ONE MORE THING

Should the Obama Administration eliminate/regulate drug mandatory minimums?

The importance of mandatory minimums in the US right now has a direct effect on Americans.  This is important because prisons are filling with people and becoming overcrowded.  Americans’ taxes dollars are being used to build more federal prisons, rather than spending those funds on prevention, drug education, and rehab.  Mandatory minimums are also creating a racial disparity in the prisons.  Over fifty percent of inmates are black.  The discretion of a case is taken away from the judge, so nonviolent, first-time, low level offenders are crowding the halls of America’s prisons.  Who is actually paying the price?

History and Background:

·         Mandatory minimums were put into place in the 80s under the Reagan Administration during the War on Drugs and tough-on-crime policy.  Now, twenty-five years later, the War on Drugs has failed and more people are sentenced to prison for a drug addiction.

·         Proposition 184, also known as the three strikes and you’re out law, was passed on November 9, 1994.  Under this new legislation repeat offenders, upon committing their third felony offense, are sentenced to a mandatory twenty-five years to life in prison.

·         The exact application of the three strikes law varies considerably from state o state.  Some states require all three felony convictions to be violent crimes in order for the mandatory sentence to be pronounced, while others—most notably California—mandate the enhanced sentence for any third felony conviction so long as the first two felonies were deemed to be either “violent” or “serious” or both.   

·         In 1956 mandatory minimums were used for most notably drugs, but also firearms.  In 1970, Congress drew back from the comprehensive application of mandatory minimum provisions of drug crimes.  Finding that increases in sentence length had not shown the expected overall reduction in drug law violations, Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 that repealed virtually all mandatory penalties for drug violations.

Racial Disparity: 

·         Because crack cocaine is associated with black people, the 100-to-1 rule creates major racial disparity in federal prisons.  The 100-to-1 rule is a legacy of the 80s when crack was erroneously believed to be much more dangerous than the chemically identical powder cocaine.  Congress made crack the only drug that carries a mandatory minimum sentence for possession—even for first time offenders.

·         The Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 established a 100-to-1 crack cocaine to powder cocaine ratio resulting in crack offenders receiving decades in prison while powder cocaine offenders receive months, or at most, several years in prison for offenses.  The 100-to-1 disparity results in many blacks being sentenced to prison for five years with the weight of five grams of crack while many whites are being sentenced to prison for five years with the weight of five hundred grams of coke. 

Cost:

·         It costs $23,000 annually to incarcerate an addict, but $1,800 for outpatient and #6,800 for residential drug treatment.  Treatment of heavy users is eight to nine times more effective than long sentences.

·         Billions of Americans’ tax dollars are being funded to build new prisons due to overcrowding. 

·         Because costs are so high, many lawmakers find themselves cutting rehab funds to support prisons, only adding to the problem.

Discretion:

·         In reality, the mandatory minimums are weight driven.  It is the weight of the drugs involved that controls with no regard for whether the defendant is a major dealer or serious trafficker.  Judges are in awkward position as they cannot exercise discretion and prosecutors are obviously biased.

·         Currently, judges are limited to give out only mandatory minimum sentences to drug offenders.  They are not allowed to use discretion on any case.  “After working for two years, the commission recommended creating uniform standards for determining which offenders are drug-addicted and allowing judges greater authority to select treatment instead of mandatory incarceration.”  New York officials must continue to keep the violent criminals behind bars, while making a better use of the alternatives to prison, and make sure public safety is not lost (Report Recommends Revising New York’s Drug Laws). 

Solution:

·         Colorado’s Governor Ritter’s five year plan is to “cut down on repeat offenders by investing in prevention services for youth incarceration diversion, transitional services, substance abuse treatment, and offender education.”  Ritter also want to “[return] sentencing discretion to judges, who are best positioned to evaluate a situation in its entirety. 

·         “The plan they put forward, would among other things, double the existing weight requirements for most major felony drug sales and possession crimes, make many lesser first-time felony drug offenders eligible for probation or a jail term rather than mandatory prisons, and expand parole as an option for convicted offenders” (NY Lawyers). 

I think prevention and education are the best ways to rid the prisons of the racial disparity and lower costs for the Americans—or at least fund a better cause.  I think mandatory minimums were set in place to capture the drug kingpins, but the strategy backfired because the kingpins give information to the authorities and get lesser sentences; meanwhile, the prisons are filling with small-time drug dealers and addicts.  The streets are still filled with crime.  Drugs are still easy to get and in large quantities.  Lawmakers are trying to understand why anyone chose mandatory minimums as a fix-all law and understand what can take the place of mandatory minimums in an effective way to lower drug users in jail and in society.  Lawmakers are flustered because fifty percent of prisoners are drug offenders.  Take one dealer off the street, another takes his place.  That simply doesn’t happen for other crimes such as murder, embezzlement or burglary. 

Source Notes:

1. Journalistic (Image 1)
2. Journalistic
3. Journalistic (Image 2)
4. Journalistic
5. Journalistic
6. Journalistic (Image 3)
7. Journalistic
8. Journalistic
9. Academic Research
10. Nonprofit Institutional
11. Journalistic
12. Journalistic
13. Expert Citizen, Blog
14. Academic Research
15. Journalistic
16. Expert Citizen, Blog
17. Journalistic
18. Academic Research
19. Institutional
20. Expert Citizen, Blog
21. Institutional
22. Multi Media
23. Images 4 and 5
24. Multi Media
25. Multi Media
26. Multi Media
27. Interview
28. Multi Media
29. Interview
30. Interview

SOURCE NOTES TWENTYSEVEN-THIRTY

Summary:  Judge Carlson of Lane County talked about the mandatory minimums in place in Oregon.  Mandatory minimums on drug offenses don’t fall into his jurisdiction, they are federal, but he talked about Measure 11 which is a group of terrible crimes–rape, murder, manslaughter, prostitution, arson, property crime– in which the person sentenced will serve every single day of that term.   Expert Citizen, Interview.

