Almost Half Of Federal Prisoners Held For Drug Crimes

By Nicole Flatow

Although the overall U.S. prison population declined slightly in 2011, the federal prison population continued to rise, with rates of drug and immigration offenders that eclipse those held for violent crimes. While only 8 percent of federal prisoners were sentenced for violent crimes in 2011, almost half of federal inmates – 48 percent – were in prison for drug crimes, according to Department of Justice statistics. Another 11 percent were held for immigration offenses – one of the largest-growing segments of the prison population.

These numbers reflect the impact of the aggressive U.S. “War on Drugs,” a major contributor to the United States’ standing as the number one jailer in the world. Overall declines in U.S. prisons of 0.9 percent are attributable to state prisons, as some states have been moved by budget crises to adopt innovative reforms, and some jurisdictions have moved toward decriminalizing minor drug offenses.

But federal drug law remains draconian, with harsh mandatory minimum sentences for sometimes minor nonviolent roles in drug deals.

Continue Reading @ Think Progress

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Breaking The Taboo-War On Drugs

Narrated by Morgan Freeman, this is a MUST watch.

The War on Drugs has failed. After 50 years of prohibition, illicit drugs are now the third most valuable industry in the world after food and oil, all in the control of criminals. Drugs are cheaper and more available than ever before. Millions of people are in prison for drugs offenses. Corruption and violence, especially in producer and transit countries, endangers democracy. Tens of thousands of people die each year in drug wars.

 

Improving our drug policies is one of the key policy challenges of our time. The time for action is now.

2.5 trillion dollars spent so far on the War on Drugs

1 million people with HIV in Russia

500,000 prisoners in USA for drugs

30 countries use the death penalty

Over 47,000 murders in Mexico

The illegal drugs trade is worth $300-400 billion a year

150-300 million drug users in the world

24-Year-Old Gets 3 Life Terms in Prison for Witnessing a Drug Deal: The Ugly Truth of Mandatory Drug Sentencing

Clarence Aaron is serving three life terms for a small-time college cocaine deal, another victim of heinous mandatory drug sentencing laws.

By Seth Ferranti, The Fix

 

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This is a simple truth: the United States is the only country in the first world that imposes life sentences to teenagers for small-time, non-violent drug offenses. In fact, the American legal system does so with alarming regularity, spending $40 billion a year to lock up hundreds of thousands of low-level dealers. The practice began when Ronald Reagan declared a “War on Drugs” in 1986, and has spread steadily since then. The following year, Congress enacted its federal mandatory sentencing guidelines, which automatically buried tens of thousands of low-level, non-violent drug offenders in the belly of the beast for decades—even for multiple life terms. Just ask Clarence Aaron, inmate number 05070-003.

At the age of 24, Aaron was sentenced to three life terms for his role in a cocaine deal. That’s effectively three times the sentence imposed upon Faisal Shahzad, who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square in 2010. Aaron was a student and football player at Southern University in Baton Rouge. He’d never been arrested. In 1992, he made the mistake of being present for the sale of nine kilograms of cocaine and the conversion of one kilo of coke to crack. Aaron would have earned $1,500 for introducing the buyer and seller. He never actually touched the drugs.

Though his role was minor, Aaron received the longest sentence of anyone involved in the conspiracy when he refused to cooperate with authorities. His case gained national attention in 1999, when he appeared in “Snitch,” a PBS Frontline documentary about prisoners serving long sentences after refusing to turn informant. Since then, a loose, bipartisan  coalition of lawmakers and civil rights activists have championed efforts to have President Obama commute his sentence. But it’s now 2012 and Clarence Aaron is still locked up, despite the fact that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office that tried the case and the sentencing judge have supported immediate commutation. US District Court Judge Charles Butler, who sentenced Aaron, recently wrote, “Looking through the prism of hindsight, and considering the many factors argued by the defendant that were not present at the time of his initial sentencing, one can argue that a less harsh sentence might have been more equitable.”

