Drug War Chronicle, Issue #514 -(urls+editorial)- 12/14/07
Phillip S. Smith, Editor, psmith@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Publication of Stop the Drug War (DRCNet)
David Borden, Executive Director, borden@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Students: Intern at DRCNet to help stop the drug war!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/drcnet_intern****ps_to_stop_the_drug_war
Table of Contents:
1. FEATURE: PRESSURE MOUNTS ON CONGRESS AS SUPREME COURT,
SENTENCING COMMISSION BOTH ACT TO CUT CRACK COCAINE SENTENCES
Both the US Sentencing Commission and the US Supreme Court acted
this week to reduce the harsh sentences for federal crack
cocaine offenders. But because of congressionally imposed
mandatory minimum sentences, Congress must act to further reduce
the injustice.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/supreme_court_and_sentencing_commission_loosen_crack_cocaine_sentencing
2. FEATURE: DRUG REFORM GOES TO THE BIG EASY -- THE 2007
INTERNATIONAL DRUG POLICY REFORM CONFERENCE, NEW ORLEANS
The 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference took place
last weekend in New Orleans. Here is a taste of what is was
like.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/new_orleans_2007_international_drug_policy_reform_conference
3. FEATURE: LATEST TEEN DRUG USE NUMBERS OUT -- WHITE HOUSE
CLAIMS SUCCESS, CRITICS SAY NOT SO FAST
The latest annual Monitoring the Future survey of teen drug use
is out, and the Bush administration is claiming the numbers
vindicate its anti-drug strategy. But a host of critics
disagree.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/monitoring_future_teen_drug_use_john_walters_ondcp
4. WEEKLY: BLOGGING @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
THE SPEAKEASY
"Drug Czar Makes Absurd Claim That the Drug War Reduces Teen
Tobacco Use," "Clinton Staffer Attacks Obama Over Past Drug
Use," "Why Doesn't the DEA Just Crack Down on Medical
Marijuana?," "U.S. Recommends Early Release for 19,500 Crack
Offenders," "Ron Paul Blames Prostitution on the Drug War," "You
Don't Want This!" "A Few Pardons Today -- Meanwhile the Pardon
Attorney's Web Site Hasn't Been Updated Since the Clinton
Administration." "Crack Sentencing Changes Made Retroactive!,"
"Is Rep. Dana Rohrabacher a Legalizer?," "Some Good News from
the Supreme Court on Crack Sentencing."
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/blogging_at_the_speakeasy
5. STUDENTS: INTERN AT DRCNET AND HELP STOP THE DRUG WAR!
Apply for an intern****p at DRCNet for this fall (or spring), and
you could spend the semester fighting the good fight!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/drcnet_intern****ps_to_stop_the_drug_war
6. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
An Indiana drug task force faces some questions over seized
goods, the NYPD can't find some drug evidence, a Texas crime lab
tech gets greedy, and so does an Indiana cop.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/police_drug_corruption
7. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: DEA THREATENS SAN FRANCISCO DISPENSARY
LANDLORDS, DISPENSARIES SUE, CONYERS TO HOLD HEARINGS
In its battle against medical marijuana dispensaries, the DEA
has brought its landlord-threatening letter campaign to San
Francisco. Now, the dispensaries are suing in federal court, and
the House Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on the matter.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/dea_threatens_san_francisco_dispensary_landlords_lawsuit_conyers_judiciary_committee_hearing
8. LAW ENFORCEMENT: SNITCH IN DEADLY ATLANTA RAID CASE SUES
Alex White made a career out of being an informant for Atlanta
police, but when they asked him to lie for them in the Kathryn
Johnston case, he instead went to the feds. Now he's suing the
Atlanta police, claiming his career as a snitch has been ruined.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/alex_white_atlanta_kathryn_johnston_sues_atlanta_police
9. EUROPE: SWISS PARLIAMENT REJECTS MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
The Swiss parliament has rejected a popular initiative calling
for the legalization of marijuana. But the Swiss Senate must
still debate it, and it could go to a popular vote.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/swiss_parliament_rejects_marijuana_legalization
10. DEATH PENALTY: VIETNAM IN DEATH SENTENCE FRENZY, 35
CONDEMNED FOR DRUGS IN PAST TWO WEEKS
Vietnamese courts have handed down death sentences to 35 drug
traffickers in the past two weeks as the Southeast Asian nation
makes a serious bid to be the world's leading executioner of
drug offenders. Iran killed some too.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/vietnam_death_penalty_35_sentenced
11. WEB SCAN
Talvi and Bock on DPA conference, IHRA drugs/death penalty
re****t, HRW/TATAG Thailand drug users and AIDS treatment re****t,
Cannabinoid Chronicles, syringe exchange programs in 2005.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/drug_policy_links
12. WEEKLY: THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of
years past.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/drug_war_history