Accessed:  March 4, 2009

Support:  He is a very nice person who is very knowledgeable about law.  He went to law school in Colorado.

Summary:  Judge Tom Hogan, federal judge of Oregon.  His stance on mandatory minimums is that people are only going to change if the courts hold a long, harsh sentence over their heads; education can only go so far.  Mandatory minimums help judges create equal sentences across the nation.

Accessed:  March 10, 2009.

Usefulness:  Judge Hogan offered a different stance on mandatory minimums and had legitimate concerns.  Many drug users will do anything for the drug and the only thing standing in their way of repeating an offense or violating probation or parole is a long, harsh sentence for one mistake.

Summary:  Mandatory Minimum Video by David a member of FAMM.  Most drug offenders sentenced behind bars are conspiracies and not actually proved.  Mandatory minimums are also based on weight and give no discretion to the judges.  This is costly and a lot of Americans’ taxes are going to building more jails when those extra funds should be going to education, prevention programs, and rehab.

Publication Information:  youtube.com, FAMM.  March 5, 2009.  Multi-Media.

Usefulness:  This is showing how justice is not served because people are sentenced to jail when the time doesn’t fit the crime.  Most drug offenses are based on weight and mandatory minimums were made to capture drug kingpins and they are getting reduced sentenced because they squeal.

Works Cited:  youtube.com.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6fmgz-SBJg&NR=1.

Summary:  Judge Anne Ackon of Oregon a federal judge that deals with the drug offenders and mandatory minimums.  Discretion needs to go back to the judges to help the offender rather than punish her or him.  Citizen Expert, Interview.

Accessed:  March 5, 2009.

Usefulness:  A federal judge who deals with drug offenders every day sees the uselessness in mandatory minimums.

Judge Ackon believes that education is a way to help drug offenders stop recidivism–which is a huge problem at the federal court in Eugene.  The racial disparity that mandatory minimums brings to prison hugely affects society because many blacks or Hispanics feel that the laws are in place to put them behind bars even if they are not guilty of a crime.  Judge Ackon also talked about substancial assistance and the problem with that.  Drug kingpins, which were the focal point of mandatory minimums in the 80s, haven’t served the time that they deserved due to substancial assistance.

SOURCE NOTES TWENTYTWO-TWENTYSIX

Summary and Title:  Tulia, Texas is a documentary about the 1999 drug bust in Tulia, Texas by a a single man undercover buying cocaine.  Forty-six people were arrested, 39 of which are black– 15% of the Tulia’s black population.  Many men were sentenced up to 99 years in prison when none of the evidence was ever proved.  Coleman, the undercover cop was eventually named “Lawman of the Year.”  Most of the “Tulia 46″ have been freed, and Coleman was later charged with perjury.  Story of when justice is corrupt.

Publication Information:  Pbs.com, premiere: Feb. 10, 2009.  Cassandra Herman and Kelly Whalen, filmmakers.  Multi-Media. 

Support:  The community of Tulia.  Opinions on the drug bust and how it has segregated an already-racist town.

Audience and Agenda:  Premiered in 2008 at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin and aired on PBS February 10, 2009.

Usefulness:  This shows the racial tension in the court system and about how justice becomes corrupt when we declare war on something.

Works Cited:  http://www.tuliatexasfilm.com/.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulia,_Texas.

Summary and Title:  CARPE DIEM: Crack vs. Powder.  These graphs show racial disparity with the 100 to 1 rule.  http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_otfwl2zc6Qc/RwJkPO03-8I/AAAAAAAACaU/jxHM2WbYGU4/s1600-h/cocaine3.bmp, http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_otfwl2zc6Qc/RwJn1u03-_I/AAAAAAAACas/8u3iq7cMevs/s1600-h/cocaine1.bmp.  These are the links to graphs.

Publication Information:  Professor Mark J. Perry’s Blog for Economics and Finance, Feb.25, 2009.  http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2007/10/crack-vs-powder-cocaine-in-pictures.html. 

Support:  This is a personal blog.

Audience and Agenda:  Dr. Mark J. Perry is a professor of economics and finance in the School of Management at the Flint campus of the University of Michigan. Perry holds two graduate degrees in economics (M.A. and Ph.D.) from George Mason University in Washington, D.C.

Usefulness:  This shows the relationship between the drug and the majority race that uses it.  Many African-Americans are associated with crack; therefore many are assuming the justice system is racist and that’s why more than 50% of drug offenders behind bars is black. 

Works Cited:  http://mjperry.blogspot.com/.  http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2007/10/crack-vs-powder-cocaine-in-pictures.html.

Summary and Title:  The differences in blacks’ and whites’ sentencing and how corrupt it is.  Mandatory Minimum Sentencing: Racial Bias.

Publication Information:  youtube.com.  March 2, 2009.  20/20.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVXV55b8F0U.  Multi-Media.

Support:  Many news reporters and a judge who sentenced a 17-year-old boy to prison for life for a $2 theft and who sentenced a wealthy white man to probation after killing a man.  One man from the streets commented on the 100:1 disparity saying that cocaine users go to rehab and crack users go to jail.  Another reporter said that more needs to be done when people come out of prison so they can get their lives back.