To say the least. So what happens to a prisoner if the presiding judge states that a sentence should have been “more equitable”? Nothing. The Constitution provides the President with the authority to grant clemency to federal offenders, but Presidents, afraid of tarnishing their tough-on-crime credentials, have used clemency sparingly (and usually to help well-connected, politically-powerful prisoners, like Scooter Libby or Marc Rich). And so the federal prison population has exploded from around 25,000 prisoners in 1980 to almost 225,000 now, mostly because of the War on Drugs. Applications to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, the branch of the Justice Department that reviews commutation requests, have reached thousands each year.

“The federal prison system has grown five-fold,” says Michael Santos, a long-term prisoner who writes extensively about the prison system at michaelsantos.net. “Yet rather than granting clemency to five times as many people each year, the clemency process has been used less. Fewer prison sentences are commuted now than back when the prison system was smaller.”

The executive clemency process has always been viewed by prisoners as a beacon of hope. But as recent news articles have reported, the pardon system represents a false hope; in fact, it is a sham process where the long line of rejected applicants illuminates the extraordinary and secretive powers wielded by the Office of the Pardon Attorney.

I should know. Like Clarence Aaron, I have been in prison for almost 19 years. I was locked up at the age of 22 for a first-time, non-violent offense and received a sentence of 25 years and four months for selling LSD and marijuana at East Coast colleges. When I was busted, my first move was probably not a smart one: I ran. Then I faked my suicide on the banks of the Potomac River and took to the ground. The US Marshal Service put me on its Top 15 Most Wanted fugitive list, even though I never carried a weapon or committed an act of violence. I was captured in October 1993, and have been incarcerated ever since, living my life inside the industrial prison complex, hoping that some law or proposal will change the circumstances of my imprisonment and allow me a chance at freedom.

That’s probably not going to happen. Instead, now I’m looking forward to my scheduled release in 2015.
The fact is, I never applied for executive clemency, though I’ve done everything I can to rehabilitate myself. I have earned my Associates, Bachelors and Masters degrees through college correspondence courses, and I managed to sustain a lasting relationship (I married my longtime girlfriend). I’ve written several hundred articles for magazines, websites and journals on prison life and on the people that I have met here.

Here’s the real reason I have never applied for executive clemency: unlike Clarence Aaron, I actively sold drugs. I was only a small-time college drug dealer, but if Aaron can’t get his sentence commuted, what chance do I stand? No matter what sort of success I have in prison, it’s still in prison. We are judged differently.

Michael Santos says, “The type of clemency for which I am applying is called a commutation of sentence. The commutation petition differs from a pardon in that I am asking President Obama to forgive the remainder of my sentence. I am not asking him to forgive the crime for which I am convicted.” And that would mean a lot for those of us who have been in for multiple decades as a result of the “War on Drugs.” Don’t forgive the crime we committed, but let us come home to our families and let us resume our lives.

While campaigning for office, President Obama was critical of the mandatory minimum drug penalties, and talked about second chances. Yet he is on track to be the least forgiving President in US history. He has pardoned just 23 people, including one commuted sentence. His current pace puts him firmly among the most conservative American Presidents to use these powers. So much for second chances.

Maybe Obama will do an about-face and charge his Pardon Attorney with the responsibility of taking these clemency requests seriously, instead of denying them summarily, as has been reported. He should be seeking out cases like Clarence Aaron, Michael Santos and even me. This will show that Americans and our government are concerned about righting wrongs and that they have the capability to show compassion to those who deserve it or have earned it.

 

Seth Ferranti is serving 25 years for drug trafficking. This is his first column for The Fix. To learn more about prisoners who are working hard at a commutation, check out straight-a-guide.com. for more of Ferranti’s writings, go to gorillaconvict.com.

