Pre-Trial Drug Diversion Centers? We need legislative support.

KEEJ supporters, please read the following message and
consider calling your state senator to ask for support
for this initiative of Governor Fletcher in the upcoming assembly.
It was attempted and failed last time. Our Support is
necessary. Thank you for this consideration.
Rev. Dr. Paschal Baute.
__________

Pre-trial drug diversion (Regular Session 2007 SB 34)

Dear Dr. Baute

While Governor Fletcher's administration has worked hard to improve
enforcement on drug possession and use in Kentucky, he knows that is not
the full solution to the drug problem. Without treatment for
individuals, there will still be the demand that brings drugs into
Kentucky.



Through a collaborative effort, Governor Fletcher initiated the
"Recovery Kentucky" program, establishing 10 recovery centers across
Kentucky that will help people beat their drug and alcohol addictions in
a supportive environment. The administration also implemented the first
comprehensive statewide substance abuse treatment program in Juvenile
Justice because 57% of DJJ youth in facilities are at moderate to high
risk for substance abuse.



Earlier this year, the Governor supported Senator Kelly's SB 34 in the
2007 regular session of the general assembly. That bill would establish
a pre-trial option for accused non-violent drug users to enter secure
rehabilitation rather than waiting in jail for a trial.



Treating these individuals is not only the right thing to do, but has
the double benefit of saving the state the costs of their incarceration
as well as allowing them the opportunity to be productive citizens.



SB 34 was one of many bills that were lost in the politics of general
session, but Governor Fletcher has added it to the call for the special
session today, July 5th, so that the General Assembly will have another
opportunity to get this worthy program started.



Some members of the legislature have suggested that they do not wish to
address this issue now, but it should be something that we can all
easily agree on.



In our phone conversation you asked about the phone number to contact
your legislator. It is 1-800-372-7181.



Thank you,

Andy Hightower

Testimony on Mandatory Minimums

Friends:


Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project, testifies Tuesday, June
26, 2007 on the issue of Mandatory Minumum Sentencing before the House Judiciary
Subcommitee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.


Mauer's testimony [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=lxvqqbcab.0.yarwqbcab.fed4i7n6.8338&ts=S0257&p=http%3A%2F%2Fsentencingproject.org%2FAdmin%2FDocuments%2Fpublications%2Fsl_testimony_summer07.pdf]
focuses on the experience with the current generation of mandatory sentencing policies
in the federal system, the vast majority of which have been applied to drug offenses,
and the lessons we should learn from that in order to develop more effective public
policy. The main themes he will address include:


* Mandatory sentencing policies have been largely based on false premises, and are
particularly unwise in the federal system;
* Mandatory penalties in the federal system have not proven to achieve their objectives;
and
* A variety of policy initiatives could be enacted that would result in more fair
and effective sentencing, and would produce better public safety results.

Click here [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=lxvqqbcab.0.cbrwqbcab.fed4i7n6.8338&ts=S0257&p=http%3A%2F%2Fsentencingproject.org%2FPublicationDetails.aspx%3FPublicationID%3D592]
to view his testimony.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Sentencing Project [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=lxvqqbcab.0.geraavbab.fed4i7n6.8338&ts=S0257&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sentencingproject.org%2F]
514 10th St, NW
Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20004

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Tennessee Execution: American Bar Assn objects. see release

Doubts About the Guilt of the Convict - a Dubious Execution in Tennessee
By AFP
Le Devoir

Thursday 10 May 2007

Washington - A 53-year-old man, condemned to death for the murder of a police officer during a holdup in 1981, was executed in Tennessee despite doubts about his guilt, several organizations which favor or oppose the death penalty report.

Philip Workman was declared dead Wednesday at 1:38 a.m. after having received a deadly triple injection in the Nashville prison.

The night of August 5, 1981 Philip Workman held up a restaurant in Frayser, close to Memphis. Arriving on the scene with two colleagues just as the robber was leaving, 43-year-old Lieutenant Ronald Oliver was killed by a bullet to the head.

The following year, Workman was found guilty of murder and condemned to death. Since then, the defense has demanded a new trial, deeming that the policeman was probably killed by a colleague's accidental shot: no ballistic analysis was conducted; no policeman saw the robber shoot; and the only witness against him at the trial subsequently retracted his testimony.

Philip Workman was never allowed a second trial, but after numerous last-minute reprieves, he had recently declared to a local television station: "On the one hand, all that is really sad. On the other hand, I'm tired. It's time to get it all over with."

Mr. Workman is the eighteenth condemned person executed this year in the United States and the third in Tennessee since the death penalty was reestablished in the country in 1976.

In a recent report, the American Bar Association denounced the application of the death penalty in Tennessee, described as failing by virtue of the absence of procedures to assert potential judicial mistakes and of the lack of training given public defenders.

---

Translation: t r u t h o u t French language correspondent Leslie Thatcher.

"Tough on Crime" Policies Produce Schools for Crime. Op Ed submission to Herald Leader, May 7

OP ED submission to Herald Leader editorial page. 3 pp. FX 231-3332
"TOUGH ON CRIME" POLICIES PRODUCE SCHOOLS FOR CRIME.

Key concepts: "Serving time" for non-violent addictive offenders and non-support of children is in no way remedial. Jails and prisons are over-crowded with few programs available. There exists no process for following the recommendations made from tax supported studies. Changes are necessary to save tax dollars and reduce jail and prison costs. An independent commission is recommended.

Serious crises exist in Kentucky which are not being addressed in this political season. The first has to do with use of our tax money and the second, making criminals out of several ever-growing groups of people among us.

America incarcerates more citizens per capita than another other country in the world, including Russia. Kentucky with its harsh sentencing code puts in jail and prison more than three times the average of the seven surrounding states. Since 1975, incarcerations and imprisonments have increased by 6 ½ times while our state population increased by a mere 25%.

Governor Fletcher has been quoted as saying our county budgets are “hemorrhaging” due to the overwhelming burden of supporting an increasing jail population. State expenditures for prisons exploded from $7 million thirty years ago to over $300 million today, an increase of more than 4000 percent.

According to the report of the State Auditor on the county jails, 72% of our full service county jails are overcrowded. Those jails are also warehousing additional state and federal prisons because the added revenue helps support the county budget. Some counties are eager to build bigger jails to keep more inmates so they can raise more money..

This escalation of tax expense and of jail and prison space does not reduce crime. It is not designed to reduce crime. In fact. this growth is out of control. Eighty percent of all offenders are drug and alcohol related but practically no programs are available.

Basically we are now making criminals out of social problems: the prevalence of addiction, child non-support and the release of the mentally ill from asylums. Arrested persons in these categories are worse off after months or years in jail with no remedial programs. Therefore, we as a society are not any better or safer but rather blind to what is happening.

Even though the huge percentage of inmates have committed drug and alcohol related offenses, rehabilitation and transition programs are minimal. Whatever exist are mostly by volunteers. No state agency takes responsibility to ensure that programs can meet actual needs. Consequently, a “Revolving Door” is what happens, with two persons out of three returning within three years. Returning once more to mere warehousing.

Many judges are opposed to the mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent addictive behaviors. Mandatory minimums cuts out judicial consideration of extenuating circumstances options, and instead puts control into hands of "Tough on Crime" prosecutors. (For example, as Dr. Robert Lawson, UK Law Faculty, in his report, points out, driving with a suspended license or shop lifting can require ten years in prison for a third offense, regardless...)

The trickle-down effect of mandatory minimums and automatic increase of seriousness of previous offenses upon another offense, with rampant drug and alcohol abuse, means that we are forcing a large group of class D felony prisoners onto an already over-crowded jail population. So large an expenditure for warehousing these groups means that there is nothing left for programs of rehabilitation or transition.

