Every year, the US Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics releases its annual reports on Prison Inmates at Midyea

Like many other states, New Jersey adopted "drug-free school zone" laws in the 1980s in a bid to stop that iconic drug war menace, the dope peddler lurking in the schoolyard shadows trying to hook

The resort to the death penalty for drug offenses continues apace. And it is the usual suspects. Here's what's gone on so far this month, with a glimmer of potential good news from Vietnam.

[Courtesy of Drug Policy Alliance]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2008
Contact: Tony Newman at 646-335-5384 or Roseanne Scotti at 609-610-8243

Drug-Free Zone Reform Legislation Passed by New Jersey Assembly

Advocates Applaud Reform Effort and Say New Bill Will Reduce Racial Disparities and Save Taxpayers Money

Trenton, NJ—Yesterday, the New Jersey Assembly passed compromise legislation to reform the state’s unfair and ineffective drug-free zone law. The bill, A2762, sponsored by Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson (D-Bergen) would give judges the discretion not to impose a mandatory minimum sentence under certain circumstances for drug-free zone offenses. The legislation is a compromise introduced to replace an earlier bill that would have reduced the size of the zones to 200 feet.

Roseanne Scotti, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey, called the bill a sensible compromise that would allow for individualized sentences and save taxpayers money. “Basically the current law calls for two different penalties for the same crime with the severity of the penalty based on geography and ultimately on race,” said Scotti. “The zones blanket our urban areas and as a result, 96 percent of those getting this additional mandatory minimum sentence are African American or Latino.”

In 2002, the New Jersey Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing issued a groundbreaking report on New Jersey’s “drug-free zone” law. The law basically mandates a three-year mandatory minimum sentence in addition to the penalty for the underlying offense when the drug offense occurs in the zones. The commission found that the zones were completely ineffective in reducing drug offences within the designated areas. In addition the commission found that the law had a severe “urban effect” that disproportionately affected minority communities.

Because there were so many schools and other public buildings covered by the law in densely populated urban areas, and because the zones overlap one another, most of the area of any densely populated city became one large drug-free zone. Therefore, almost any drug offense in such a city would get the additional mandatory term.

Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey recently released a report, “Wasting Money, Wasting Lives: Calculating the Hidden Costs of Incarceration in New Jersey.” The report found that in addition to the approximately $331 million that New Jersey spends each year to incarcerate nonviolent drug offenders, the state loses millions more in taxable income from the lost wages of those incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses. The loss of taxable income to the state continues even after release because formerly incarcerated individuals earn about 30-40 percent less than those who have never been incarcerated.

“Judges should have the discretion to craft fair and effective sentences and not waste taxpayer money,” said Scotti. “It costs more than $46,000 a year to incarcerate someone in New Jersey. If someone doesn’t deserve the additional penalty and if the additional penalty does nothing to improve public safety, mandating an additional penalty is just throwing taxpayer money down the drain. It damages the individual’s ability to earn a living and become a productive member of society and it shrinks New Jersey’s tax base. The bottom line is that New Jersey can’t afford ineffective mandatory minimum sentences.”

# # #

The US Congress Joint Economic Committee yesterday held a historic hearing on the economic costs of US drug policy.

CRACK THE DISPARITY NEWSLETTER

Volume 1, No. 1
Summer 2008
In This Issue The Struggle Continues Legislative Update Grassroots Agenda A Theological Basis for Ending the Sentencing Disparity Save the Date Media Momentum

Feature Story:

Baseball Legend Willie Mays Aikens Released Under Retroactivity Amendment

By Zerline Jennings

Willie Mays Aikens, former first baseman for the Kansas City Royals, made baseball history when he became the first player to have a pair of two-homer games in the 1980 World Series. Years later he made another kind of history when a longstanding addiction to cocaine ended his baseball career and ultimately led to a nearly 21-year sentence for selling crack cocaine to an undercover officer. Finally, in 2008, he again made headlines when a federal judge reduced his lengthy prison term to 14 years as a result of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's recent adjustment to the crack cocaine sentencing guidelines. Aikens was released in June.

"They used my case as an example to show that crack sentencing was cruel and unusual punishment," said Aikens in an interview with WHNS-TV in South Carolina. "I'm glad that after spending 14 years in prison, something good came out of this."

