Ira Glasser on Marijuana Prosecutions To the Editor: Your July 16 editorial "A Sensible Marijuana Policy in Brooklyn" applauds the Brooklyn district attorney, Kenneth P. Thompson, for deciding no longer to prosecute most cases in which people have been arrested for possession of small amounts of marijuana, and to focus on serious crimes instead. New York City's police commissioner, William J. Bratton, responded to Mr. Thompson's decision by asserting: "In order to be effective, our police officers must enforce the laws of the State of New York uniformly throughout all five boroughs of the city. Accordingly, the Kings County policy change will not result in any changes in the policies and procedures of the N.Y.P.D." [continues 160 words]
This week, more than 1,000 people will gather for the 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Orleans. There could not be a better venue for us to discuss how the drug war has become a war against black Americans. Louisiana's rate of incarceration for nonviolent drug-law violations is among the highest in the nation. But all over America, including states like New York, drug-war arrests, convictions and imprisonment have increased dramatically, and are disproportionately targeted against African-Americans, making this a major, though largely unrecognized, civil rights issue. [continues 628 words]
The big news of the Conference was announced within the first hour of the opening session. The Lindesmith Center http://www.lindesmith.org/ and The Drug Policy Foundation http://www.dpf.org/ are merging into a new organization effective 1 July 2000. Throughout the Conference the folks were expressing hope that this will be the organization that will carry our issues with an effectiveness similar to that of organizations like the NAACP, AARP, ACLU and other large organizations. You can watch this announcement online at http://www.zoomculture.com/general/dcoffice/dpf/opening.html as presented by Ira Glasser, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DPF and Ethan Nadelmann, Director, Lindesmith Center. [continues 593 words]
In Jeffrey Goldberg's article (June 20), police officers are quoted as saying that they believe most drug dealers are black or Latino, and that therefore it is justifiable to stop cars whose drivers are black or Latino. This conclusion is based on a common statistical fallacy. Even if it is true that most drug dealers are black or Latino, it does not follow that most blacks and Latinos are drug dealers. The fact is that hunches based on skin color instead of on credible evidence mostly turn out to target innocent people. [continues 103 words]
Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee Hon. John L. Mica, Chair June 16, 1999 Thank you for inviting me to testify today. In the June 9 edition of the Congressional Quarterly Daily Monitor, the subject of today's hearing is listed as covering the issues of "drug legalization, criminalization and harm reduction." Since these terms are often differently defined, let me begin by offering my definition, so the Subcommittee can be clear about my testimony. [continues 3122 words]
In "Through the Looking Glass," the White Queen announces a new legal doctrine: "Punish first and then get on with the trial." Mayor Rudolph Giuliani seems ready to emulate this logic. First he announced that New York City would seize the cars of people accused of drunk driving and return the cars if the people were acquitted. Then he decided he'd keep the cars of those acquitted as well. "Let's say somebody is acquitted," the Mayor explained, "and it's one of those acquittals in which the person was guilty, but there is just not quite enough evidence." So now the Mayor gets to decide who is "really" guilty, never mind the evidence or a jury's unanimous decision. [continues 377 words]