Audience and Agenda:  youtube.com

Works Cited:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVXV55b8F0U.

Summary and Title:  President Obama talking about his opinion on mandatory minimums.  He wants to give discretion back to the judges.  Barack Obama Mandatory Minimum.

Publication Information:  youtube.com.  March 2, 2009.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Ih6sqdSnQ&feature=related.  Multi-Media. 

Support:  President Obama

Audience and Agenda:  youtube.com

Works Cited:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Ih6sqdSnQ&feature=related.

Summary and Title:  The 1984 Sentencing reform Act has created traps for drug users.  Many drug offenders are sentenced to prison longer than plane hi-jackers and 2nd-degree murderers.  Judicial News: Mandatory Minimum Sentences Result in Injustices.

Publication Information:  youtube.com.  Multi-Media.

Support:  One judge feels very strongly against mandatory minimums because there is no discretion left to the judges.  All the power is given to the prosecutor who is obviously bias and representing only one side. 

Audience and Agenda:  youtube.com

Usefulness:  This is important because the judges feel very strongly about how the mandatory minimums are affecting the US.

Works Cited:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEYjLw5BB0w&feature=related.

Audio Slideshow

The focus of my story was my third choice.   I had asked a girl in my hall who is very mysterious and a Korean exchange student.  I thought she would be very interesting but she thought the idea of me following her around was intrusive and odd, so I asked a girl who plays rugby and then she decided she didn’t have time for me.  Finally, I asked a girl in my hall who I see a lot.  She wasn’t my first choice, so I didn’t have a story to go with her.  She didn’t have a unique hobby or anything so that was a challenge because I had to find a quality in her that wasn’t obvious.  I think my slideshow turned out well, but next time I would choose a subject that was more entertaining.  Everything besides that was fun and I enjoyed this project.  Some tips I would give for the slideshow is to narrow down the pictures that are useable instead of putting them all on the program at once because it is very overwhelming seeing 200 pictures at once.  Also, I would create a story out the pictures and then match the interview to that instead of just hoping that it all falls in place.  I planned and I think that helped.

Interview with Katylyn Royster

Katylyn Royster

Should Obama/Biden support stem cell research?

Katylyn thinks Obama/Biden should support adult stem cell research because it has already presented cures and has promising results and doesn’t require destruction of embryos.  Embryonic stem cell research may lead to cloning which is bad.

Sources:

1. www.citizen-times.com, Letter to the editor.  Doesn’t understand why Obama would support embryonic stem cell research when adult stem cell research is already been proved useful.  She thinks Obama’s Chief of Staff has used taxpayers’ money to approve of cloning; he just wants cloning.
2. Standford University Medical Center.  Women’s health, using embryonic stem cell research is crucial because it’s the only cell that can differentiate into any other human cell.  Help women with health, fertility, and fetal outcomes.
3. Article by Newsweek.com, “One Step Closer to Human Cloning.”  Everyday scientists are making advances in cloning and a lot of people want to be the first person cloned. 

SOURCE NOTES SIXTEEN-TWENTYONE

Summary:  An attorney is fighting against the 100:1 disparity.  The mistaken truth of crack cocaine and how unequal the laws are.

Topic:  The 100:1 disparity and inequality.

Category: Expert Citizen, blog.

What is it? Blog entry from a lawyer.

Title: The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 Established a 100:1 Crack Cocaine to Powder Cocaine Ratio Resulting in Crack Offenders Receiving Decades in Prison While Powder Cocaine Offenders Receive Months or at Most Several Years in Prison for Offenses

Publication Information:  Tilem and Campbell, NY Criminal Attorney Blog, Feb. 14, 2009

Author:  John Campbell

Location: http://www.newyorkcriminalattorneyblog.com/2009/02/the_antidrug_abuse_act_of_1986.html.

Accessed: Feb. 16, 2009

Support:

• Congress
• Tilem and Campbell attorneys

These are lawyers fighting the ADAA which is an act that “established a two-tier system of sentencing with 5 and 10 year mandatory minimum sentences for certain manufacturing and distribution offenses.”  Campbell adds, “In reality, the mandatory minimums are weight driven. It is the weight of the drugs involved that controls with no regard for whether the defendant is a ‘major dealer’ or ‘serious trafficker.’”

Audience and Agenda:  Tilem and Campbell, PC is a full-service law firm representing individuals and businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area. They offer exceptional legal advice and representation in a variety of legal fields.

Usefulness:  This is a primary source from lawyers’ blogs showing the terrible effects of mandatory minimums.  In addressing the laws that have been set, Campbell makes useful references in the change that is desired.

Works Cited: http://www.tilemandcampbell.com/, http://www.newyorkcriminalattorneyblog.com/2009/02/the_antidrug_abuse_act_of_1986.html. 

Summary:  President Obama has said “the war on drugs ‘has been an utter failure,’” and that we need a new angle, “so that we focus on a public health approach.”