13. FEEDBACK: DO YOU READ DRUG WAR CHRONICLE?
Do you read Drug War Chronicle? If so, we need your feedback to
evaluate our work and make the case for Drug War Chronicle to
funders. We need donations too.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/do_you_read_drug_war_chronicle
14. JOB OP****TUNITY: FIELD DIRECTOR, SAFER, DENVER
Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) is hiring a
Field Director for its Denver-based office.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/safer_job_op****tunity
15. WEBMASTERS: HELP THE MOVEMENT BY RUNNING DRCNET SYNDICATION
FEEDS ON YOUR WEB SITE!
Sup****t the cause by featuring automatically-updating Drug War
Chronicle and other DRCNet content links on your web site!
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/drug_policy_content_syndication_feeds_now_available
16. RESOURCE: DRCNET WEB SITE OFFERS WIDE ARRAY OF RSS FEEDS FOR
YOUR READER
A new way for you to receive DRCNet articles -- Drug War
Chronicle and more -- is now available.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/drug_policy_RSS_feeds_now_available
17. RESOURCE: REFORMER'S CALENDAR ACCESSIBLE THROUGH DRCNET WEB
SITE
Visit our new web site each day to see a running countdown to
the events coming up the soonest, and more.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/drug_reform_calendar
(Not subscribed? Visit http://stopthedrugwar.org
to sign up
today!)
================
1. Feature: Pressure Mounts on Congress As Supreme Court,
Sentencing Commission Both Act to Cut Crack Cocaine Sentences
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/514/supreme_court_and_sentencing_commission_loosen_crack_cocaine_sentencing
Both the US Supreme Court and the US Sentencing Commission acted
this week to redress inequities in the sentencing of federal
crack cocaine defendants, but changes in sentencing will be only
marginal unless Congress acts to amend or undo the minimum
sentences it has mandated for crack. Several bills to do so are
pending, but Congress has yet to act on them.
Still, the harsh crack cocaine sentencing policies that have
been in place for more than two decades took a one-two punch
this week. On Monday, the Supreme Court upheld a sentencing
decision by a federal district court judge to sentence a crack
defendant to a sentence well below the federal sentencing
guidelines. The following day, the Sentencing Commission
announced that its earlier decision to scale down crack
sentences would apply to nearly 20,000 federal inmates doing
time on crack charges.
In the Supreme Court, the justices voted 7-2 to allow federal
judges discretion to sentence offenders to prison terms well
below the punishment range set by federal sentencing guidelines.
The ruling came in a pair of cases, Kimbrough v. US
(http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/06-6330.pdf)
and
Gall v. US
(http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/06-7949.pdf).
The
decisions offer im****tant guidance to federal judges who have
been wrestling with sentencing issues since the Supreme Court in
2005 held that federal sentencing guidelines were no longer
mandatory, but only advisory.
In the first case, the trial judge sentenced convicted crack
dealer Derrick Kimbrough to 10 years for his drug offense even
though the guidelines called for a 14-to-17 1/2 year sentence.
