Drug War Chronicle

Though the US Supreme Court ruled last month that police officers who violate "knock and announce" search warrant rules can use the ill-gotten evidence against defendants, that's not good enough for at least one Vermont judge.

Gov. Schwarzenegger Wednesday signed a bill to substantially alter the state's voter-approved "treatment not jail" ballot measure. One of the authors of the measure immediately filed suit to block the new law from going into effect.

A federal judge Tuesday gave final approval to a landmark settlement in the infamous South Carolina school raid case. Included was a provision to enforce the Fourth amendment.

Some New Jersey cops got too friendly with drug dealers, while a Pennsylvania park ranger and a New Mexico jail guard got caught trying to be drug dealers.

Gov. Frank Murkowski's two-year effort to recriminalize marijuana in Alaska hit another roadblock Monday when a Superior Court judge struck down the part of the law he pushed through the legislature earlier this year.

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Legislators and law enforcers should not disrespect the constitutional frameworks intended to limit their power.

Wisconsin's best known drug policy reformer, Weedstock organizer Ben Masel, was pepper-sprayed and arrested by University of Wisconsin-Madison police as he collected signatures for his senatorial campaign the evening of June 30. He was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting a police officer, trespassing, and remaining after being warned to leave, all misdemeanors.

Last week, the California legislature voted to approve changes to Proposition 36, the state's "treatment not jail" law, that would alter the law's basic philosophy. This week, Prop. 36 supporters are waiting for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the bill into law. Then they will immediately file suit to have the new law overturned.