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Families

Collateral Damage Grows in Mexico’s Army-Led Prohibitionist Drug War

It was in February 2007 that Amnesty International raised concerns over Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s decision, two months earlier, to send thousands of troops across the country to attempt to control Mexico’s spiraling drug prohibition violence. Echoing worries voiced by the United Nations, the rights group warned that sending the army onto Mexican streets to do the job of the police was a bad idea. Almost four years into the fight, it would seem Amnesty, the U.N. and a host of other rights groups were right.

Mothers Lead the Charge Against the Nation's War on Drugs

Mothers from across California rallied at the state capitol Wedneday to launch a national movement to end the nation's war on drugs. The group wants alternatives to jail time for drug offenses, such as addiction treatment. "While it may seem counter-intuitive that a group of mothers would say such a thing, it's because we love our children and we really feel the war on drugs is more harmful than the drugs themselves," Gretchen Burns Bergman, mother and rally leader said.

Mexico’s Growing Legion of Drug Prohibition Orphans

Largely overlooked is the story of the estimated tens of thousands of children whose lives are blighted by drug prohibition violence. Neither Mexico's government nor the various independent groups studying organized crime keep track of the number of orphans who have lost fathers, and sometimes mothers too, to the drug prohibition war.

Moms United to End the War on Drugs Campaign Rally

Moms are uniting and leading the charge to end drug prohibition, just as they did with alcohol prohibition in the 1930s.  It's time to end the pointless and punitive criminalization of people who use drugs and the needless deaths caused by the illegal drug trade.

Mothers, family members, healthcare professionals and individuals in recovery will gather to bring focus to our country’s failed drug policies and the havoc they have wreaked on our families.  Please join us.

For more information, contact [email protected]

Boy Shot Dead by Drug War Troops

Soldiers opened fire on a family car at a checkpoint in northern Mexico, killing a 15-year-old boy and another person. It is at least the second time this year that a family has been caught up in a shooting involving Mexico's military, which has come under intense criticism for human rights abuses as soldiers fight drug traffickers.

Oregon Court of Appeals rules mother who tested positive for marijuana shouldn't lose kids

The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that the state cannot take children away from a mother who tests positive for marijuana use without evidence that shows her drug use endangers the children. The state had argued that the mother's marijuana use "presented a reasonable likelihood of harm to her two children", but the court agreed with the mother's argument that the state failed to provide any evidence connecting her behavior with risk to the children.

New Report: Trends in Incarcerated Parents

A new analysis by The Sentencing Project highlights the growth in the number of incarcerated parents and their children since 1991.  Incarcerated Parents and Their Children: Trends, 1991-2007 reviews data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and documents the growing impact of incarceration on children and families.
 
As of 2007, 1.7 million children had a parent in prison, an 82% increase from the figure of 936,000 in 1991. The racial/ethnic variation among this group is quite broad: 1 in 15 African-American children has a parent in prison, as does 1 in 42 Latino children and 1 in 111 white children. 
 
Due to the distance from home in which many parents are incarcerated - 62% of parents in state prisons are more than 100 miles from home - visits from children are declining over time.  In 2004, more than half of parents in state prisons and nearly half in federal prisons had never had a visit from their children.
 
To address the issues presented by these developments, The Sentencing Project recommends policy responses that include:

  • Supporting parent-child relationships through programs such as that of the Bedford Hills, NY women's prison in which newborn babies can live with their mothers for a period of time.
  • Revise legislation that impedes the prospects for successful reentry and uniting parents with children, such as the ban on receipt of welfare and food stamps for persons with drug convictions.
  • Reconsider lengthy sentencing policies that are overly punitive and contribute to greater separation between parents and children.
The full report, Incarcerated Parents and Their Children, is available here.
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