Topic:  Rather than incarcerating drug users, they are now facing drug treatment programs instead

Category:  Mainstream Journalistic

What is it?  News article from the St. Petersberg Times

Title:  Treat drugs as a public health problem

Publication Information: Tampa Bay.com, Feb. 15, 2009

Author: Robyn E. Blumner

Location: http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article975508.ece

Accessed:  Feb. 17, 2009

Support:

• President Obama
• Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske

 Drugs are still easy to get and in large quantities.  Lawmakers are trying to understand why anyone chose mandatory minimums as a fix-all law and understand what can take the place of mandatory minimums in an effective way to lower drug users in jail and in society.  Lawmakers are flustered because 50% of prisoners are drug offenders.  Take one dealer off the street, another takes his place. That simply doesn’t happen for other crimes such as murder, embezzlement or burglary.  “Former presidents of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico say that their countries face out-of-control drug violence spawned by America’s prohibitionist approach, and they ask point-blank that we change course to focus on public health.”

Audience and Agenda:  Helpful website that helps link people to news stories.  Similar to The NY Times.

Usefulness:  No other articles have said that President Obama wants to change the name to the approach to handling drug offenders and users.  This shapes the publics’ response, as well as, lawmakers’.

Works Cited:  http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/article975508.ece.

Title and Summary:  Drug Policy and Mandatory Minimums.  Mandatory minimums are creating racial and gender disparities.  They are placing about 2 million non-violent, low-level drug offenders behind bars each year.

Publication Information:  http://www.justicefellowship.org/contentindex.asp?ID=8185.  Justice Fellowship.  No date, no author.  Academic research.

Support:  Lawmakers.  The sources are people who are establishing the laws.  The website is a group of people reporting the disfunction and corruption of the laws.

Audience and Agenda:  An organization fighting for justice in the establishment.

Usefulness:  This isn’t very useful because this information has been learned before.

Works Cited:  http://www.justicefellowship.org/contentindex.asp?ID=8185. 

Summary:  Racism affects all people still and in Tulia, Texas one in three black males were in prison and wrongfully sentenced for drugs by a man who was eventually convicted of perjury.  CINEMA FRIDAYS: Tulia, Texas: 10 Years Later.   http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/02/cinema-fridays-tulia-texas-10-years-later.html.

Publication Information:  The institute for Southern Studies.  No date, no author.  Nonprofit Institutional. 

Support:

• Gov. Rick Perry
• Thomas Coleman

These men are in charge of the laws and the appeals made on the men that were charged with 30 to 90 years in prison on drug charges, mostly black.  A film was made about the infamous drug bust and shows the racism that still exists.

Audience and Agenda:  “Since our founding in 1970 by veterans of the civil rights movement, the Institute for Southern Studies has established a national reputation as an essential resource for grassroots activists, community leaders, scholars, policy makers and others working to bring lasting social and economic change to the region.”

Usefulness:  This is important because it shows the damage that the law is doing to a community socially.  The race factor is driving a small town apart.

Works Cited:  http://www.southernstudies.org/2009/02/cinema-fridays-tulia-texas-10-years-later.html

Summary and Title:  The Daily Allison: Practicalism.  Allison blogs about her views on current issues.  In her view, drugs cause violence; therefore, drug offenders should be in jail.

Publication Information:  The Daily Allison, blog entry.  http://thedailyallison.blogspot.com/2009/02/practicalism.html.  Feb. 12, 2009.  Expert Citizen, blog.

Support:  Everything written in the blog is Allison’s views on the current issues.  She is a Republican but considers herself an independent.  She thinks that laws should be changed for gun control to reduce crime and help society.  But she believes that mandatory minimums can only better society because it keeps drug dealers off the streets.  She mentions drug kingpins, but doesn’t say anything regarding the fact that drug kingpins are getting reduced sentences and small-time drug dealers are paying the ultimate price.

Audience and Agenda:  Thirty-five year-old female from New York who likes to blog.  She has two blogs.

Usefulness:  This is that useful because it is an opinion of a lady who isn’t involved in anything specific, these are just her views.

Works Cited: http://thedailyallison.blogspot.com/2009/02/practicalism.html. http://www.blogger.com/profile/04473502695947093047.

Summary and Title:  Strapped states eye prison savings.  Lawmakers plan to release elder and ill prisoners who are not threats to society to reduce overcrowding and save nearly $1 billion in the next two years.

Publication Information:  Stateline.org for Kennebec Journal.  John Gramlich. Feb. 13, 2009. http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/view/columns/5942785.html.  Nonprofit Institutional. 

Support: 

• Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear
• Ryan S. King, policy analyst with The Sentencing Project
• National Association of State Budget Officers
• Public Safety Performance Project
• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Gov. Ed Rendell
• C. West Huddleston III, executive director of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals
• Gov. Janet Napolitano
• Barbara Broderick, chief probation officer
• US Rep. Bobby Scott

All of these policy makers are figuring out ways to reduce prison overcrowding, lower taxes and prison costs, and reduce crime.  Most of the ideas are to let prisoners free if they are not a direct threat to society.  And because costs are so high, many lawmakers find themselves cutting rehab funds to support jails, only adding to the problem.

Audience and Agenda:  Stateline.orgis a nonprofit, nonpartisan online news site that practices journalism in the public interest by reporting on emerging trends and issues in state policy and politics.

Usefulness:  This shows that change is wanted and shows that people from all parties are ready to accept the loss on the war on drugs and move on to better ideas.

Works Cited:  http://www.stateline.org/live/static/About+Us.  http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/view/columns/5942785.html.

SOURCE NOTES ELEVEN-FIFTEEN

Summary:  Democrats in New York recommend creating more uniform sentencing guidelines and allowing judges to send more drug offenders to treatment centers instead of prison.

Topic:  Changing outdated drug policies

Category: Mainstream Journalistic

What is it?  News report from the web version of the New York Times.