Sentencing reform advocates utilized Aikens' story to illustrate the unjust sentencing and racial disparities between crack and powder cocaine. After being convicted of attempting to purchase cocaine in 1983, his addiction eventually led to his suspension from major league baseball. He returned to Kansas City, after playing ball in Mexico, but continued to battle his addiction, which was quickly ruining his personal life as it had done his baseball career.

Kansas City authorities were aware of Aikens' involvement with drugs. In December 1993, a female undercover officer established a friendship with Aikens and subsequently asked him to obtain crack cocaine for her on several occasions. On at least one occasion, the undercover officer specifically asked him to cook powder cocaine into crack cocaine.

Entrapment and Mandatory Minimums

With this evidence, the U.S. Attorney's office charged Aikens with multiple counts of trafficking crack cocaine. Because of harsher sentencing penalties for using and dealing crack, his sentence for selling 2.2 ounces of crack cocaine was treated as though equivalent to selling 15 pounds of powder cocaine.

Click here to read more. www.CrackTheDisparity.com    Editor's Note:

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Crack the Disparity Coalition's quarterly e-newsletter. We unveil this publication on an important day, the 22nd anniversary of Len Bias' death - a young man at the apex of a promising basketball career, whose drug overdose fueled the passage of the harsh sentencing law this coalition seeks to change.
This newsletter is designed to maintain the momentum that is propelling reform by keeping advocates updated on news and events related to eliminating the crack cocaine disparity. This newsletter can also be accessed at www.crackthedisparity.com where additional advocacy resources and information can be found.   Crack Cocaine Reform - The Struggle Continues
By Nkechi Taifa, Esq.

In 1994, the U.S. Sentencing Commission issued a call for public comment on laws creating a differential in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine offenses. The federal law, passed after the cocaine-induced death of basketball star Len Bias, requires a mandatory minimum five year sentence for a first time offender's simple possession of five grams of crack cocaine. It takes trafficking in 100 times as much powder cocaine - 500 grams - to trigger the same five year sentence. This has come to be known as the 100:1 quantity disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Click here to read more.
Crack Cocaine Legislative Update By Kara Gotsch

Since the judiciary subcommittees on crime in the U.S. House and Senate held hearings on crack cocaine sentencing reform in February, legislative momentum has slowed in Congress. Even with a total of seven reform bills pending, no committee has held a vote on the bills and none are currently planned. Now is the time to remind Congress that their constituents demand a fairer sentencing structure that eliminates the quantity disparity between crack and powder cocaine and limits the excessive penalties for low-level drug offenses. Public pressure is essential to garner Congress's support for reform and move legislation along. Click here to read more.
Grassroots Agenda: June, July, August By Calli Schiller

As Congress prepares to adjourn for the July 4th and August recesses, now is an excellent time for you to plan grassroots activities centered in the legislators' home-districts. While some Members of Congress (MOC) use these recesses to vacation with their families, many legislators are working in their district offices. This presents an excellent opportunity for in-district meetings, town-hall meetings and site visits. Click here to read more. A Theological Basis for Ending the Sentencing Disparity By Bill Mefford

The Faith in Action Criminal Justice Reform Working Group, which I co-lead, is made up of faith organizations from across the religious and political spectrums. Groups came together to help achieve passage of the Second Chance Act -- a bill providing assistance for prisoners' reentry -- and we found a number of other issues on which we share values. Our goal is to bring crucial reforms to the criminal justice system and we have identified the current crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity as grossly unjust and in long overdue need of change.

With 2.3 million people currently incarcerated in the United States, and the numbers only climbing, communities are not safer and the flow of drugs into our communities has not been curbed. Long mandatory minimum sentences deny both judicial discretion as well as necessary treatment for those who suffer from addiction as the root cause of their criminal behavior. Click here to read more. Save the Date July 12-17: 99th Annual Convention of the NAACP in Cincinnati, OH (featuring workshops on crack cocaine reform and practice)

July 23-27: UNITY Journalists of Color 4th Quadrennial Convention and Career Fair, Chicago, IL (featuring workshop on draconian sentencing laws)

July 26-August 2, 2008: National Bar Association 83rd Annual Convention and Exhibits, Houston, TX

September 24-27, 2008: Congressional Black Caucus Foundation 38th Annual Legislative Conference, Washington, D.C.