Via @ AlterNet

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For Immediate Release: MARCHES, RALLIES ACROSS STATE CALL FOR END TO MASS INCARCERATION, 40 YEAR DRUG WAR

 

For Immediate Release—June 14th, 2011

GROUPS MARCH AND RALLY ACROSS THE STATE TO END MASS INCARCERATION AND 40 YEAR WAR ON DRUGS

Contact: Emily Harris
Statewide Coordinator, Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Cell: 510-435-1176
California – Beginning on Friday June 17th, the 40th anniversary of the “war on drugs,” hundreds will come together to hold “Communities Rising” actions and rallies in communities across California. Over 40 organizations working with the Californians United for a Responsible Budget, or “CURB,” alliance will send a strong message from different parts of the state to Governor Brown and the state legislature, calling for the State to take active steps to end its participation in the 40-year-old “war on drugs”, and to prioritize vital social services over prison spending.

“Spending on prisons has grown from five percent to ten percent of our General Fund spending, doubling in the past decade,” said Lisa Marie Alatorre of Critical Resistance, a CURB member organization. “Locking up too many people for too long does not contribute to public safety and is draining essential resources from education and health care – programs that make a real difference to Californians.”  California remains billions of dollars in debt.

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a lower court rulings in Brown v. Plata, California has been ordered to reduce its lethally crowded prison system in the next two years. The Governor’s plan is to shift tens of thousands of prisoners to county jails, building tens of thousands more jail cells and thousands more high-security prison cells.  “It looks like Governor Brown wants to do nothing but repeat the mistakes of the last 30 years,” said Debbie Reyes of California Prison Moratorium Project, another CURB member organization. “We built 23 massive prisons and that didn’t solve overcrowding. Now he wants to extend that failed effort by expanding county jail systems. Like the Supreme Court said, you can’t build your way out of this problem.”

Organizations and residents across the state are frustrated by the impacts of the State’s economic and social priorities.  “For years we’ve been cutting back on state programs that save lives and build decent futures for the next generation,” said Amanda Vela of Madera Citizens for Better Community and Schools, “Now Gov. Brown is asking voters to raise state revenues to pay for more jail cells? We have to stop the cuts and re-channel funds away from prisons and jails and back into programs that make a difference for us and our kids.”

The various rallies, marches, speak-outs, and other actions across the state fall on the forty year anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s declaration of a “war on drugs”, a policy that many experts have shown to wreak havoc in low income communities and communities of color. “The Plata decision is a real opportunity for our state to reverse decades of racist ‘tough-on-crime’ policies,” says Rodrigo “Froggy” Vasquez of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “We are tired of being politically ignored. We need leadership in Sacramento with the guts to get smart, end the war on drugs, and decriminalize drug possession.”

Texas, New York, and Michigan, among other states have successfully reduced their prison budgets and populations while increasing public safety. CURB argues California could do the same by implementing parole and sentencing reforms such as amending or repealing three strikes laws.

Communities Rising Actions include:

• San Francisco: June 17th, 12:00pm press conference at San Francisco’s City Hall, followed by a march featuring music from the Brass Liberation Orchestra, large puppets and other art, as well as a community speak out

• Fresno:  June 17th, 11:00am rally at the State Building

• Bakersfield: June 17th, 4:00pm rally at the Courthouse at Chester and Parkston

• Madera, June 17th, 5:00pm rally at 200 Ford St. across from Courthouse

• Visalia, June 18th, 2:00pm rally at Mooney and Caldwell

• Los Angeles: June 18th, 1pm at the Chuco’s Justice Center, featuring two panels of community leaders, a press conference at 4pm, live music and a candlelight vigil.

