Appeal/Book Offer: Race to Incarcerate, by Marc Mauer
Support DRCNet with a much-needed donation and get your copy of this important book about the unprecedented rise in the use of imprisonment in the United States over the last 25 years.
Congress
Editorial: Not Playing by the Rules, Not Making Sense
Legislators and law enforcers should not disrespect the constitutional frameworks intended to limit their power.
Alert: Major Medical Marijuana Vote in Congress Next Week!
For the fourth consecutive year, an effort is underway in Congress to stop the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration from arresting and prosecuting medical marijuana patients and providers in the 11 states where it is legal. Amendment sponsor Rep. Maurice Hinchey and others spoke with DRCNet about its prospects. Next week the US House of Representatives will vote again on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment, which if passed will forbid the US Dept. of Justice from interfering with state medical marijuana laws. It's crucial that more members of Congress vote for medical marijuana this year than did last year.
Afghanistan, Plan Colombia and Drug Eradication: Problems and Solutions
Recent increases in opium production in Afghanistan presents a Catch-22 to U.S. policymakers. On the one hand, a November 2006 United Nations and World Bank report found that forced eradication of opium crops is driving poor Afghans into the hands of the Taliban, empowering crime syndicates and destabilizing the country. On the other hand, doing nothing about the heroin trade allows major drug traffickers to enrich themselves unfettered. Is there a third option?
Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy
Congressional Black Caucus Justice and Civil Rights Taskforce and Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School presents Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy: 25th Annive
Capitol Hill Hearing -- Quitting Hard Habits: Efforts to Expand and Improve Alternatives to Incarceration for Drug-Involved Offenders
The Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House of Representative's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is holding this hearing to focus on front-end alternatives to incarceration for drug-invo
Eric Sterling, President, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, Opening of "Out from the Shadows" Drug Legalization Summit
Eric Sterling, President of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, emcees and describes his visit to Latin America with members of the US Congress while serving as counsel to the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. From Out from the Shadows: Ending Drug Prohibition in the 21st Century, February 2003, via YouTube: