Skip to main content

Newsletter

2008 Presidential Candidates' Platforms on Criminal Justice

 [Courtesy of The Sentencing Project]

The Sentencing Project is pleased to publish a guide to the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Platforms on Criminal Justice. This guide provides information on a range of key criminal justice issues, including sentencing policy, reentry, felony disenfranchisement, and the death penalty.

 

The Sentencing Project is a nonpartisan public policy organization that does not support or oppose the candidacy of any candidate for public office.  This document is designed to make the public better aware of the candidates' positions on criminal justice policy, an issue that has received relatively little attention in the current political debate.  Voters should learn all they can about the candidates on a range of issues and should not rely on any single source of information before making their decision.

 

We hope you find this information useful.

4:20 Drug War NEWS: 03/24/08

Drug Truth Network Update: 4:20 Drug War NEWS from 90.1 FM in Houston and dozens of radio affiliates in the US and Canada & on the web at www.kpft.org. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada. 4:20 Drug War NEWS 03/24/08 to 03/30/08 now online (3:00 ea:) Select online at www.drugtruth.net Mon - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 1/7 Tue - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 2/7 Wed - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 3/7 Thu - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 147 Fri - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 5/7 Sat - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 6/7 Sun - Jim Hightower, author "Swim Against the Current - Even A Dead Fish can Go with the Flow" 7/7 Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed (Now With Transcripts): - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Eric Sterling - Common Sense for Drug Policy Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net

LEAP on the Hill: Stories from the week of March 14, 2008

Psssss. I agree but I can’t say it in public: On Monday and Tuesday I attended a 2,000 person conference in DC; the US League of Cities. I had about 35 conversations & all but one person agreed that we needed to end prohibition. (Are you ready for the ‘but’)? BUT all of them said, saying so publicly will mean a loss in the next election for mayor or city council. As I silently screamed each time I heard this, I gave them ideas on what they could say in public the policy is not achieving any of its objectives, use a public health approach to reduce crime and drug use, etc. & perhaps more importantly, to hold a breakout session at next year’s conference which would discuss alternatives to prohibition. Hold your breath?? If at first you do not succeed, try, try again!!: On Thursday Congressman Kucinich (D-OH) held an oversight hearing of the ONDCP (Drug Czar). The Drug Czar, John Walters, came and brought over 20 charts to impress the committee how well prohibition is working. {he had no chart showing how many teen drug dealers had died KIA (killed in action)}. The members took a 40 minute break to vote on the floor. When the room was fairly deserted (leer), I just walked to Kucinich’s desk area and placed a DEA pamphlet down in a spot he would certainly see it. As I returned to my front row seat, an aide walked over, picked up my pamphlet, gave me a bad look and put it in her pocket. Two hours later at the end of the hearing, I walked up to Congressman Kucinich, introduced myself and handed him a pamphlet. He read the first sentence: “Drugs are readily available to America’s youth..” I suggested he read the question to future government witnesses. He smiled, nodded, put the pamphlet in his jacket pocket, thanked me and left. As my fellow Texan and LEAP board member, Terry Nelson, wrote: Nobody in the wrong can stop a man in the right who just keeps on a comin.’

Drug Truth Network 03/20/08

The Unvarnished Truth About the Drug War From the Drug Truth Network:. (To downlad these 29:00 files, click on links below. To simply listen, go to www.drugtruth.net and select the arrow below the shows description.) Cultural Baggage for 03/19/08 Jim Hightower, author of "Swim Against the Current - Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow" + Cliff Thornton of Efficacy-Online re UN convention in Vienna & Obama's Preacher MP3 LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1809/FDBCB_031908.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: (Will be posted late on 03/20/08) Century of Lies for 03/18/08 Doug McVay, director of research for Common Sense for Drug Policy and editor of Drug War Facts reports from Vienna, Austria on the 51st annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs with Boaz Wachtel, executive director of the Green Leaf Party of Israel, Richard Elliott, Executive Director, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Eric Carlin, executive director of Mentor UK and a vice chair in the VNGOC and Mike Trace, co-founder and co-coordinator of the International Drug Policy Consortium MP3 Link: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1808/COL_031808.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/1808#comments "World War Infinity Squared" NEW DTN Tee Shirt Design at http://www.cultural-baggage.com/drugtruth/teeshirt.htm PLEASE NOTE: We now have transcripts, potcasts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization. Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed, listen online at www.kpft.org: - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada. Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston. www.kpft.org Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: More than 50 Drug Policy Videos online) Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net

The Sentencing Project -- Disenfranchisement: News/Updates 3/20/08

[Courtesy of The Sentencing Project] Mississippi: Elections Chair Works for Restoration, but with Caveats Amongst a host of election legislation that could be filed, Republican Senate Elections Committee Chairman Terry Burton is working to ease the process of vote restoration after prison sentences are served. The legislation, however, stipulates that individuals' rights would not be restored until two years after having completed a sentence - if they keep a clean record. Currently, the Mississippi Constitution lists 10 felonies that constitute automatic disenfranchisement, which include murder, rape and embezzlement, the Commercial Dispatch reported. In 2004, Attorney General Jim Hood issued an opinion adding 11 more felony offenses to that list, including bad check writing, timber larceny and carjacking. Currently, individuals can only be re-enfranchised with the approval of the Legislature or governor. For more information, visit the Mississippi Legislature's Web site: billstatus.ls.state.ms.us. National: Legal Challenges and Overview An essay by law professor Frank Askin entitled "Felon Disenfranchisement (Or How William Rehnquist Earned his Stripes)" was published in volume 59 of the Rutgers Law Review. Making mention of the many court decisions, the root of disenfranchisement laws, and setbacks and challenges in achieving in reform in past and recent years, Askin writes: "The absence of any political consensus on the issue is in sharp contrast to the general consensus among professional criminologists and penologists that disenfranchisement serves no legitimate goals of punishment and is detrimental to the rehabilitative goals of parole and probation." National: Disenfranchisement on National Public Radio Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project, was featured this month on a felon voting rights segment of National Public Radio's Weekend America. Mauer spoke on the various issues that have arisen across the country, including Rhode Island's 2006 disenfranchisement reform, recent challenges to Mississippi's voting rights policies, and the "passion" that formerly incarcerated citizens do, in fact, have for voting. "If we can get people engaged in the electoral process that's affirmation of that connection with the community," Mauer said. - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information -- e-mail: [email protected], web: http://www.sentencingproject.org

4:20 Drug War NEWS Update: 03/17/08

Drug Truth Network Update: 4:20 Drug War NEWS from 90.1 FM in Houston and dozens of radio affiliates in the US and Canada & on the web at www.kpft.org. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada. 4:20 Drug War NEWS 03/17/08 to 03/23/08 now online (3:00 ea:) Select online at www.drugtruth.net Mon - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 1 of 5 Tue - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 2/5 Wed - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 3/5 Thu - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 4/5 Fri - Drug Trade Tyranny on Mexican Border - Wash Post, 5/5 Sat - Poppygate Report with Glenn Greenway Sun - NPR report on "The Wire" screenwriters article in Time Mag Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed (Now With Transcripts): - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Jim Hightower - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Doug McVay reports on UN Conf in Vienna Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net

Just Say Know Weekly News: 3-17-08

[Courtesy of Just Say Know]

JUST SAY KNOW appreciates and commends the efforts of the drug policy reform organizations below and we thank them for their contributions to our drug policy reform work. Please visit their websites and support them to the best of your ability.

Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States.

NORML: Since its founding in 1970, NORML has provided a voice in the public policy debate for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and favor an end to the practice of arresting marijuana smokers. Email: [email protected]

Drug Truth Network is a media production organization, based at KPFT Radio Houston, TX. Cultural Baggage, hosted by Dean Becker, is the only nationally distributed radio program focused on discussing the war on drugs. Dean produces 9 radio shows each week about the harms of the drug war. Their shows are broadcast on more than 50 affiliates in the US and Canada. Call your favorite radio station and ask them to include these innovative radio programs.

SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation): SAFER is working with students, organizations and other individuals around the country and abroad to spread the message that marijuana is safer than alcohol and should be treated as such.

FULLY INFORMED JURY ASSOCIATION (FIJA): Click here to learn about a powerful tool most people don’t know about that can be used to shut down prosecution of non-violent “drug offenders” on a case by case basis. It’s called Juror Nullification.

---------------------

Just Say Know

Visit Our Web Site:

If you’re using internet explorer web browser use this link: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/home

If you’re using any other web browser use this link: http://jsknow.angelfire.com/index.html

Please pass this message on to ALL your contacts in the USA and ask them to join our mailing list using the form on our website. THANK YOU! We never share email addresses from our mailing list with anyone.

