Mandatory Minimums

Author Ethan Brown examines the rhyme and reason of the controversial "stop snitching" movement, and the abuses in drug law and enforcement that caused it to come to be.

Chicago's 26th Street Criminal Court Building handles more than 28,000 felony cases a year, more than half of them drug cases. That's too much, says a new report, which offers some recommendations for reducing the burden.

Both the US Sentencing Commission and the US Supreme Court acted this week to reduce the harsh sentences for federal crack cocaine offenders. But because of congressionally imposed mandatory minimum sentences, Congress must act to further reduce the injustice.

Last week, Canada's Conservative government introduced legislation to create mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenses, including marijuana cultivation. Now, opposition is emerging, but will it be able to block Canada's lurch toward a US-style drug war?

Canada's Conservative government this week unveiled its repressive new approach to drugs. It wants mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenses, including marijuana growing, and it wants to double the maximum sentence for pot growing. Look for a battle royal in the West's most pot-friendly country.

New, less harsh federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses went into effect this week, potentially affecting 4,000 federal cases a year. But will the US Sentencing Commission make those changes retroactive, bringing hope to nearly 20,000 currently imprisoned federal crack offenders? Stay tuned.

The Massachusetts Bar Association has decided to form a drug policy task force with an eye toward sentencing reform in the Bay State.

Faced with a wave of indoor marijuana growing operations, Florida drug warrior Attorney General Bill McCullom and his law enforcement and legislative allies are fighting back with a bill proposing tougher penalties and new criminal offenses.

Florida pain patient Richard Paey won some justice Thursday when Gov. Charlie Crist went beyond his family's request for clemency and instead pardoned him in full. The wheelchair bound prisoner was three years into a mandatory minimum 25-year sentence as a drug trafficker for fraudulently trying to obtain pain pills. Now he is no longer even a convicted felon.

The first California medical marijuana provider prosecuted by the feds was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison -- again -- but Bryan Epis remains a free man for now.