Federal Drug Sentencing Victory!
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January 13, 2005

1. Message from Troy Dayton about the New Year
2. News Item: Supreme Court Restores Judicial Discretion
3. News Item: Black State Legislators Condemn Drug War

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1. Message from Troy Dayton about the New Year
 
Dear faithful friend of justice,
 
As 2005 gets underway, we have decided to add a valuable feature to our action alerts:  From now on we will include a few news items along with our alerts.  Most of the stories will be from our colleagues at the Drug War Chronicle, but sometimes we will include stories from other sources.
 
My hope is that you learn valuable information and get inspired to take action.  As you read these news pieces I encourage you to think about how this information can be leveraged into action in your congregation. 
 
Is the topic ripe for a forum? Is it a news item that can be turned into an article in your congregation’s newsletter? Can you write a letter-to-the-editor to a local newspaper about it?  Is it something that would be valuable to pass along to the social justice chair at your congregation?
 
In addition to alerts where we are asking you to do something specific related to a particular bill, we hope that these news items will spark your imagination about creative ways to advocate for more compassionate and less coercive drug policies.
 
If you live in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Alabama, Illinois, New Mexico, Alaska look out for action alerts specific to your state.  Just by living in one of these states, you are in a unique position to have a disproportionate impact on transforming drug laws by taking action.
 
Regardless of what state you live in, there are also some important federal legislative endeavors about which you will soon receive updates and action alerts.
 
As always, if you have any questions or would like any help organizing people of faith behind drug policy reform, please email me at troydayton@idpi.us or call me at 301-933-7681. 
 
Be well, be free,
Troy Dayton, field coordinator
troydayton@idpi.us

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2.  News:  Supreme Court Restores Judicial Discretion, by Troy Dayton

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a long-awaited ruling on the compulsory sentencing guidelines that judges have been forced to use.  The court ruled in a 5-4 decision that it is unconstitutional to force judges to sentence someone based on information that was not admitted at the trial. 
 
While many experts are debating the significance and ultimate impact of this decision, one thing is certain:  Some judicial discretion has been restored, at least for the time being.  This is a huge victory!
 
It's important to note that the ruling did not make mandatory minimum sentencing unconstitutional.  Our concern is that Wednesday’s ruling on the sentencing guidelines will make some legislators who fear judicial discretion respond by filling the void with more mandatory sentences.
 
In response to this concern, the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative and Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform joined forces with many other organizations in calling on Congress to take this historic opportunity to create a more just system instead of rushing to implement more mandatory minimum sentencing.  We signed a letter that was delivered to members of Congress yesterday.
 
Partly because of IDPI's work, many of the country's largest religious denominations have taken a position opposing mandatory sentencing.  If and when new mandatory minimums are proposed in Congress, I hope you and/or your congregation will be ready to step up to the plate and make your voice heard.  We will keep you posted.
 
You can read what the New York Times had to say about this decision at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n066/a02.html?230464.

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3.  Black State Legislators Condemn Drug War, by Phil Smith of the Drug War Chronicle
 
The nation's largest organization representing African-American state legislators has condemned the war on drugs and is demanding alternative policies less harmful to black communities. The move marks the second time in recent months that black leadership organizations have belatedly recognized the disproportionate impact of drug prohibition on their communities and called for a new direction. In October, an amalgamation of black professional associations, the National African-American Drug Policy Coalition, came together to seek similar changes in state and federal drug policy (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/359/naadpc.shtml).
 
At its annual meeting in Philadelphia in December, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (http://www.nbcsl.com) passed a resolution condemning the drug war and committing its members to repeal mandatory minimum sentences and support diverting nonviolent drug offenders into treatment. Introduced by delegate Salima Marriott of Maryland, the resolution puts the NBCSL on record as calling the drug war a failure.
 
"The war on drugs has failed, and while states have continually increased their expenditures to wage the war on drugs, policies which rely heavily on arrest and incarceration have proven costly and ineffective at addressing these issues," the resolution read in part.
 
"The war on drugs is failing everybody, but no one is being devastated by it like African Americans,” said Michael Blain, director of public policy at the Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org). "That is why it is so historic that the people who represent the communities who have the most to gain from reform are taking the lead in addressing this problem and finding solutions."
 
That African Americans suffer disproportionately from drug prohibition is beyond doubt. Not only do blacks go to jail for drug offenses at a rate 13 times that of whites despite having similar drug use rates, as Human Rights Watch, among others, has pointed out, and not only do blacks make up 59% of those convicted of drug crimes in the US despite being only 12.2% of the population, but black urban communities suffer the brunt of both drug law enforcement and the community disruption caused by prohibition.
 
DPA worked with NBCSL members to get the resolution passed, and if members abide by the resolution, DPA will continue to be involved. As the text of the measure notes, members are committed to "work with the Drug Policy Alliance to create NBCSL seminars that provide a thorough overview on harm reduction principles and legislative reform initiatives."
 
In a series of preliminary "whereases," the NBCSL cited the drug war as "a major force" driving mass incarceration in the US, a cause of "the general criminalization of communities of color in the US," a waste of tax dollars desperately needed elsewhere, and an impediment to harm reduction strategies (broadly defined to include access to affordable community-based drug treatment, as well as education and prevention).
 
Continuing that its common goal is "to advocate those policies which increase the health and welfare of our communities, and to reduce the unacceptable racial disparities both in criminal justice and in access to drug treatment and other services" and that it seeks to reduce the imprisonment of non-violent drug offenders, the NBCSL then took a giant step forward by formally stating that drug users are not demons but members of the larger community.
 
"We believe that nonviolent substance abusers are not menaces to our communities but rather a troubled yet integral part of our community who need to be reclaimed," the NBCSL said.
 
After the preamble came the meat of the resolution. According to the document, the NBCSL will:

* Introduce and support legislation which will repeal mandatory minimum sentences, divert nonviolent drug offenders out of prison and into community-based treatment, and stop the flow of people needing treatment or transitional services from recidivating solely for positive urines.

* Ensure that this new legislation includes quantifiable, measurable goals, and is measured by a standard that reduces the effects of substance abuse and addiction and the harm of unjust drug policies while increasing public safety, thereby creating a New Bottom Line.

* Create state task forces to research and report on the allocation of state expenditures for all public education and health services and the war on drugs so that states can understand the real cost of the war on drugs in the state budgets and in their communities.

* Seek to advance a drug policy agenda that prioritizes a public health, not a criminal justice approach, to drug policy.
 
Through their national organization, black state legislators have now committed themselves to ending the war on drugs as it actually exists. But the proof is in the pudding. In the coming months, we will be looking for signs that this resolution is more than just another piece of paper.