Incarcerating people for nonviolent drug offenses just destroys lives, because with a criminal conviction under your belt, it isn’t easy to get a job, and you’re not eligible for student loans. That doesn’t leave a lot of legal options open for a productive life.
Punishment for a drug law violation is not only meted out by the criminal justice system, but is perpetuated by policies denying child custody, voting rights, employment, business loans, trade licensing, student aid and even public housing and other public assistance. Criminal records are also cited as reason to deport immigrants and bar other noncitizens from visiting the United States. These barriers, like drug war enforcement itself, fall disproportionately on individuals and communities of color. Relative to the crime being committed, the punishments for drug law violations are unjustifiably harsh and cause more harm than the drug itself. The Drug Policy Alliance is working to end the marginalization of people for a drug law violation. We are committed to ending policies and practices that assign permanent second-class status to people with drug convictions.
Amicus brief by Nation’s Leading Medical and Substance Abuse Treatment Providers Call Sentence Inhumane and Counterproductive and Urge Treatment Instead of Punishment for Inmates Suffering From Addiction
Cameron Douglas, the son of famed actor Michael Douglas, was sentenced in 2010 to five years behind bars for participating in drug distribution. Despite his long-time problem with drug addiction, Cameron was not given any drug treatment in prison. While behind bars, Mr. Douglas relapsed on drugs. He was caught with very small amounts of opioids for personal use, and as a result, the judge added another four-and-a-half years to his sentence. This may be the longest-ever federal prison sentence imposed for the simple possession drugs for personal use behind bars.
Enacted in 1973 under then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the Rockefeller Drug Laws mandated extremely harsh prison terms for possession or sale of relatively small amounts of drugs. Although intended to target “kingpins,” most people incarcerated under the laws were convicted of low-level, nonviolent, first-time offenses. The laws marked an unprecedented shift towards addressing drug use and abuse through the criminal justice system instead of through the medical and public health systems.
More than 12,000 to be Processed for Possible Early Release, Saving Taxpayers $140 Million
Egregious Racial Disparities in Federal Criminal Justice Sentencing Addressed
Jasmine L. Tyler, Deputy Director, National Affairs
On June 1, 2011, the U.S. Sentencing Commission held a public hearing on the retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act, which Congress passed in 2010 and narrowed a decades-old disparity in federal sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. If the Commission decides to apply the sentencing guideline changes retroactive, as many as 12,000 people in federal prison could be released early, saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
Global Commission on Drug Policy
The Global Commission, whose members include Kofi Annan and four former presidents, calls the drug war a failure and advocates a paradigm shift in global drug policy. The commission's bold recommendations include encouraging governments to experiment with legalization of drugs, particularly marijuana; putting an end to drug policies being driven by ideology and politics; and directing resources away from arresting and incarcerating so many people for drug law violations.
Paul H. Robinson and the University of Pennsylvania Criminal Law Research Group
Commissioned by the Drug Policy Alliance
This groundbreaking report contains two major findings:
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