Executive Branch

Federal prosecutors had no qualms about going to the press when they indicted Haysville, Kansas, physician Dr. Steven Schneider for his pain medication prescribing practices. But it's a different matter when Schneider and his allies want to get their side of the story out. Now, the feds are seeking a gag order.

Although the Bush administration has tried repeatedly to zero out funding for the Justice Department grant program that funds state and local anti-drug task forces, Congress keeps trying to put it back. Last week, the Senate voted to restore more than $900 million in funds in the FY 2009 budget, but there's a long way to go yet.

The Second Chance Act passed the Senate Tuesday night. It passed the House last year, and President Bush is expected to sign it into law shortly. It will provide $360 million for prisoner re-entry services in a bid to reduce recidivism.

With pressure mounting on Congress to do something about the disparities in sentencing for federal crack and powder cocaine offenses, a House committee held a hearing Tuesday, and activists took to the Hill to lobby for change.

The Bush administration's proposed 2009 budget includes some significant cuts in drug treatment, prevention, and recovery spending. A chorus of critics, including some former federal drug fighters, say there has to be a better way.

A judge in Cali has found a Colombian army colonel and 14 of his troops guilty of murder for killing 10 elite Colombian anti-drug police and their informant at the request of drug traffickers.

The US Sentencing Commission has ordered that sentence cuts for federal crack cocaine offenders be retroactive, but Attorney General Mukasey is now urging Congress to undo that.

Even as law enforcement and its allies fight a rear-guard effort to restore lost 2008 funding for the grant program that funds state and local drug task forces, the Bush administration is proposing to cut it again in the 2009 budget.

The feds arrested a Kansas pain doctor and his wife last month, charging them with improperly prescribing narcotic pain relievers. While they claim to be protecting the public, the doctor's patients beg to differ.

US Attorney General lashed out against early release for federal crack cocaine offenders twice last week, resorting to demagogic claims and warning he may try to block it.