So what has "Tough on Crime" legislation accomplished? What we are accomplishing is growing tax supported Stealth Schools for Crime, where with room, board and plenty of time, "serving time" means an education in drug connections, drug dealing and learning new ways to be more shrewd. In the meantime, families are more broken, addictions are deeper, and job skills shot, lost or obsolete. "Serving Time" is in no way remedial for the addictive offender.

Without programs, inmates with already impaired opportunities cannot exit detention better prepared to fit normally into society with regular jobs and supportive families.
Actually they are worse off each time they come out, having dug deeper holes for themselves in addiction, justified negative attitudes and betrayed family trust. The quickest way to survive on the streets is to deal with drugs. All their connections and addictive associates are waiting.

In 2005, the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court appointed a Blue Ribbon Sentencing Commission, which with initial sincere enthusiasm, made several recommendations to the General Assembly. Unfortunately no such new legislation was addressed and the Commission has been abandoned. Apparently too many politicians are afraid of being accused of being “soft on crime.” Prosecutors get faster guilty pleas since they hold the cards with mandatory minimum sentencing policies.

But our Justice system, judges and prosecutors, are pledged to administer the law “fairly.” Judges, prosecutors, legislators and citizens –all of us– have a duty to face this crisis. Yet our criminal justice system, let it be said, is not an equal opportunity employer.

African Americans make up 15 percent of drug users, but account for 37 percent of those arrested on drug charges, 59 percent of those convicted, and 74 percent of all drug offenders sentenced to prison. Or consider this: America has 260,000 people in state prisons on nonviolent drug charges; 183,200 (more than 70 percent) are black or Latino. (2006 ACLU report)

Black men are seven times more likely to be incarcerated, with average jail sentences about 10 months longer than those of white men. A total of 12% of Black men in their 20s are in our correctional system, that is about 1/8 of this age group. (National Urban League figures, released April 17)

Since mandatory minimum sentencing first began for drug offenders, the Federal Bureau of Prisons' budget has increased by more than 2,100%, namely, from $220 million in 1986 to about $4.4 billion in 2004. Because of mandatory minimum sentences, the number of drug offenders in federal prison grew from 25% of the total inmate population in 1981 to 60% in 2001. It is larger still now.

What is a remedy? First of all, wake up to what we are getting from our taxes. We are not getting more safety and security that Tough on Crime advocates highly tout. We have created Stealth Schools for Crime by the revolving door. We have issues to address. We have reports, tax paid and supported, such as the State Auditor’s report on county jails with 14 recommendations that are already lost in the winds of political change.

We propose creating a permanent independent oversight commission on Sentencing, Corrections and Rehabilitation. Key players, such as Supreme Court judges, Attorney General, Corrections director or their reps would be included. A non-partisan citizens review panel for sustaining public advocacy and interest needs to be part of that Commission.

We ask the commission be chaired by distinguished legal scholars, perhaps rotating among our three law schools. Beginning chair could be someone with the qualifications of Dr. Robert Lawson, of the UK Law Faculty who has already written extensively on these matters and visited a number of county jails. (This legal scholar describes this situation with the term “criminalizing addictive behavior” repeatedly.)

Initially we see the urgent immediate mission is to vet the recommendations already made by State Auditor and the now dead Blue Ribbon Commission on Sentencing, for changes in legislation and sentencing policy. Then examine and support work release and effective treatment programs in order to reduce the revolving door.

An estimated $50-100 million per year could be saved in Kentucky (estimated figure from an attorney who is in court or jail or both everyday) Not to speak of lives and parents given back to many families.

We challenge each candidate for governor and for attorney general to announce their own proposals to address these issues. Many other changes are possible.

