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September 27, 2009 - featured in a short, original documentary about the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity, Eric Sterling spoke at a panel following its DC debut. He argued that advocates must explain to the public how crack and other low-level drug prosecutions waste federal resources and direct authorities away from serious national security threats.
September 23, 2009 - To help kick off the 2009 Legislative Weekend of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Eric Sterling and a panel of drug policy experts spoke at a DC screening of the ESPN documentary, Without Bias. Directed by Kirk Frasier, the award-winning film debunks one of the myths surrounding the death of Len Bias - that he died of crack cocaine overdose. In his remarks, Sterling debunked other myths, and critiqued existing efforts to reform crack-cocaine sentencing laws.
Various news reports have characterized recent legal changes in Mexico simply as decriminalization. This fact sheet prepared by the Embassy of Mexico to the United States, however, notes that there are mandatory minimums for various distribution offenses -- stricter than the mandatory sentences that had been so controversial in Canada. Possession with intent to distribute any quantity carries a minimum of three years. Possession of any drug other than the specified 8 drugs is still a criminal offense.
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On August 4th, Eric Sterling spoke at the National Bar Association Annual Convention regarding "What changes in drug policy and enforcement should the Obama Administration make?" Proposed policy changes emphasized the need to direct federal law enforcement resources toward the highest level cases, reduce collateral consequences of conviction, expand the availability of drug abuse treatment and improve drug prevention efforts.
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On July 29th, the Washington Post published "Wasteful Drug Prosecutions" a letter in which Eric Sterling argues that federal resources must target international drug trafficking, not crack and other neighborhood drug cases that can be effectively managed by state authorities. At a July 9th hearing of the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime, Sterling offered a similar analysis in this statement.
The July 24th edition of Drug War Chronicle extensively quotes Eric Sterling in a discussion of drug policy reform prospects in the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress.
"Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy and the 25th Anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act."
On July 24th, Eric Sterling joined judges Spencer Letts and Nancy Gertner on a panel discussion at this forum, sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus and Harvard Law School's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. A revised version of Sterling's remarks is available here.
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In the June 20th edition of Newsweek Ellis Cose quotes Eric Sterling in a report on the Drug Abuse Act of 1986. As Cose notes, the law's mandatory minimum sentencing provisions aid international drug trafficking cartels by directed federal resources away from such essential targets. Cose suggests that repealing the crack-powder disparity could be one first step in acknowledging the need to reverse decades of failed drug control policy.
On June 3rd, Canada.com published an account of the mandatory minimum bills moving forward in the Parliament of Canada. The article quotes Eric Sterling and describes some of the testimony he presented before the the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on May 11, 2009. In this newsletter MP Libby Davies updates her community about the matter, highlighting Sterling's contribution to the debate.
Also on June 3rd, the Vancouver Sun published a similar article in which Eric Sterling calls mandatory minimum drug sentences "the essence of ineffectiveness" in the United States.
On June 2, 2009, Eric E. Sterling was quoted by Foxnews.com regarding Clarence Aaron's prospects for a commutation of sentence from President Obama. You can find out more about Clarence Aaron here at PBS Frontline.
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Ten years ago, there was a spike in violence in Mexico similar to the one we are seeing today. In December of 1999, the LA Times published “Legalize Drugs or Expect More Mass Graves,” an op-ed in which Eric Sterling called the phenomenon a “shocking, but not surprising” result of our country’s War on Drugs. As shown in this Anderson Cooper news clip, close-up photo of fresh plots, and articles by CNN and Reuters, we are now finding more mass graves.
Another repeat issue is government corruption. In 1999 it was “not long ago” that a Mexican drug czar was arrested for working for cartels. Last November, the man who had been Mexico's top sitting anti-drug official from 2006 to August 2008 was arrested for accepting monthly bribes of $450,000. A former drug czar was arrested in January.
Predictably, if we continue to adopt decades-old approaches, policies and assumptions, we will continue to see similar results. Drug trafficking, government corruption and drug abuse will continue to be cyclical issues, intractable and fraught with violence. It's time for an open, honest debate about drug control, with no potential solution off the table.
On May 12, 2009 Debra Saunders reports again on the crack-powder sentencing disparity, relying on commentary from Eric Sterling to frame the issues.
Eric Sterling was invited by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada to testify on May 11, 2009 regarding the bill C-15 which provides for mandatory minimum sentences, drug treatment courts and other matters. Mr. Sterling's written statement (a "brief" in the terminology of the Parliament of Canada) can be found here.
On May 6, 2009, Courtland Milloy quoted Eric Sterling in a Washington Post column on the extreme disparities in the Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Milloy cites the 2007 Sentencing Commission finding that 81% of crack-related convictions were imposed against African Americans, who account for only 25% of users. He describes the incarceration rates as "ruthless," leaving many unable to buy homes, vote, or raise their children.
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On April 29, 2009, columnist Neal Pierce of the Seattle Times quoted Eric Sterling in a piece advocated drug decriminalization as "sensible middle ground." Pierce notes success in Portugal, where drug use was decriminalized in 2001.
April 28, 2009 - The leadership of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees received a letter organized by CJPF and signed by 258 scholars of criminal justice, criminology, sociology and law, urging repeal of the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. The provisions lead law enforcement agencies to focus on minor offenders and account for much of the increase in federal prison populations and the disproportionate rates of incarceration of people of color.
April 21, 2009 - Eric E. Sterling was quoted in Courtland Milloy's column in the Washington Post. Malloy suggests that if we continue our failed drug policies in a depressed economic climate, an epidemic of hard drug use may emerge in 2012.
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Eric Sterling was a featured speaker at the March 28, 2009 Connecticut statewide SSDP conference at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. Here is a link to a clip of some of his remarks.
On March 15, 2009, Eric Sterling was quoted by Debra Saunders of the San Francisco Chronicle in a column discussing the violence in Mexico and the need for a new drug policy.
On March 8, 2009, Eric Sterling was quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle article about the need to revisit cocaine sentencing guidelines.
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Eric E. Sterling testified before a Montgomery County Council Budget Reduction Forum on February 3, 2009. Analyzing Maryland's 2007 Uniform Crime Report, Sterling identified a questionable feature of police resource allocation - large numbers of marijuana possession arrests, despite unsatisfactory rates of arrest for reported violent crimes. He suggests minor reform would reduce costs and enhance public safety without sacrificing public services.
On January 31, 2009 Eric E. Sterling was quoted in a National Journal article on the Supreme Court case Abuelhawa v. United States. At issue is whether, using a decades-old law designed to target drug dealers, the federal government may charge individuals who are only purchasers with the felony of using a “communication facility” such as a cell phone, telephone, or the Internet, to facilitate the sale of drugs to themselves.
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