In a break with the Bush administration, Justice Department officials called Wednesday for the first time for Congress to pass legislation that would undo the vast disparities in sentences for thos

The number of African Americans behind bars for drug offenses dropped dramatically from 1999 to 2005, while the number of white drug war prisoners has increased, according to a report released Tues

announcement from Samuel Goldwyn Films

An Announcement from Samuel Goldwyn Films

On April 17, Samuel Goldwyn Films will release AMERICAN VIOLET (http://www.americanviolet.com), a new film based on true events that occurred in the small Texas town of Tulia (see: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/284/colemanindicted.shtml). The film examines how drug laws and enforcement practices target African-Americans, and, how the justice system uses threats and intimidation to steer them towards guilty pleas, regardless of their innocence or the evidence against them. As the film points out, more than 95% of criminal convictions in this country are the result of plea-bargains, not jury trials. While the film is based on a specific case, the story it represents is hardly unique or isolated, and, the film's release presents an exceptional opportunity to explore how the drug war has become the new Jim Crow.

AMERICAN VIOLET is inspired by the real life story of Regina Kelly, an African-American, single mother of four girls who was arrested in 2000 in a military-style drug raid. The raid resulted in the arrest of nearly 15% of the town's young black male population for felony cocaine distribution.

Kelly was innocent. Her name, along with the names of many others arrested (nearly all African-American), were given to police by a single, highly unreliable informant with personal reasons to antagonize her. Despite Kelly's innocence, she was urged to plead guilty by her family and even her public defender so that she could return to her children and receive a minimal sentence. A felony conviction, however, would have resulted in the loss of her right to vote and the public assistance programs on which her family depended, not to mention the tainting of her personal reputation and her ability to obtain employment. She chose to maintain her plea of not guilty. The ACLU Drug Law Reform Project came on board to represent her.

In AMERICAN VIOLET, Kelly's on-screen character is named Dee Roberts (played by newcomer Nicole Beharie) and the ACLU lawyer in the film is played by Tim Blake Nelson. Alfre Woodard, Charles Dutton, Will Patton, Michael O'Keefe and Xzibit also star. The town of Melody and certain other characters and events are fictitious.

Eventually, the charges against Kelly were dropped (as were the charges against most of the others arrested in the same drug raid due to the same informant's lack of credibility). Yet, she was separated from her children while she was incarcerated, shamed in her small community by being labeled a drug dealer, fired from her job, and had difficulty obtaining employment thereafter; in short, her life was torn apart due to her arrest and her time in jail. Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project represented her in a lawsuit against the county and the District Attorney (among other parties), for damages, which resulted in a settlement.

More importantly, the case resulted in a change in Texas law, whereby now, cases cannot be prosecuted based solely on the claims of a single informant.

Visit http://schedule.samuelgoldwynfilms.com/films/american+violet/ for a list of cities where the movie is opening.

Dear Friend,

For the first time in 25 years, since the inception of the "war on drugs," the number of African Americans incarcerated in state prisons for drug offenses has declined substantially, according to a study released today by The Sentencing Project. It finds a 21.6% drop in the number of blacks incarcerated for a drug offense, a decline of 31,000 people during the period 1999-2005.

The study, The Changing Racial Dynamics of the War on Drugs, also documents a corresponding rise in the number of whites in state prison for a drug offense, an increase of 42.6% during this time frame, or more than 21,000 people. The number of Latinos incarcerated for state drug offenses was virtually unchanged.

The study notes that the black declines in incarceration represent "the end result of 50 state law enforcement and sentencing systems" which need to be examined individually. But overall, the decline in blacks incarcerated for a drug offense follows upon declining arrest and conviction rates for blacks as well. The study suggests much of the disparity resulting from the drug war has been a function of police targeting of open-air drug markets. As crack use and sales have declined, or moved indoors in some cases, law enforcement activity may have been reduced correspondingly.

Because of the rising number of whites in prison for a drug offense, the overall number of persons serving state prison time for a drug offense remained at a record 250,000 during the study period. The white increase may be related in part to more aggressive enforcement of methamphetamine laws, according to the study. While methamphetamine is only used at significant levels in a relative handful of states, data from states such as Iowa and Minnesota show a substantial influx of these cases during this time period.

The analysis by The Sentencing Project also documented a sharp contrast between state and federal prison populations. While the number of persons in state prisons for a drug offense rose by less than 1% during the study period, the increase in federal prisons was more than 32%. These latter changes are attributed to ongoing aggressive enforcement of drug laws, including application of harsh mandatory sentencing policies. Despite declines in the use of crack cocaine, federal prosecution and incarceration levels for crack offenses remain high and have a stark racially disparate impact.