Title:  Report Recommends Revising New York’s Drug Laws

Publication Information:  New York Times, Feb. 4, 2009

Author: Jeremy W. Peters

Location:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/nyregion/04druglaws.html?scp=5&sq=mandatory%20minimum&st=cse

Accessed:  Feb. 8, 2009

Support:

• Gov. David A. Paterson
• Denise E. O’ Donnell, top public safety aide
• Sheldon Silver, Assembly Speaker
• Senator Eric T. Schneiderman
• Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol of Brooklyn
• Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York
• Malcom A. Smith, senate majority leader

The sources indicate that people of power and authority are trying to change the outdated drug laws of the Rockerfeller-era.  Currently, judges are limited to give out only mandatory minimum sentences to drug offenders.  They are not allowed to use discretion on any case.  “After working for two years, the commission recommended creating uniform standards for determining which offenders are drug-addicted and allowing judges greater authority to select treatment instead of mandatory incarceration.”  New York officials must continue to keep the violent criminals behind bars and expensive resources, while making a better use of the alternatives to prison, and make sure public safety is not lost. 

Audience and Agenda:  The New York Times is a liberal newspaper about current events.

Usefulness:  This article is recent and shows that Democrats, now in power, are trying to change the outdated drug laws to better the streets.  The laws have details showing how it will be done and what will be changed.  This shows where the country is now, and shows that even though the country was using laws that overcrowded our prisons and cost Americans millions of dollars in taxes, times, they are a changin’.

Works Cited:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/nyregion/04druglaws.html?scp=5&sq=mandatory%20minimum&st=cse

Summary:  Prisons are too costly to house 23,000 prisoners in Colorado.  The governor is thinking of alternative ways to keep crime low, prevent repeat offenders, and spend less money on jails and more on higher education.

Topic:  The expensive price to incarcerate felons.

Category:  Mainstream Journalistic

What is it?  Op/Ed from web version of The Denver Post

Title:  Are prisons too costly for the states?

Publication Information:  Denver Post, Feb, 9, 2009

Author:  Does not say

Location:  http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_11659204

Accessed: Feb. 10, 2009

Support: 

• CO senator Moe Keller, chair of Joint Budget Committee
• VA state senators
• Gov. Bill Ritter

The governor is trying to make useful changes in budget and make money go further.  Ritter would rather spend money on higher education, K-12, and senior citizen tax relief than $380 million to build a new prison and house 23,000 inmates.  Ritter’s five-year plan is “to cut down on repeat offenders by investing in prevention services for youth, incarceration diversion, transitional services, substance abuse treatment, and offender education.”  Ritter also wants to “[return] sentencing discretion to judges, who are the best positioned to evaluate a situation in its entirety.”  All this is sparking debates in other states such as:  Virginia, Kentucky, New York, and California.

Audience and Agenda:  The Denver Post is a daily newspaper and online website published in Denver, CO.  It ranks in the top 50 largest circulation newspapers in the US, with an average weekday circulation of 255,452.  DenverPost.com receives more than two million visitors each month. 

Usefulness:  This article addresses money and how it is being used.  When the nation is spending $3 billion annually on prisoners and not enough on schools, something needs to be changed.  Many inmates are first-time, low-level, nonviolent offenders who should be on probation rather than filling the prisons. 

Works Cited: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_11659204. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denver_Post.

Summary:  Mandatory minimums have effectively created major racial disparity in the US and are unfair.

Topic:  Mandatory minimums are negatively affecting US society.

Category:  Expert Citizen

What is it? EBSCOhost database

Title:  Mandatory Minimums: A Failed Policy

Publication Information:  EBSCOhost, Winter 2002

Author: Robert Batey

Location:  http://0-web.ebscohost.com.janus.uoregon.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=4&hid=115&sid=56735053-85e1-4c69-a800-8d9cb2232582%40sessionmgr103

Accessed: Feb. 11, 2009

Support: 

• Gov. Nelson A. Rockerfeller
• Angela Tompkins, inmate serving under mandatory minimum laws
• People vs. Tompkins
• US Sentencing Commission
• FAMM

Batey is speaking first-hand from his experiences with the unfair laws.  The mandatory minimums were made to catch the kingpins of drug dealers.  What ends up happening is the kingpins are providing substantial assistance and get a reduced sentence.  The small-time drug dealers the king pins told on, now have the long sentences when they are not entirely responsible.  Substantial assistance is a loophole in the mandatory minimum laws that many felons have found a way to benefit from.  Prosecutors also always want a win in a case; by having a defendant plead guilty to a lesser charge, even if the defendant does not agree, that person will not face the entire sentence.  Another loophole.

Batey also shows how minorities have come to believe that mandatory minimums were set in place as a racial crutch.  The high number of inmates are mainly black.  This is because of the “100-to-1″ disparity.  Possession of five grams of crack gets a person a mandatory minimum sentence of five years; whereas, five grams of powder cocaine will get a person the same sentence.  About ninety percent of crack cocaine users are black, thus enforcing a law that seems racist.  The effects of the unfair sentencing laws are terrible on society.

Audience and Agenda:  Robert Batey is a professor of law at Stetson University College of Law in St. Petersberg, Florida.  He holds an undergraduate degree from Yale University and law degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of Illinois.  At Stetson, he teaches criminal law and seminar in sentencing.  He also serves as coordinator for the St. Petersberg chapter of Families Against Mandatory Minimums.  FAMM is an organization that supports the use of guidelines to influence the sentencing judge’s discretion.