September 26-September 28, 2008: Critical Resistance 10th Anniversary Celebration and International Conference and Strategy Session, Oakland, CA
October 19-22, 2008: International Community Corrections Association 16th Annual International Research Conference, "Risk, Resilience and Reentry," St. Louis, MO Media Attention Washington Post Magazine Cover Story on Michael Short

Los Angeles Sentinel Coverage on Federal Sentence Reduction

Washington Post Coverage on Crack Offenders Returning Home  
The Crack the Disparity Coalition includes the American Bar Association,
American Civil Liberties Union, Break the Chains, Drug Policy Alliance,
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Open Society Policy Center, Restoring Dignity, Inc., Students for Sensible Drug Policy, The Sentencing Project, and United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society.  

From the Desk of Ethan Nadelmann

Dear friends,

I have been traveling back and forth to California this year, working on a ballot initiative that represents the most significant reform of prisons and sentencing in the history of the United States. We’re calling it the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act or “NORA” for short and we’ve just heard from the California Secretary of State that it has officially qualified for the ballot.

We wrote this measure and we are spearheading the campaign. I’m telling you about it because, as with past campaigns, our success in California, the most populous state, will have a national impact.

Now I need you to make a donation to help us build our fund for voter education and television advertising in the days leading up to the election.

Our research shows a substantial majority of Californians really like what’s in NORA. It provides a solution to the state’s prison overcrowding crisis through a combination of measures that will simultaneously and safely reduce the size of the prison population, provide effective treatment and rehabilitation, reduce recidivism and crime, and save taxpayers billions of dollars.

It would be great if NORA could be enacted into law by the State Legislature, but our friends in Sacramento tell us the only way to get it done is through the ballot initiative process. That’s why I need your help. I’ve raised millions from wealthy folks -- including some who live outside California and regard this as a fundamental issue of human rights, smart public policy and/or fiscal responsibility -- but we can’t get to the finish line without lots of support from people across the country who care. Please make a donation now.

I should tell you that NORA isn’t just about solving California’s prison overcrowding crisis and saving taxpayers billions of dollars. It’s also about reforming California’s prison industrial complex in ways that will transform the state into a leader in sensible drug and sentencing policy, and serve as a model for other states.

California used to be known as the State of Higher Education. Now it’s known as the State of Higher Incarceration. NORA can change that with your help.

You might also be interested to know that NORA includes a provision that changes the penalty for marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction -- like a traffic ticket. This single change will protect some 40,000 people a year convicted of simple marijuana possession from the serious and life-long collateral consequences of a criminal record.

So, if you want to know more about the details of NORA, click here, but please also take the opportunity to make a generous donation to ensure NORA wins on Election Day. There are still millions of people in California and across the country who think the best solution to every problem is to lock people up. Don’t let them win the day.

And after you’ve made your donation, please forward this email to everyone you know and encourage them to support NORA as well. There’s never been an opportunity like this to accomplish so much good for so many people.

One in eight Americans lives in California, and a victory in November will send a clear message to policy makers across the country that the American people want a public health approach to drug problems, not more wasteful prison spending. Your support of this California initiative will mean similar reforms will be more likely to pass across the country.

We’re talking about freedom, compassion and responsibility. Smart drug policy. Smart crime policy. And good government for a change.

Many thanks,

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance Network

P.S. I need to raise the remaining money to run a powerful campaign through Election Day. Please give now to help me build a war chest for NORA.

This November California voters will have the opportunity to vote for the largest prison and sentencing reform in US history.

Prison Fellowship and Sojourners in partnership with Telos Films and Liberation Entertainment cordially invites you to attend a free, private screening of the award winning film TAKE.

With one in 100 American adults behind bars, more and more juries across the country are handing down sentences of life without parole.

The Australian Medical Association has called on the state government of Western Australia to introduce harsher marijuana laws.

As New Jersey legislators push for sentencing reforms of some mandatory minimum drug offense sentences, a new report from the Drug Policy Alliance

Professor David Nutt took over from Sir Michael Rawlins Monday as head of the British government's key advisory body on drug policy, the