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News
Archive 2005
On Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2005, CJPF President Eric E. Sterling hosted and moderated a press conference on the Bolivian Presidential election results at the National Press Club. On Dec. 18, 2005, Bolivian voters elected Congressman Evo Morales, an Ayamara Indian and cocalero, as their new President. Experts from the Institute for Policy Studies, the Andean Information Network, and the Washington Office on Latin America were on the panel to discuss the potential impact of Morales' victory. NPR's Morning Edition featured a story about the election which included segments from the press conference.
You can listen to the segment through the NPR website at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5073839 or you can download the NPR story through RealPlayer. Length: 4 minutes.
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On December 27, 2005, The Times-Picayune featured the article "Murder by drug dealing charge reviving". The article revealed a little-known Louisiana statute that allows someone who has sold or facilitated the use of drugs connected to an overdose death to be charged with second-degree murder. CJPF President Eric E. Sterling is quoted in the article and questions the rationale of charging sellers for the decisions and actions of their buyers. Sterling also points out that sympathetic overdose cases-- often involving youth-- are most likely to be pursued by prosecutors and police.
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CJPF President Eric E. Sterling, staff, and fellow drug policy activists gathered on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005, at the Department of Justice to protest the recent raids on medical marijuana patients in California. Federal agents raided 13 San Diego medical marijuana dispensaries on Monday, Dec. 12, seizing plants, computers, and patient records. Read the CJPF Media Advisory or Read about the raids.
Protesting the San Diego medical marijuana raids at U.S. Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, DC, are supporters and activists from the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, NORML, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Flex Your Rights Foundation, and the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative. J. Bradley Jansen from the Liberty Coalition is speaking. December 14, 2005.
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On December 13, 2005, the New York Daily News featured a story, "Tough Police Law Gaining Support", about a proposed NY Senate bill that will increase sentences for assaulting a police officer. The "Crimes Against Cops Law" proposes a mandatory 30 years for assault with a deadly weapon (up from a minimum five year sentence) or attempted murder (up from 15 years minimum, with chance of parole). CJPF President Eric E. Sterling was quoted in a related article, "Experts say: Campaign is on the mark", and argued that longer sentences are not proven to deter criminals.
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CJPF President Eric E. Sterling attended the King County Bar Association's Drug Policy Conference, Exit Strategy for the War on Drugs: Toward a New Legal Framework on Dec 1-2, 2005. Seattle's NPR affiliate station, KPLU 88.5, recorded segments of the press conference held over the weekend. Listen to Eric E. Sterling discuss how drug prohibition crime raises insurance and depresses property values.
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The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Substance Abuse testified before the Congressional Caucus on Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery on October 19, 2005. Among those who testified in front of Congress was CJPF President Eric E. Sterling, who is also the liaison to the ABA's committee from the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. The testimonies urged Congress to reduce discrimination in health care, education and public benefits against individuals who are in treatment or recovery.
From L-R: Barbara J. Howard, Chair, Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, Cincinnati, OH
Michael Sweeney, Member, Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, Portland, OR
Eric E. Sterling, Liaison to the Standing Committee from the Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities, Silver Spring, MD
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The November 11, 2005, edition of Cincinnati CityBeat featured the article "Drug War Victory: The First Step is a Permanent Cease Fire" which detailed the struggle of Ohio pain patient Dee Dee Zoretic. In this feature, CJPF President Eric E. Sterling emphasizes that drug policy is a health issue and that many decisions need to be made by the medical community-- not law enforcement. Sterling also discusses his belief that legalization will enable sensitive and crucial dialogues about drugs between adults and children.
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Eric E. Sterling was featured in the October 31, 2005, In These Times feature article "Liberalism's Brain on Drugs". In this article, Sterling discusses the exceptions that are made to the Bill of Rights when waging the drug war. These exceptions include unlawful searches for drugs and self-incrimination through drug tests.
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CJPF President Eric E. Sterling delivered a powerful speech at the Hartford, CT conference "Illicit Drugs - Burden & Policy" held October 21-22, 2005. An audio recording of Sterling's speech has been made available by Dean Becker of Drug Truth Network. Sterling speaks about the economics of prohibition and the racist foundation of the drug war. The Drug Conference White Paper, written by the City of Hartford organizers, summarizes the ideas and topics that were discussed at the conference.
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Join Together, an organization working on substance abuse issues, published a news feature, "Ending Stigma Would Save Millions, Congress Told", on October 21, 2005, on the American Bar Association's Capitol Hill Briefing, "Substance Abuse, Addiction & Treatment". CJPF President Eric E. Sterling spoke at the Congressional Caucus briefing and maintained that people with nonviolent drug convictions but no current drug use should not be refused financial aid, food stamps or public-housing.
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On October 3, 2005, The Oregonian published a letter to the editor, "Try new anti-drug strategy", by CJPF President Eric E. Sterling. In his letter, Sterling argues that the national drug policy strategy ignores essential performance measures.
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On
August 8, 2005, Newsweek ran a cover story, "America's
Most Dangerous Drug", on methamphetamine use that
was more of a hysterical expose than investigative journalism.
Eric E. Sterling comments on this report and the media's misrepresentation
of meth in Sterling
on Justice and Drugs. For
useful and up to date background information on the meth phenomena,
CJPF recommends the Abt
Associates Inc. paper "Methamphetamine
Use: Lessons Learned", published on March 18, 2005.