Just Say Know works on your behalf toward drug policy reform, preserving and re-instating your legal rights. Since cannabis offences account for approximately half of all drug arrests, we believe taking away the ability of criminals to profit from cannabis will be an important initial step in drug policy reform. How? Just like it was done with alcohol, remove the prohibition and regulate legal adult use. As soon as alcohol prohibition ended, the crime and violence caused by alcohol prohibition ended. The year alcohol prohibition was repealed violent crime fell by sixty five percent. Drug policy and enforcement tactics are out of control and removing your rights at an alarming rate. Your financial contributions are greatly appreciated. To make a donation reply to this message with “donation” in the subject line and an associate will contact you by return email. If you wish to remain anonymous you can. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your consideration. Don’t hesitate to contact us by replying to this message, we appreciate your comments, questions and concerns. Together we will make a difference!

The drug war is being used as an excuse to remove your Constitutional rights, steal your property, waste 69 billion tax dollars per year and a long list of other harms to citizens and society. There’s a mountain of evidence supporting the need for policy reform that will make citizens, their family, their livelihood and their property more secure. The right; to freedom of religion, free speech, a free press, to keep and bear arms, to be secure in your person, house, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizure, to life, liberty and property, to be protected from having your property taken by the government without due process of law and without just compensation, to confront the witnesses against you, to be protected from excessive bail, excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment, to vote and other Constitutional rights have been denied to millions of Americans in the name of the drug war.

Tell your friends about the "Enough is Enough" petition to stop the reckless overuse of SWAT tactics and save the lives of civilians and police alike. This petition is sponsored by: StoptheDrugWar.org Click here for details.

The Sentencing Project: Disenfranchisement News/Updates - 3/14/08

Florida: Advocate "Does Right Thing," Makes Dent in Disenfranchisement Muslima Lewis, an attorney with the ACLU and director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, was profiled in a Miami Herald article which discussed her role in reforming Florida's voting rights policy for persons with a felony conviction. Michael Hargrett, who was formerly incarcerated and received assistance from Lewis in applying to restore his rights last March said, "[s]he's passionate about rights and ... doing the right thing. She picks up on topics no one else does, and she doesn't look down at you." Lewis, who graduated from Barnard College and Yale Law School, left corporate law for nonprofit advocacy. "A lot of people don't want to talk about racial injustices and pretend that there aren't any," Lewis said. "Folks who are living it and experiencing it know." Kentucky: Editorial Sides with Governor, Rights of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals In an editorial, the Courier-Journal called Gov. Steve Beshear's efforts to ease the voting rights restoration process for formerly incarcerated individuals "a step toward fundamental fairness." Last week the governor eliminated the requirement for three character references, an essay, and a $2 fee in order for formerly incarcerated individuals to regain the right to vote. The editorial stated that before Gov. Beshear's move, the numbers of individuals seeking vote restoration dropped from more than 600 a year to about 250 a year. "Such rules have the same kind of impact as the infamous old Jim Crow laws that were designed to keep blacks out of the voting booth," the editorial stated. It continued: "What's needed is House Bill 70, a proposed constitutional amendment that would automatically restore most felons' right to vote. What's not needed is the mean-spirited floor amendment filed by Rep. James Comer (R-Tompkinsville). It would require that felons could have voting rights restored only if they paid the state 25 percent of the cost of their detention." Currently, 129,000 citizens are banned from voting in the commonwealth. Kentucky and Virginia are the only two states where all formerly incarcerated individuals are banned from voting unless the governor restores their civil rights. - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information -- e-mail: [email protected], web: http://www.sentencingproject.org

Drug Truth Update 03/13/08

The Unvarnished Truth About the Drug War From the Drug Truth Network:. (To downlad these 29:00 files, click on links below. To simply listen, go to www.drugtruth.net and select the arrow below the shows description.) Cultural Baggage for 03/12/08 John Baeza with 24 years of law enforcement experience now a speaker for LEAP, (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) + Poppygate Report with Glenn Greenway and a call for the first ever "Friends of LEAP" meeting, to make a coordinated contact with elected officials. MP3 LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1800/FDBCB_031208.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: (Will be posted late on 03/13/08) Century of Lies for 03/11/08 Virginia McDavid, running for a congressional seat in the state of Texas dares to discuss the need for change to our drug laws + NPR interview of "The Wire" writer & extract from "Faces of Colombia" MP3 Link: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=audio/download/1799/COL_031108.mp3 TRANSCRIPT: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/1799#comments PLEASE NOTE: We now have transcripts, potcasts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization. Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed: - Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD - Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: TBD Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada. Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston. www.kpft.org Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker: More than 50 Drug Policy Videos online) Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net