That judge called the guidelines "ridiculous" and "clearly
inappropriate" when applied to Kimbrough. A federal appeals
court in Richmond vacated the sentence, declaring that a
sentence so far beneath the guidelines was unreasonable. But the
Supreme Court disagreed.
"The district court properly homed in on the particular
circumstances of Kimbrough's case and accorded weight to the
Sentencing Commission's consistent and emphatic position that
the crack/powder disparity is at odds with [the federal
sentencing law]," wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the
majority.
In her opinion in Kimbrough, Justice Ginsburg noted the ongoing
controversy over the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity
-- it takes 100 times as much powder cocaine as crack cocaine to
trigger mandatory minimum sentences -- and wrote that judges
could keep that in mind when sentencing crack defendants. "Given
all this," she wrote, "it would not be an abuse of discretion
for a district court to conclude when sentencing a particular
defendant that the crack/powder disparity yields a sentence
greater than necessary."
In the second case, Brian Gall had been sentenced to probation
for his role in an ecstasy distribution ring while he was a
college student. The judge in the case cited Gall's brief
participation in the scheme and his law-abiding life since then
in departing from the sentencing guidelines, which called for
three years in prison. That sentence was vacated by a federal
appeals court in St. Louis, which held that Gall's punishment
was unreasonably light. The sentencing judge must show
extraordinary circumstances to justify such a sentence, the
appeals court held. That's not necessary, the Supreme Court
held.
"An appellate court may take the degree of variance into account
and consider the extent of deviation from the guidelines, but it
may not require 'extraordinary' circumstances or employ a rigid
mathematical formula," wrote Justice John Paul Stevens for the
majority.
The appeals court "failed to give due deference to the district
court's reasoned and reasonable sentencing decision," Stevens
wrote.
Taken together, the two Monday decision create a new, tougher
standard for appeals courts to overturn judges' sentencing
decisions. Now, the appeals court must find that a particular
sentence is unreasonable and that the judge abused his or her
discretion in evaluating the factors that led to that sentence.
"The cases are the clearest and strongest rulings to date that
federal trial judges can exercise their discretion to take their
sentencing responsibilities seriously again," said Carmen
Hernandez, president of the National Association of Criminal
Defense lawyers (http://www.nacdl.org).
"There is no doubt left
that an inappropriate guidelines calculation is open to
challenge -- individually, as imposed in a particular case, and
categorically, where the Commission has not followed Congress'
command that a sentence be 'sufficient, but not greater than
necessary.'"
"At a time of heightened public awareness regarding excessive
penalties and disparate treatment within the justice system,
today's ruling affirming judges' sentencing discretion is
critical," said Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing
Project (http://www.sentencingproject.org).
"Harsh mandatory
sentences, particularly those for offenses involving crack
cocaine, have created unjust racial disparity and excessive
punishment for low-level offenses."
"This decision makes it clear that federal judges have a right
to vote their conscience and ignore sentencing guidelines that
are racist, unfair or cruel," said Bill Piper, director of
national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance
(http://www.drugpolicy.org).
"The ruling will reduce racial
disparities in the criminal justice system and hopefully send a
message to federal prosecutors that they should stop wasting
resources on nonviolent, low-level crack cocaine offenders and
focus on taking down organized crime syndicates instead."
On Tuesday, it was the Sentencing Commission's turn to take a
whack at crack sentences. In November, the commission amended
the crack sentencing guidelines to reduce average sentences from
10 years and one month to eight years and 10 months, but a key
question for activists, reformers, and prisoners and their
families was whether the change in the guidelines would be
retroactive. On Tuesday, the commission announced they would be.
"Retroactivity of the crack cocaine amendment will become
effective on March 3, 2008," the commission said. "Not every
crack cocaine offender will be eligible for a lower sentence
under the decision. A federal sentencing judge will make the
final determination of whether an offender is eligible for a
lower sentence and how much that sentence should be lowered.
