Update: At the press conference today, Tom Angell of LEAP asked Gil Kerlikowske if in light of the report and others calling for consideration of legalization, whether discussion about it might not be a good thing. His answer:

"As regards legalization, it is not in the President's vocabulary and it's not in mine."

***

Via Huffington Post, the U.N. today released its 2009 World Drug Report report and reversed course. The report endorses drug decriminalization. [More...]

Via Sentencing Lsw and Policy, Attorney General Eric Holder today spoke at the event "“Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy: 25th Anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act." His remarks are here.

The AP reports he is soliciting cocaine sentencing reform.

"This administration firmly believes that the disparity in crack and powdered cocaine sentences is unwarranted," Holder said. "It must be eliminated."

As I noted a few days ago, Holder spoke to judges about sentencing last week at the D.C. Judicial Conference. I opined he was trying, but needed to try harder to light a fire under Congress to revise both cocaine penalties and mandatory minimums. Today he clearly called for a 1:1 sentencing ratio for crack and powder, instead of saying "if" a 1:1 ratio "is our goal." I'm glad to see him stepping up the pressure. [More...]

Dick Cheney and Kevin Kadamus both understood that safe hunters never shoot until they can see and identify their targets. Cheney nonetheless shot his friend, Harry Whittington, who soon proclaimed that the shooting was accidental and, upon his discharge from the hospital, expressed his sorrow "for everything Vice President Cheney and his family have had to deal with." No criminal charges were filed against Cheney. Kadamus shot his 17 year old son, Jacob, who died. That shooting was clearly accidental, but Kadamus has been charged with manslaughter. Why?

The game warden who arrived in time to watch Jacob die in his father's arms insists that hunters do not shoot other hunters by accident.

[more ...]

War on Drug news: The U.S. has declared poppy seeds to be narcotics. In a recent raid in Afghanistan, the U.S. trumpeted its success. The raid took place in the Marja district of Helmand province:

.... U.S. forces, after a four-day military offensive, proudly announced the biggest-ever drug bust in Afghanistan: more than 101 tons of “narcotics,” whose seizure “severely disrupted one of the key militant and criminal operations and narcotics hubs in southern Afghanistan,” according to U.S. military spokesperson Col. Greg Julian.

What he failed to highlight was that more than 80 percent of it — 82.5 tons — was bagel topping, although most of this cache was probably destined for planting, rather than eating. “We cannot really say that poppyseeds are narcotics,” acknowledged a U.S. official, speaking on background. “They are potential narcotics.”

[More...]

Attorney General Eric Holder spoke yesterday at the D.C. Court of Appeals Judicial Conference. His prepared remarks are here. On the issue of crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity, he told them:

It is the view of this Administration that the 100-to-1 crack-powder sentencing ratio is simply wrong. It is plainly unjust to hand down wildly disparate prison sentences for materially similar crimes. It is unjust to have a sentencing disparity that disproportionately and illogically affects some racial groups. I know the American people can see this. And that perception of unfairness undermines governmental authority in the criminal justice process and breeds disrespect for the system. It leads victims and witnesses of crime to think twice before cooperating with law enforcement, tempts jurors to ignore the law and facts when judging a criminal case, and draws the public into questioning the motives of its officials. ...

I am confident that most of us agree that this situation benefits no one and must be reformed.

Holder also warned not to expect change overnight. [More...]

Laws that give the police discretion to write a noncriminal ticket instead of arresting individuals who possess an ounce or less of marijuana have become a commonplace compromise between drug warriors and policy realists. According to NORML's Allen St. Pierre, about a third of Americans live in a jurisdiction where the police have that discretion.

Cook County, Illinois may join that trend. A police sergeant in Chicago Heights, which enacted a similar ordinance last year, says that arrests for small amounts of weed are wasteful, given that 9 out of 10 cases get dismissed. Whether or not that figure is accurate, arrests for simple possession of marijuana are unfair to the arrested individuals and to the taxpayers who foot the bill.

[more ...]

The Congressional Black Caucus is teaming with Harvard Law School to put on this program in Washington next week. The speakers are terrific.

The Congressional Black Caucus Community Re-Investment Taskforce and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School invite you to attend "Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy" 25th Anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means
1100 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Agenda and speakers below:

Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate today the Administration will begin allowing more ICE agents to make drug busts.

So much for a new direction for the War on Drugs. Where's our legislation ending the crack disparity and eliminating some mandatory minimums? Obviously, on the back burner, once again.

(Guest Post by Boulder, CO criminal defense attorney Lenny Frieling:)

In a large South American country, a farmer looks out from his veranda over his two main crops. On the right side of the rutted dirt, row upon row of coffee are growing in the high mountain air. To the left, coca grows in equally ordered rows. Both crops require tending, and both require some degree of processing to yield roasted coffee beans on one side, processed cocaine on the other.

Both are transported to the United States. In addition to the shipping expenses, the coffee requires the payment of various tariffs, while the coca shipments are accompanied by gangs, bribes, guns, and related violence, to the extent that some towns in Northern Mexico are “owned” by drug cartels. Coffee arrives on US grocery shelves at $6 to $12 a pound. Cocaine arrives at around $44,000 a pound. [More..]

The National Drug Intelligence Center issued its annual "market analyses" on illicit drug seizures, arrests, and trends in the 32 so-called High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs).

Drug Market Analyses examine the market dynamics and the trafficking, distribution, and abuse patterns associated with cocaine, heroin, marijuana, MDMA, methamphetamine, and other dangerous drugs within United States High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTAs).

[More...]

Meet Steven Dozier. He's the first inmate in Washington State serving a three-strikes sentence who has been granted clemency and released.

He's being closely monitored by many, including the District Attorney's office that supported his release.

Dozier spends his days pounding the streets — visiting politicians, community centers and school-district offices in search of an opportunity to share his story with elementary and junior-high-school children who are on the verge of falling into trouble.

"I'm tired of seeing them kids coming to prison. They need to learn from me and other people about our mistakes. We can contribute to them," Dozier said. "Once the kids get on the streets, it's hard to pull them off the streets. I'm looking at the prevention."

His release is also of benefit to Washington taxpayers. It costs $37,000 a year to house inmates. It sounds like King County prosecutor Dan Satterberg gets it: [More...]

This story has the feel of an urban legend, except it happens to be true. A high school student in Tacoma, Washington surely attained legendary status in the eyes of his fellow students with this stunt:

At the end of his speech Tuesday urging legalization of marijuana, a 17-year-old Peninsula High School student pulled out a joint, lit it and smoked away. Then he ate the remains.

Priceless.