Usefulness: 

Coming from a college professor, this article is useful in showing the racial disparity that mandatory minimums has caused.  This doesn’t show the money issue, but rather the social problem.  Many felons who deserve the harsh mandatory minimum are being let off the hook and putting the low-level offenders in jail, wasting space and money.  Batey shows the problems with sentencing and how blacks and Hispanics are beginning to thinks that whites want them behind bars because of the laws in place.

Works Cited: EBSCOhost database, http://0-web.ebscohost.com.janus.uoregon.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=4&hid=115&sid=56735053-85e1-4c69-a800-8d9cb2232582%40sessionmgr103.

Title and Summary:  Toward Drug Case Justice (http://metalib.uoregon.edu:8331/V/GRT2U8PFYHKVCE4R5FDU8FSULN73ELTTUTFH8CG3LFLTTSR65V-45626?func=quick-3&short-format=002&set_number=004363&set_entry=000001&format=999) “[The 100-to-1] rule is a legacy of the 80s when crack was erroneously believed to be much more dangerous than the chemically identical powder cocaine.  Congress made crack the only drug that carries a mandatory minimum sentence for possession–even for first time offenders.”

Publication Information:  Toward drug Case Justice.  Feb. 9, 2008.  http://metalib.uoregon.edu:8331/V/GRT2U8PFYHKVCE4R5FDU8FSULN73ELTTUTFH8CG3LFLTTSR65V-45626?func=quick-3&short-format=002&set_number=004363&set_entry=000001&format=999.  Academic Research.  Academic Search Premiere Database. 

Support:

• Attorney General Michael Mukasey
• House Judiciary Committee
• US Sentencing Commission
• Congress

These are the lawmakers of the mandatory minimums.  Mukasey disagrees with the mandatory minimum sentencing because of the 100-to-1 rule creating racial disparity in prisons.  Distribution of five grams of crack gets a person the same five-year sentence as distribution of five hundred grams of powder cocaine.  Crack is associated with blacks while powder is associated with “more upscale users.” 

Audience and Agenda:  Academic Search Premiere is a database that finds articles to retrieve information from. 

Usefulness:  This article is not that useful because it is only a repeat of every other article out there about racial disparity and the unfairness of strict, outdated drug laws set in place by stingy Republicans.

Title and Summary:  MP on how to handle shootings: Short of taking up a gun myself… I don’t know.  http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/39503604.html.  This article is about gun control and how to punish the violators of the law.  This article argues that harsher sentences and longer mandatory minimums is the only way to reduce crime.

Publication Information:  http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/39503604.html.  Surrey Leader.  Feb. 12, 2009. Journalistic.

Support:

• Dona Cadman
• Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal MP for Newton-North Delta
• Justice Wally Oppal, B.C.’s attorney general
• Parliament of Canada
• Federal public safety minister, Peter Van Loan
• Russ Hiebert, conservative MP for South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale
• Fleetwood Kells MP Nina Grewal

These are the lawmakers of gun control.

Audience and Agenda:  Surrey Leader is a local newspaper and website.

Usefulness:  This is useful in addressing the gun control type of mandatory minimums.  They are trying to be harsher; whereas, drug mandatory minimums are being reviewed to be lighter to reduce prison overcrowding.  The people don’t think overcrowding is an issue.

Works Cited: http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/39503604.html.

Top Ten List

TAKING BETTER PHOTOS:

1. do a pre-discussion with subject
2. pay attention to light! it determines mood
3. pre-visualiztion, framing, props
4. there are different types of portraits: formal, candid, environmental
5. consider time
6. rule of thirds

Photo Reflection

What worked well was just taking lots of shots.  I didn’t do too as much pre-visualization as I wish that I did though.  My subject knew I was there and was a little embarrassed that I was following her around which made it hard for me to dissolve in the background and catch her in her natural environment.  One challenge was finding a subject.  I had two or three before I actually took any pictures.  I wish that I found a subject and took pictures right then instead of trying to plan because the subjects either forgot or made plans or didn’t want to be involved.  So that’s when I just asked a random person in my hall, and I was kind of upset because I didn’t know if she would be interesting.  I also did pre-visualizations for the other subjects and then when I finally took pictures, it was kind of last minute.  Next time, I think I should ask a journalism student because they are not weirded out by having a stranger follow them around.

SOURCE NOTES SIX-TEN

Summary:  This article is about whether the Three Strikes law is opposing the eighth amendment.  Two men, Andrade and Ewing, are sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for theft and violating probation.  A problem with the Three Strikes rule is that “a first time offender who blow[s] up [a] pro shop in an effort to kill the pro shop clerk or kidnaps[s] the clerk to rob him [will] be eligible for parole in California nearly two decades before [a repeat offender].”

Topic:  Three Strikes laws and its injustice.

Category: Mainstream Journalistic

What is it?  News report from the Christian Science Monitor.

Title:  Is “Three Strikes” law cruel and unusual?

Publication Information:  Christian Science Monitor, Nov. 5, 2002. IMAGE. http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/RRR.spring95.crime/fig1.gif.