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The
Criminal Justice Policy Foundation was cited on August 6,
2005, in the Edmonton Sun by columnist Mindelle Jacobs.
Jacobs' column, "Canada
vs. U.S. in rope-a-dope", exposes the controversy
of the US-directed arrest of Canadian marijuana activist Marc
Emery and questions the consistency of Canada's approach to
drug policy. Eric E. Sterling further discusses Emery's arrest
and the legality of extradition in Sterling
on Justice and Drugs.
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Eric E. Sterling
was interviewed on Drug
Truth Network, a radio talk show, for the week of August
8-14, 2005. Sterling discusses the current media hype surrounding
methamphetamine and provides background of the meth problem
in the US.
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Eric E. Sterling
was interviewed in the Final
Call, the newspaper of the Nation of Islam, on July 1
about the extent of imprisonment in America, and the role
of the war on drugs in maintaining white privilege.
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Eric E. Sterling was interviewed for an hour on the Alan
Handelman Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show
on rock stations, on June 12 about the Gonzales v. Raich decision
of the U.S. Supreme Court.
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The Washington Post featured a letter to the editor
written by Eric E. Sterling on Tuesday, June 7, 2005. The
letter "Retail
Alone Won't Help Prince George's" attributed the difficulty
of attracting high-end retailers in Prince George County to
the county's overwhelming crime rate. Sterling pointed out
that this is a direct result of drug turf wars and prohibition-related
violence and called for a "new approach to policing and the
drug problem".
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On Sunday, June 5, 2005, Eric E. Sterling was interviewed
on NPR's
Weekend Edition in a piece about the different sentences
for crack cocaine and powder cocaine and pending legislation
in Connecticut. Governor Jody Rell vetoed the legislation
on June 2, saying it "sent the wrong message."
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Eric E. Sterling was quoted in the Connecticut Post on Sunday, May 29, in an article on student drug testing.
Sterling expressed concern over the message of drug testing
and searches in schools, stating that, "When dogs walk through
the school, it creates a presumption that everyone is guilty,
everyone is a suspect." Read the full Connecticut
Post article here.
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The May 28-June 3, 2005, edition of The
Washington Afro-American published a front page article
on Law Enforcement
Against Prohibition and their advocacy for drug regulation.
Eric E. Sterling was quoted on behalf of CJPF and LEAP, and
discussed how the war on drugs has been used as a tool to
"maintain White privilege".
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Eric E. Sterling spoke on Tuesday, May 17, 2005, at a Roundtable
Discussion, Time to Mend the Crack in Justice: Confronting
the Disparity in Penalty Between Crack and Powder Cocaine.
The discussion was presented by Watching Justice at the National
Press Club. The event invitation is available on the Watching
Justice website.
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The Connecticut House voted May 10, 2005, by a 92-52 vote
to impose equal penalties for possessing cocaine in either
powder or solid crack form. Eric E. Sterling spoke at the Alliance
Connecticut in Hartford, CT, on December 3, 2004, about
the sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine
in federal law. Connecticut was one of 11 states that had
a separate, heightened penalty for the "crack" form of cocaine.
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The Marijuana
Policy Project held a successful gala dinner in Washington,
DC, on May 4, 2005, to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Eric
E. Sterling, who was one of the co-founders of MPP, was quoted
in the San Francisco
Chronicle's coverage of the event.
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A South Carolina bill to equalize penalties for crack cocaine
and powder cocaine is quickly gaining support and likely to
pass before the session's end. Eric E. Sterling was quoted
in the South Carolina Post
and Courier article on the impending legislation.
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Eric E. Sterling presented an overview of federal drug policy
since enactment of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 to
the Blue Ribbon Commission of the National
African-American Drug Policy Coalition on April 25, 2005.
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Eric E. Sterling spoke to the University of Maryland SSDP Chapter on April 20, 2005, on marijuana policy issues.
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On April 3, 2005, the Greensboro, North Carolina News Record published an op-ed by Eric E. Sterling on the front page of its opinion section
about the problems of mandatory minimum sentencing. Greensboro, NC is the home of U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, Chairman
of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security
of the House Committee on the Judiciary. On April 12, the Subcommittee favorably reported to the
full Committee two bills to create many additional mandatory
minimum sentences, H.R. 1528, the "Defending America's Most
Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection
Act of 2005" and H.R. 1279, the "Gang Deterrence and Community
Protection Act of 2005."
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On January 16, 2005, Debra Saunders, nationally syndicated
columnist, wrote about the Supreme Court's decision in United
States v. Booker. She urged Congress to limit the
sentences that could be imposed on first-time, nonviolent
offenders as a means to limit "disparity" in federal sentencing.
Saunders quoted Eric E. Sterling about the hostility the Congress
has toward federal judges which he finds strange because the
federal judiciary has been "Republican-vetted."
Analyzing the Alliance
for Justice website of active federal judges, Sterling
found 81.3% of the district judges had been appointed by a
GOP president or confirmed by a GOP controlled Senate (525
out of 646). 84.6% of the Circuit judges were similarly chosen
(126 out of 161). (Data as of October 2003). |
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