Senator Jim Webb introduced the National Criminal Justice Act of 2009 on Friday (text of bill here pdf.) It would create a bipartisan commission to study the criminal justice and prison systems for 18 months, after which it would make recommendations.

Lots of people are excited about it, from FAMM to Glenn Greenwald.

I think we know the answers already and I wish we would start making the reforms now, not starting an 18 month period of study followed by recommendations. I'm concerned this will just put tempt Congress to put reform bills on the back burner, using Webb's Commission as an excuse for delay. "Let's wait until the report comes out before making any changes."

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Author and Associate Professor Jeremy Mayer at Politico writes marijuana is now a "smoking hot" issue, the tide of history has turned, and legalization is a question of when, not if.

The financial benefits should be obvious:

Tax revenues, although not as high as some dreamers would wish, would certainly be substantial, and would replace the billions spent interdicting and confiscating marijuana, as well as imprisoning users and small time dealers. Legalizing marijuana would immediately remove millions of dollars in income from the international drug cartels that are making life hell in Mexico.

Mayer may be right. This is the most attention I've seen marijuana get in the national consciousness , perhaps ever. But, we're not there yet: [More...]

A high school in Milburn, NJ announced it will begin using drug dogs on campus.

[T]he district superintendent, Richard Brodow, wrote in an e-mail message to parents and students Friday afternoon. “I willingly risk student trust if it saves a single life."

The ACLU responds:

The New York Civil Liberties Union has called police dog searches “incompatible with nurturing environments that are supposed to be conducive to adolescent education,” and argued that school districts must create a careful balance between school safety and student rights.

This is part of a growing trend. And this opportunist is offering dogs to search private homes.

• Fundraising jump for NORML after Obama's remarks

• Council on Hemispheric Affairs: Evidence Mounts that the drug war is unwinnable and that a debate over legalization and decriminalization should not be met by presidential giggles

• Failed Drug War Policies in Mexico? Let's Try More of the Same

[Hat tip for song to MSNBC's David Shuster.]

No surprise here, except for those who perhaps expected something different: President Barack Obama today rejected the idea of legalizing marijuana and taxing it:

The query, which received more than three million votes, was: "With over 1 out of 30 Americans controlled by the penal system, why not legalize, control, and tax marijuana to change the failed war on drugs into a money making, money saving boost to the economy? Do we really need that many victimless criminals?"

Obama.... kept his answer brief. "There was one question that voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation," he said. "And I don't know what this says about the online audience, but ... this was a popular question. We want to make sure it's answered. The answer is no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy. All right."

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Kudos to Hillary Clinton for acknowledging that "our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade."

That's exactly right and it's way past time for the U.S. to make a serious effort to curb that demand instead of spending billions on incarcerating drug offenders.

Pew's recent study--"One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections"--provides a vivid picture of just how little we do to curb demand for drugs. [More...]

New York Governor David Paterson announced Thursday a deal has been reached with state legislators to repeal and revise much of the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.

The deal would repeal many of the mandatory minimum prison sentences now in place for lower-level drug felons, giving judges the authority to send first-time nonviolent offenders to treatment instead of prison.

The plan would also expand drug treatment programs and widen the reach of drug courts at a cost of at least $50 million.

It's not clear how many of those currently serving sentences will be able to apply for relief. Apparently, the legislators are willing to be more expansive in this regard than is Paterson. [More...]

Despite statements by the Obama Administration to the contrary, the DEA has not stopped raiding medical marijuana dispensaries in California where medical pot is legal.

The DEA raided Emmalyn's clinic tonight.

A protest quickly organized outside the clinic. The DEA says:

DEA spokeswoman Casey McEnry told CBS 5 the documents regarding the raid are sealed, so the DEA was not able to give many details.

"The documents relating to today's enforcement operation remain under court seal. Based on our investigation we believe there are not only violations of federal law, but state law as well. As of now we are prohibited from releasing further details of the case. Items of evidentiary value were seized and no arrests have been made. The investigation is currently ongoing," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams in a written statement.

But CBS News reports two people were arrested.

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Los Angeles is weighing an exemption from term limits for Police Chief Bill Bratton.

Removing the terms limits would require voter approval and revise one aspect of the police reforms that stemmed from the 1991 beating of Rodney G. King, which sparked riots when four LAPD officers were initially acquitted of brutality. Those reforms limited the police chief to two five-year terms.

I was at Chief Bratton's first swearing-in ceremony in 2002.(One of the cops providing security was 1960's singer Bobby Sherman -- here's a picture of my pal Mickey Sherman (no relation) and me with him.)

All of my coverage of Chief Bratton's tenure as LA Police Chief is here. I hope he gets another term.

The results of the first behavioral study to investigate whether people will provide false secondary confessions raises significant concerns about the use of such evidence when informants are offered incentives. The study was conducted by psychological researchers at the University of Arkansas.

A "secondary confession" is a polite name for snitching. A news article on the study is here. The study is now published in the Journal of Law and Human Behavior in an article titled “Snitching, Lies and Computer Crashes: An Experimental Investigation of Secondary Confessions.”

Bottom line: "[A]n incentive increased the rate of false rather than true secondary confessions."[More...]

Another voice in the small but growing crowd urging legalization of drugs to end the Mexico drug war violence: Harvard Senior Lecturer in Economics Jeffrey Miron.

Argument 1: Prohibition creates violence. It happened with alcohol and gambling. End the prohibition, end the violence. [More...]

Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the Government will provide $1 billion in grants to local law enforcment.

The announcement was made at the National League of Cities' (NLC) Congressional City Conference.

In announcing the funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the $1 billion is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and is intended to create jobs as well as enhance public safety.

According to the DOJ COPS website, this is in addition to the $550 million the program got for fiscal year 2009 in the Omnibus Appropriations Act that President Obama signed into law on March 11.