Author:  Warren Richey

Location:  http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1105/p01s02-usju.html

Support:

• US Supreme Court
• Leandro Andrade, convicted shoplifter
• Gary Ewing, convicted shoplifter
• Erwin Chemerinsky, USC Law School professor representing Andrade
• CA Attorney General Bill Lockyer
• Quin Denvir, federal defender in Sacramento representing Ewin
• Michael Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento

From these sources, I get the picture that the courts are not agreeing with the laws set in place.  “Critics of the law say that [mandatory minimums] should apply primarily to violent criminals rather than those guilty of property crimes.”  Ewing and Andrade are both repeat offenders, but their crime does not fit the punishment, violating the eighth amendment.  “If the justices decide the sentences in question are unconstitutionally harsh, that could spark appeals of tough sentences across the country.  On the other hand, if the court upholds the sentences, that could effectively dash the hopes of defendants who have been sentenced this way.”  Lockyer counters that although Andrade argues that his crime is too small for such a big punishment, “his assertion ignores his felony recidivism.”  Adding, “At some point a state must be able to isolate an habitual criminal from society for long periods of time.” 

Audience and Agenda:  The Christian Science Monitor is a daily newspaper, published Monday through Friday, which started in 1908.  It covers international and US current events with a religious feature.  The circulation is about 56,000 people.  In April 2009, it will switch to a weekly newspaper due to revenue losses.  The author, Warren Richey, is a crime reporter for the Christian Science Monitor.

Usefulness:  This article is useful because it shows the criminals dealing with the Three Strikes law and mandatory minimums.  The attorneys and lawyers that work with this issue are dealing with crime violations and punishments and must keep the eighth amendment in mind.  The article is mainly about two criminals, their charges, and the punishments.  A judge needs to always consider the circumstances, so these two laws don’t seems very useful.  But then again, how else does a state teach a criminal the law?

Works Cited:  CSM, http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1105/p01s02-usju.html; Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recidivism ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_strikes_law ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Science_Monitor.  http://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/RRR.spring95.crime/fig1.gif.

Summary:  This article focuses on preventive plans to reduce crime rates.  By preventing young men from getting into crime in the first place, it will eliminate overcrowding, the expensive cost of prisoners, and lower crime across the US.

Topic: Preventive plans vs. realistic concerns

Category: Mainstream Journalistic

What is it?  News report from the Christian Science Monitor

Title:  Many Prisons, No Reform Make Too Many Criminals

Publication Information:  CSM Sept. 9, 1993

Author:  David Holmstrom

Location:  http://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0909/09013.html

Accessed: Jan. 29, 2009

Support:

• James Austin, vice president of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) in San Fransisco
• Rep. John Conyers (D) of Michigan
• Roberto Rivera, director of research and development for Justice Fellowship in Renston, VA
• 1992 Harris Poll

These sources are from 1993, really outdated material.  But it shows that there was an effort to eliminate mandatory minimums before they were reinforced in 1994 very heavily due to Proposition 184 in CA.  Austin explains that this “report asks that the funds from ineffective prison and enforcement programs be used in health, educational, and anitdrug programs.”  Austin adds, “Let’s make sure we have enough prison space to handle the really dangerous people, but not over-punish the others and waste billions of dollars.  It’s very difficult to make people better quickly and easily, so we say, cut the losses on the prison system and put the funds into preventive programs.  To lower the crime rate, reduce the probability that young males will commit crime.”  Rivera disagrees:  “As much as I respect NCCD, I think they are politically naive.  I agree with abolishing mandatory minimum sentencing in most cases, but the public is not going to be sold on this alternative vision of punishing in the community.”  Obviously, this route of prevention and punishment never got popular because today we are still using mandatory minimum sentencing.

Audience and Agenda:  The Christian Science Monitor is a daily newspaper, published Monday through Friday, which started in 1908.  It covers international and US current events with a religious feature.  The circulation is about 56,000 people.  In April 2009, it will switch to a weekly newspaper due to revenue losses.  David Holmstrom is a staff writer for CSM and the author of this article. 

Usefulness:  This article is effective in telling me that people considered the mandatory minimum sentencing as useless, but the laws were still passed and re-enforced.  This article shows that some people tried to change things before the US used a policy that doesn’t work and has never worked (that’s why it was abolished in the 70s). 

Works Cited:  CSM http://www.csmonitor.com/1993/0909/09013.html;  Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Science_Monitor.

Summary:  Jail time for the same crime differs in states across the nation.  In Arkansas, people convicted of second-degree murder are sentenced to 15 years in prison; whereas in Alaska and Nevada, people convicted of the same crime are sentenced to and serve only one-sixth the amount of time. 

Topic:  Equal sentencing across nation, thoughts of mandatory minimums.

Category:  Mainstream Journalistic

What is it?  News report from CSM.

Title:  Seeking nationwide sentence to fit crime: states move toward more uniform system of justice

Publication Information:  CSM, June 1, 1981

Author:  George B. Merry

Location:  http://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0601/060158.html

Accessed:  Jan. 28, 2009

Support: 

• Maine lawmakers
• Gov. Joseph Brennan
• Brad Smith ABT Associates
• January Gallop poll
• William G. Nagel, president of the Lake Wales, Florida-based American Foundation and executive director of the latter’s Institute on Corrections
• Michael Kroll of the National Moratorium on Prison Construction
• Massachusetts Gov. Edward J. King (D)
• National Law Journal Study

These sources show us the relationship between crime and justice.  People in 1981 thought that harsher sentences with less flexibility would clean up crime.  Mandatory minimums were even referred to as the presumptive sentence approach. 

