column. It is easy for us to hate Henry Manns, the dealer of drugs, just as we hated Ted Bundy, Florida's murderer of young women. The system could deal with Bundy, but it can't deal with Manns. The difference between Manns and Bundy is that Manns' customers are willing buyers; Bundy's "customers" were not asking to be murdered. It is the fatal flaw of drug war logic. Even executing Mann would not reduce drug use, because there are other dealers waiting impatiently to take his place. [continues 111 words]
Much Has Changed in 10 Years Since Nushawn Williams Case Caused a Panic A decade ago, Chautauqua County health authorities made history by making public the name of a living carrier of HIV -- turning Nushawn Williams, a 20- year-old drug dealer, into a poster boy for the AIDS epidemic. Williams became a symbol for a disease spread by a million bad choices, reckless sex and careless drug use. Part of his infamy was based on unproven accusations that are dubious in retrospect: that he was a deliberate infector, a twisted Johnny Appleseed of AIDS. [continues 2115 words]
Gov. Eliot Spitzer exercised enormous courage and vision when he issued an executive order calling for the establishment of a commission on sentencing reform. He gave the commission a clear mandate to make recommendations on the future of criminal sentencing in New York in order to reform a system that is convoluted, complex and in disarray. The commission's preliminary report contains some thoughtful, forward-thinking recommendations that would improve the quality and accessibility of substance abuse treatment and other community-based and institutional programming. Key among these are measures that would enhance certification and clinical training requirements for treatment providers, including Department of Correctional Services staff; expand merit time; expand work release and educational and vocational training in prisons; increase access to higher education in prison; and restore voting rights for people on parole. [continues 448 words]
What does the war on drugs have to do with baseball? Ask Barry Bonds, who was just indicted by federal prosecutors on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Bonds is now facing up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Anti-doping advocates, including America's deputy drug czar, are calling for jail time for baseball players who use steroids, saying that it may be the only effective deterrent for curbing illegal use. Let's face it, while Bonds' indictment for lying to a grand jury may have legal basis, the real underlying reason for this federal indictment four years after the BALCO investigation is their failure to get Bonds to admit he had used steroids or any other performance-enhancing drugs. In that case, a business named Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) was alleged to be distributing illegal performance-enhancing drugs, and was investigated by several governmental agencies. This resulted in a huge scandal which involved many major league baseball players and led to Major League Baseball initiating penalties for players caught using steroids in 2004. [continues 479 words]
Re "The real drug war," editorial, Nov. 10 Funding drug treatment for Americans, rather than guns for Mexico, is good, provided it is focused. The drug war has failed because it defines any use of an illegal drug as abuse in need of treatment, forced if necessary. We must not force treatment on users who don't want it. Casual users don't need it; hard-core users won't respond to it unless they are tired of their life with drugs. [continues 100 words]
Robert Chambers spent 15 years in prison for the notorious murder of Jennifer Levin, whom he claimed he accidentally strangled during rough sex. Despite his horrific crime, Chambers was allowed to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter instead of second-degree murder and was sentenced to serve between five and 15 years in prison. Now, 21 years later, Chambers has been arrested again, this time on charges of selling cocaine to undercover officers. He faces life in prison. Those who remember his 1986 slaying case will have no sympathy for Chambers. What's most outrageous about this case, though, is that Chambers faces more time for a drug offense than he did for taking someone's life. [continues 364 words]
There has been an onslaught of press attention following the arrest of "Preppy Killer" Robert Chambers due to, this time, selling cocaine. One fact that has been omitted from the coverage is that Chambers now faces more time for selling drugs under the Rockefeller Drug Laws than he did for the murder he committed in 1986. Chambers served 15 years in prison for the notorious murder of Jennifer Levin. He claimed that he accidentally strangled Levin during rough sex. Despite his horrific crime, Chambers was allowed to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter instead of second-degree murder and was sentenced to serve between five and 15 years in prison. He wound up serving 15 years because of bad behavior, which included smuggling and selling drugs while in prison. [continues 758 words]
New York sparked a disastrous national trend during the 1970s with laws that often penalized first-time drug felons more severely than rapists or murderers. Imitated throughout the country, New York's so-called Rockefeller laws drove up the prison population tenfold and cost the states a fortune, but did nothing to curb the drug trade. Worse still, they tied the hands of judges -- and destroyed countless young lives -- by requiring long prison terms in cases where leniency and drug treatment were clearly warranted. [continues 251 words]