In reviewing the study's findings, Mauer noted that despite the new trend, African Americans are still imprisoned at more than six times the rate of whites for all offenses. Moreover, high incarceration rates for low-level drug offenses remain a function of the largely punitive approach to drug abuse that has proven expensive and ineffective.

Today's study is based on an analysis of government data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, FBI, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Click here to read The Sentencing Project's report, The Changing Racial Dynamics of the War on Drugs.

-The Sentencing Project

In its latest survey of US jails and prisons, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported at the end of March that

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Seating is limited, so please RSVP asap to Anjuli Verma with the ACLU’s Drug Law Reform Project at averma@aclu.org, or Beverly Miller at beverly@aclu-nca.org or 202-457-0800.

A week ago today, New York Gov.

In the midst of historic reforms to the Rockefeller Drug Laws, the ACLU and NYCLU will host a preview screening of AMERICAN VIOLET, the highly anticipated new film inspired by the true story of a drug

The New York Assembly passed a Rockefeller drug law reform bill last Wednesday<

As if we needed further confirmation that the war on drugs is racially biased in outcome, the human rights group Human Rights Watch released a report Monday showing that blacks have been arrested n

For more than 35 years, New York state has had the dubious distinction of having some of the country's worst drug laws, the Rockefeller drug laws passed in 1973.

Buoyed by this month's election results and jazzed by the prospects for change with a new administration in Washington, some 450 student activists converged on the University of Maryland campus in

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson announced Monday that people in Clevelan

With the presidential election now less than a month away, Democratic candidate Barack Obama appears poised for victory, according to the m

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 8, 2008
Contact: Monica Hubert at 312-573-8214

Blagojevich signs law requiring new commission to study racial impact of IL drug laws

Illinois incarcerates African-Americans at a rate 9 times greater than that of whites

(Springfield)--On Friday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich approved legislation to create a new state commission that will study the impact of Illinois drug laws on minority communities.

This measure addresses the findings of a 2007 study that showed African-Americans in Illinois were 9 times more likely to be incarcerated than whites, ranking Illinois 14th worst in the nation.

"No legislature sets out to make a law that disproportionately imprisons a particular racial community, but I believe our laws here in Illinois do just that," said State Senator Mattie Hunter, chief sponsor of the bill creating the commission, Senate Bill 2476. "Now that there's a commission dedicated to examining the problem, legislators will have the opportunity to examine and right the wrong."

The new commission--composed of legislators, members of the criminal justice system, social service agencies, and representatives from minority communities--is charged with examining the nature and extent of the harm caused to minority communities by disproportionate incarceration rates, and offering recommendations for legislation and policy changes to address the impact.

"We now have the opportunity to render an informed judgment based on an empirical data analysis and not just intuition," said Pamela Rodriguez of the Center on Criminal Justice at TASC, who will assist the commission's study. "This study will thoroughly examine drug laws from the ground up and open doors for the creation of effective, fair drug policies."

Creasie Finney Hairston, dean and professor at the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who will also assist the commission's study, agrees with Rodriguez.

"Illinois' policies have to change. Our legislators need a different, informed perspective. This study will provide the perspective needed to help establish laws that not only positively affect the well-being of minority families but address community safety as well."

The Commission's report must be submitted to the Illinois General Assembly on or before December 31, 2009.

The initial appointments to the commission included:

- Judge Timothy Evans, chief judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County

- Ed Burnett, Cook County Public Defender

- Lori Levin, executive director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority

- Terry Solomon, executive director of the Illinois African-American Family

Commission SB2476 was co-sponsored in the Illinois House by State Representative Art Turner. The commission's operations will be managed by the Center on Criminal Justice at TASC and the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Friends:

The Sentencing Project has just published a new edition of "Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System," a comprehensive manual for practitioners and policymakers. The publication provides insight into how racial disparities develop in the criminal justice system, and workable solutions to address and reduce disparities. The manual provides strategies for addressing disparities at each stage of the system, as well as 17 "best practices" illustrating practitioner approaches for enhancing fairness.

"Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System" is a tool for criminal justice practitioners, policymakers, and community organizations seeking to develop constructive approaches to one of the most challenging problems facing the criminal justice system.

-The Sentencing Project
  

This is a major conference being held at Howard University.

Release’s annual conference this year takes the important step of focusing the industry on the complex and damaging practice of routine prejudice in health services.