“Sixteen states have mandatory sentence laws on their books for some, or all, violent crimes.  Several others prescribe fixed prison terms on drug pushing or repeat offenders.  Fourteen [states] have set up parole guidelines that must be either observed or at least considered, thus having an impact on the length of sentences served by convicts.”  This is important because parole hasn’t been discussed that much.  Most people are already on parole, but no details are ever given as to how parole affects sentencing.  “Critics of stiffer sentences contend that in some states the new laws have in some instances ‘ resulted in filing correctional institutions with less serious offenders.’” says Kroll.  King agrees, even by mentioning that Massachusetts citizens would be willing to pay more taxes to see more people behind bars.  Supporters of “longer and less flexible sentencing hold that if additional prisons are needed to house an expanded inmate population, the necessary funds must be provided.”  King and Kroll didn’t think how overcrowding would affect prisons and sentencing and how costly this presumptive sentence approach would be. 

Audience and Agenda:  The Christian Science Monitor is a daily newspaper, published Monday through Friday, which started in 1908.  It covers international and US current events with a religious feature.  The circulation is about 56,000 people.  In April 2009, it will switch to a weekly newspaper due to revenue losses. George B. Merry is a staff writer for the CSM and the author of this article.

Usefulness:  This article helps show me the minds of the lawmakers before mandatory minimums were set into place and why people wanted them in the first place.  With sentencing differing throughout states so much, I think national mandatory minimums were the only logical solution to such a huge problem.  No one expected such a terrible turnout from a new approach.  This helps show the consequences of overcrowding and costly prisoners.

Works Cited:  CSM, http://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0601/060158.html. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Science_Monitor.

Summary:  This article talks about the history of mandatory minimums and how they were started and ended and then started again in the 80s.  Mandatory minimums date back to 1790.  In 1956 mandatory minimums were used for most notably drugs, but also firearms.  In 1970, Congress drew back from the comprehensive application of mandatory minimum provisions of drug crimes.  Finding that increases in sentence length had not shown the expected overall reduction in drug law violations, Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 that repealed virtually all mandatory penalties for drug violations.

Topic:  Mandatory minimums’ start, banishment, and why they were re-enforced in the 80s and 90s.

Category:  Academic research

What is it?  A book all about mandatory minimums

Title:  Mandatory Minimum Penalties in the Federal Criminal Justice System, Chapter 2, ”An Overview of Mandatory Minimums in the Federal Criminal Justice System” Section A, “The Development of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Provisions”

Publication Information:  Book, United States Sentencing Commission, August 1991

Author: 

• William W. Wilkins Jr., Chairman
• Julie E. Carnes
• Helen G. Corrothers
• Michael S.  Gelacak
• George E. MacKinnon
• A. David Mazzone
• Ilene H. Nagel

Accessed:  Feb. 4, 2009

Support:

• Congress
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• President’s Interdepartmental Committee on Narcotics

These sources are showing how the laws were passed.  In 1970,  many opposed mandatory minimum sentencing.  “Some argued that mandatory penalties hampered the process of rehabilitation of offenders and infringed on the judicial function by not allowing the judge to use his discretion in individual cases.  Others argued that mandatory minimum sentences reduced the deterrent effect of the drug laws in part because even prosecutors viewed them as overly severe.”  Basically, the provisions of the 1970 Act was to eliminate all mandatory minimum sentences for drug law violations except for a special class of professional criminals. 

Audience and Agenda:  The United States Sentencing Commission is a group of people appointed in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 which determines sentencing. 

Usefulness:  This article is a chapter from a book that talks about the laws in the language that laws are made.  The information was good because it gives a history of this type of sentencing, but a lot of laws are used and graphed and hard to understand.

Works cited:  Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Sentencing_Commission. 

Summary:  Broad definitions of mandatory minimums and the uselessness of them.  Shows the amount of blacks and whites and women found in prisons.  Also shows that drug kingpins are still doing business while small-time drug dealers are in prison serving harsh time.

Topic:  Mandatory minimum definitions

Category: Nonprofit Institutional

What is it?  Breakdown of mandatory minimums through a group

Title:  The Issue

Publication Information:  Families Against Mandatory Minimums

Author: None

Location:  http://www.famm.org/ExploreSentencing/TheIssue.aspx?loc=interstitialskip

Accessed:  Feb. 5, 2009

Support:

• Congress
• 1997 RAND study
• US Sentencing Commission, Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy, 2002
• Peter D. Hart Research 2003
• RAND corporation
• National study

Although not perfect, guidelines do a better job of ensuring that the punishment fits the crime and the defendant.  Appeals are allowed to prevent judges from delivering sentences that are too soft or too tough.  National polls show that the public believes education and prevention programs are better ways to deal with the drug problem than harsh prison sentences.  Treatment of heavy users is eight to nine times more cost-effective than long sentences.  It costs $23,ooo annually to incarcerate an addict, but $1,800 for outpatient and $6,800 for residential drug treatment. 

Audience and Agenda:  FAMM was started 1991 when the founder, Julie, was told that her brother was sentenced to five years in federal prison for growing marijuana.  The judge agreed that the punishment was too harsh but had no choice but to sentence Julie’s brother.  Outraged by the fact that the judge could not use discretion, she started FAMM.  In 1994, FAMM lobbied for the passage of a “safety valve” to give federal judges discretion to reduce sentences for nonviolent, first-time drug offenders.  In 1998, FAMM succeeded in changing Michigan’s harsh 650 lifer drug law to allow for parole. 

Usefulness:  Some of the material is repetitive, but it shows that an orginization is trying to help Congress and lawmakers make better, more equal laws allowing for justice.

Works Cited:  FAMM:  http://www.famm.org/MeetFAMM/OurHistory.aspx, http://www.famm.org/ExploreSentencing/TheIssue.aspx?loc=interstitialskip.