Corruption and Misconduct: Bastard Children of the War on Drugs
One of the most widely ignored consequences of the drug war is its negative influence on the men and women who carry it out. Two disturbing stories from local papers illustrate the drug war's profound ability to criminalize our public servants.
First, a revealing story of police misconduct from The Journal Inquirer in North Central Connecticut:
So basically Sanzo's defense was that this type of misconduct is a matter of routine at his department. And it worked! I don't know if I'm more shocked that a defense attorney would offer an argument so contemptuous towards the Fourth Amendment, or that a judge would actually be persuaded by an attempt to rationalize police misconduct.
First, a revealing story of police misconduct from The Journal Inquirer in North Central Connecticut:
A Hartford police detective arrested days after his retirement in 2004 on charges of falsifying an arrest warrant has been granted a special form of probation that could lead to his arrest record being expunged.
The decision came after a hearing in which [Sgt. Franco] Sanzo's lawyer, Jake Donovan of Middletown, called another retired officer who said that police frequently sign their names to warrants - and swear before judges - that they've seen things they haven't.
So basically Sanzo's defense was that this type of misconduct is a matter of routine at his department. And it worked! I don't know if I'm more shocked that a defense attorney would offer an argument so contemptuous towards the Fourth Amendment, or that a judge would actually be persuaded by an attempt to rationalize police misconduct.
Medical Marijuana in New York
Presented by the Drugs and the Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 42 West 44th Street (off Fifth Ave.)
Thousands of patients obtain and use marijuana under the laws of eleven states providing for its medical use. Except in the case of the handful of patients who obtain marijuana from the federal government, federal law prohibits any use, sale, or cultivation of marijuana. Join the Drugs and the Law Committee for a discussion of proposed medical marijuana legislation for New York and the growing body of cases addressing this conflict between state and federal law.