That determination will be made only after consideration of many
factors, including the Commission's direction to consider
whether lowering the offender's sentence would pose a danger to
public safety. In addition, the overall impact is anticipated to
occur incrementally over approximately 30 years, due to the
limited nature of the guideline amendment and the fact that many
crack cocaine offenders will still be required under federal law
to serve mandatory five- or ten-year sentences because of the
amount of crack involved in their offense."
"At its core, this question is one of fairness," said one
commission member, Judge William K. Sessions III of the United
States District Court in Vermont. "This is an historic day. This
system of justice is, and must always be, colorblind."
With retroactivity, some 19,500 currently imprisoned crack
offenders will be able to apply for sentence reductions.
According to the commission, eligible prisoners can expect an
average sentence reduction of 17%, and some 3,800 prisoners will
be eligible for but not assured of release by the end of 2008.
But, the commission emphasized, reductions will ultimately be up
to sentencing judges, who will have wide discretion in deciding
who will be granted leniency.
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of the Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he was pleased
with the commission's action. "Nearly 20,000 nonviolent,
low-level drug offenders will be eligible for a reduction in the
excessive prison terms they received in the past because of the
unacceptable disparity in the sentencing guidelines between
crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses," Kennedy said. "Those
who break the law deserve to be punished, but our system says
that punishment must be pro****tionate and fair. The current
sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine is
neither."
"The Sentencing Commission made the tough but fair decision to
remedy injustice, showing courage and leader****p in applying the
guideline retroactively. Clearly, justice should not turn on the
date an individual is sentenced," said Julie Stewart, president
and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums
(http://www.famm.org).
"Retroactivity of the crack guideline not
only affects the lives of nearly 20,000 individuals in prison
but that of thousands more -- mothers, fathers, daughters and
sons -- who anxiously wait for them to return home," said
Stewart.
But while both the Supreme Court and the Sentencing Commission
have acted to reduce the harsh and disparate sentences meted out
to crack offenders, congressionally-imposed mandatory minimum
sentences for such offenses mean that these actions will only
have a marginal impact on the length of sentences and the
federal prison population. Only Congress can adjust those
mandatory minimum sentences.
As one commission member, Judge Ruben Castillo of the US
District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, noted, the
commission has recommended since 1995 that Congress act to
redress the sentencing disparity. "No one has come before us to
justify the 100-to-1 ratio," Judge Castillo said, referring to
the provision of federal law that imposes the same 10-year
minimum sentence for possessing 50 grams of crack and for
possessing 5,000 grams of powder cocaine.
Four bills have been introduced in Congress to reduce the
crack/powder cocaine disparity -- two by Democrats and two by
Republicans. Two of the bills, introduced by Republican Senators
Jeff Sessions from Alabama and Orrin Hatch from Utah, reduce the
disparity but do not eliminate it. The third bill, introduced by
Democratic Senator Joe Biden from Delaware, would completely
eliminate the disparity. The Senate is expected to have hearings
on the legislation in February. Democratic Representative
Charles Rangel from New York has introduced the only bill on the
House side that would eliminate the disparity by equalizing the
sentences for crack and powder cocaine at the current level of
powder. The Senate is set to have hearings on the issue early
next year. No hearings have been scheduled in the House, and
sup****ters of eliminating the disparity say House Democrats are
ignoring the issue.
"The biggest obstacle to eliminating the racist crack/powder
disparity is not the Bush Administration or law enforcement,
it's the House Democratic leader****p," said Piper, who noted
that House Democratic leaders had re****tedly barred committees
from dealing with the issue. "While the Supreme Court, the
Sentencing Commission and Senate Democrats and Republicans push
forward with reform, House Democrats won't even have hearings on
the issue. Their silence on this issue is sending a signal to
communities across the country that they don't care about
reducing racial disparities."
================
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.
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