Sponsoring organizations across the State include: A New Path – LA, A New Way of Life, All of Us or None, American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, American Friends Service Committee, Berkeley Needle Exchange Emergency Distribution, Blacksmith Records Inc., California Coalition for Women Prisoners, California Partnership, California Prison Moratorium Project, Californians United for a Responsible Budget, Center for Non-Violence, Community Justice Network for Youth, Cop Watch – LA, Critical Resistance, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Drug Policy Alliance, Enlace, Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes, Fresno Brown Berets, Harm Reduction Coalition, Hip Hop Not Bombs, Homies Unidos, Justice by Uniting Creative Energy, Justice Now, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Leadership through Empowerment Action and Dialogue, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, Madera Citizens for Better Community and Schools, October 22nd Coalition – LA, Oasis Clinic, Pico Youth and Family Center, SF Drug Users Union, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, TGI-Justice Project, These Cuts Wont’ Heal, United for Drug Policy Reform and Youth Justice Coalition.

More information about actions, prisons, the budget crisis and realignment can be found at: www.curbprisonspending.org

#30#

 

 

–
Emily Harris
Statewide Coordinator
1322 Webster St. #210
Oakland, CA 94612
510-435-1176
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
emily@curbprisonspending.org

California’s Attempt at Prison Reform Looking Like an Attempt to Pass the Buck

All California has done is shift the burden of the state’s corrections overcrowding to the counties, fails to fund crime prevention services like drug treatment, and more.

By Phillip S. Smith, Drug War Chronicle

Faced with a staggering budget deficit and a prison overcrowding crisis, California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and the state legislature have approved legislation that would shift responsibility for low-level, nonviolent offenders and parole violators from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to the state’s counties. But sentencing and drug reform advocates say the measure merely shifts the burden of the state’s corrections overcrowding from the state to the counties, fails to fund crime prevention services like drug treatment, and fails to include real sentencing reforms.

On Monday, Gov. Brown signed  Assembly Bill 109, the law shifting responsibility for many low-level offenders to the counties.  The law is designed to stop the “revolving door” of low-level offenders cycling and recycling through the prison system, Brown said in a signing statement.

“For too long, the state’s prison system has been a revolving door for lower-level offenders and parole violators who are released within months — often before they are even transferred out of a reception center,” Brown said. “Cycling these offenders through state prisons wastes money, aggravates crowded conditions, thwarts rehabilitation, and impedes local law enforcement supervision.”

But the law will not go into effect unless and until the legislature approves and funds a community corrections grant program, something Republicans in the legislature have opposed.

“I will not sign any legislation that would seek to implement this legislation without the necessary funding,” Brown said. “In the coming weeks, and for as long as it takes, I will vigorously pursue my plan to balance the state’s budget and prevent reductions to public safety through a constitutional guarantee.”

The cost of corrections in California is staggering. Gov. Brown’s proposed Fiscal Year 2011-2012 budget funds the prison system to the tune of $9.19 billion, nearly 7.2% of the entire state budget. And the war on drugs is responsible for a hefty portion of it.

The state prison system holds a whopping 144,000 inmates, including more than 28,000 drug offenders and more than 1,500 marijuana offenders. Of those 28,000 drug offenders, 9,000 are there for simple drug possession at a cost of $450 million a year, or about $4.5 billion over the past decade. That figure doesn’t include the cost of re-incarcerating parole violators who have been returned to prison for administrative violations, such as failing drug tests, so the actual cost of drug law enforcement to the prison system is even higher.

Not only does the prison system face a budgetary crisis, it also faces a looming US Supreme Court decision that, by most predictions, will result in the state being ordered to reduce the prison population to 110,000, which is still about 30,000 over official capacity. The lawsuit before the Supreme Court alleges that California does not provide adequate medical and mental health services to its prisoners.

Gov. Brown’s and the legislature’s plan to shift low-level offenders out of CDCR and into county facilities does not address the core of the problem, advocates said.

“This plan is a shell game that would simply shift corrections costs from the state to the counties without addressing the real problem: California is locking up too many people for low-level offenses for too long,” said Allen Hopper, police practices director with the ACLU of Northern California. “The cost of mass incarceration is robbing the people of California of vitally needed services, including education and healthcare. What we need is real sentencing reform, such as shortening the sentences for simple possession drug crimes. It’s time for California to stop wasting hundreds of millions of dollars incarcerating people who pose no threat to public safety.”

“This plan would allow people to be locked up in local jails for up to three years, triple the current limit. Research consistently shows that longer sentences do not produce better outcomes. In fact, shorter sentences coupled with re-entry and prevention tactics are both more effective and more cost-effective,” said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy state director in Southern California for the Drug Policy Alliance. “We’re talking about people convicted of low-level offenses, like drug possession, prostitution and petty theft, often related to a drug problem. But the plan doesn’t include a dime for drug treatment or mental health care. In fact, the governor has proposed reducing funds for those services.”

“Any California corrections reform must include sentencing reform,” said Kris Lev-Twombly, director of programs at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. “A felony conviction is a life-long sentence that should not be applied to low-level offenses. No matter how old the conviction, people with a felony on their record will face significantly diminished employment opportunities and much lower lifetime earnings. They may also be prohibited from accessing student loans, food stamps and other public assistance. This works against individual, family and community well-being and public safety.”

Continue Reading…..

More Black Men Now in Prison System than Were Enslaved

Dick Price |

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“More African American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began,” Michelle Alexander told a standing room only house at the Pasadena Main Library this past Wednesday, the first of many jarring points she made in a riveting presentation.

Alexander, currently a law professor at Ohio State, had been brought in to discuss her year-old bestseller, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Interest ran so high beforehand that the organizers had to move the event to a location that could accommodate the eager attendees. That evening, more than 200 people braved the pouring rain and inevitable traffic jams to crowd into the library’s main room, with dozens more shuffled into an overflow room, and even more latecomers turned away altogether. Alexander and her topic had struck a nerve.

Growing crime rates over the past 30 years don’t explain the skyrocketing numbers of black — and increasingly brown — men caught in America’s prison system, according to Alexander, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun after attending Stanford Law. “In fact, crime rates have fluctuated over the years and are now at historical lows.”

“Most of that increase is due to the War on Drugs, a war waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color,” she said, even though studies have shown that whites use and sell illegal drugs at rates equal to or above blacks. In some black inner-city communities, four of five black youth can expect to be caught up in the criminal justice system during their lifetimes.

As a consequence, a great many black men are disenfranchised, said Alexander — prevented because of their felony convictions from voting and from living in public housing, discriminated in hiring, excluded from juries, and denied educational opportunities.

“What do we expect them to do?” she asked, who researched her ground-breaking book while serving as Director of the Racial Justice Project at the ACLU of Northern California. “Well, seventy percent return to prison within two years, that’s what they do.”

Continue Reading….

Margaret Dooley-Sammuli: California taking a step back in drug treatment

Margaret Dooley-Sammuli is deputy state director, Southern California, for the Drug Policy Alliance, the nation’s leading organization working to end the war on drugs and a proponent of Prop. 36 in 2000.

Santa Cruz just became the latest county to announce it would “end” the Proposition 36 treatment-instead-of-incarceration program for low-level drug offenses because of a lack of funding. This terminology is confusing and misleading — even for those who should know better.

Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, was approved by 61 percent of California voters in 2000 — and it can only be undone by the voters. That is, it doesn’t “end” simply because the state and county aren’t funding alcohol and drug treatment.

Counties that deny Prop. 36 participants access to adequate drug treatment, such as by providing support groups e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous rather than licensed care, provide grounds for each defendant to bring suit. Just as importantly, California courts simply cannot remand people to jail or prison for a petty drug offense if that defendant is eligible for and opts into probation under Prop. 36.

This is good news for California taxpayers.

According to UCLA research, Prop. 36 has helped reduce the number of people incarcerated for personal drug possession by 40 percent or 8,000 people, saves $2.5-$4 for every dollar invested more than $2 billion so far, diverted 36,000 people into treatment a year when funded, and has had no negative impact on crime trends. If those 8,000 people were still in prison, taxpayers would spend an additional $400 million on corrections this year alone.

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