Rev. Paschal Baute, Ed. D.
Pastoral Psychologist
May 7, 2007
4080 Lofgren Court
Lexington, Ky
tel 859-293-5302

(Editor: we do not expect you to list these, but recognize that these issues are of concern to a number of citizens groups in Central Kentucky

Chair, Kentuckians Expecting Effective Justice
Facilitator of the Spiritual Growth Network of Kentucky
Coordinator of interfaith Fierce Landscape program at the Fayette Detention Cnnter now in its 5th year with ten volunteers. (Note: This program was featured in your Community section last August by Robin Roenker.)
This letter is signed by other indivdiuals whose names can be provided and these groups;
Central Kentucky Council of Peace and Justice.
Lexington Society of Friends.
Kingdom Purpose Ministries
Bluegrass Christian Community
Note to editor: Fact sheets on all factual matters listed can be found on my web blog at “Kentuckians Expecting...” Via my web site: www.paschalbaute.com, and scan to bottom blog.

Also The Interfaith Alliance (TIA) of the Bluegrass, president Mike Ward, has addressed this issue in a letter to the now abandoned Blue Ribbon Commission on Sentencing and are ready to follow it up. This is a group of progressive clergy and laity in Central Kentucky.
The Clergy and Laity Network of Kentucky have also addressed the issue and support this initiative.

These issues are also being addressed by the National Drug Policy Alliance,
and
The Sentencing Project,
both of which recognize the issues above are national, not merely local problems.

National Drug Policy Alliance Newsletter ALERT: Action Now.

NEW ANTI-WAR VIDEO BY HIP-HOP MEGASTAR

Dear Fellow Reformer,

Harsh mandatory minimum sentences. Extreme racial disparities. Mass incarceration. Lack of affordable drug treatment. Loss of civil liberties. Destruction of families. Waste of billions of taxpayer dollars.

Watch the new video by Jim Jones: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=4180489&l=140381

Today marks the 34th anniversary of New York's draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws, which provided the model for America's longest running war: the war on drugs. Under the Rockefeller Drug Laws and the failed drug war, our country addresses drug use and abuse as a criminal issue, not a public health issue.

But the call for reform is getting louder every day. In observance of the anniversary of the failed Rockefeller Drug Laws, hip-hop megastar Jim Jones just released his new rap single, "Lockdown, USA," which calls for real reform of the RDLs and an end to the war on drugs. The song is a single from the forthcoming documentary, Lockdown, USA ( http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=4180489&l=140411 ).

This single by Jim Jones is not available in stores yet--but you can listen to the song, and watch the video, on our website: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=4180489&l=140381

Afterwards, please urge New York Governor Elliot Spitzer and President George W. Bush to end the Rockefeller Drug Laws in New York, and stop the failed war on drugs in America.

Take action now: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=4180489&l=140382

We need to let them know the whole country is watching!

Then send this message to five of your friends--give them an opportunity to see the new video by Jim Jones! Please also consider becoming a member of the Drug Policy Alliance and joining the movement to end the war on drugs: http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=4180489&l=140383 .

Let's make sure the Rockefeller Drug Laws don't have a 35th anniversary. Together, we can end America's longest war and restore justice in our communities.

Sincerely,

Gabriel Sayegh
Director, State Organizing and Policy Project
Drug Policy Alliance

Lockdown, USA:

Jim Jones, a member of the popular hip-hop crew The Diplomats, rocketed to stardom on the success of his smash hit, "We Fly High," the number one rap single on the Billboard Monitor Rap Chart, from the number one album on the Billboard Independent Chart, Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment). Raised in Harlem--a community that has been hard-hit by the failed Rockefeller Drug Laws--Jones has seen first-hand the racially discriminatory impact of the war on drugs, making his call for reform on "Lockdown, USA" that much more meaningful.

The new song and video are being released as part of the Drug Policy Alliance-led effort to win real reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. DPA chairs Real Reform New York, a coalition made up of dozens of organizations representing thousands of community members, activists, advocates, policy and treatment experts, survivors, their friends and families. The coalition seeks to replace the ineffective Rockefeller Drug Laws with cost effective, community-based alternatives that promote real justice and public safety.

Rockefeller Drug Laws:

In New York, over 14,000 people are incarcerated under the failed Rockefeller Drug Laws. And despite the fact that research shows that drug use is equal across racial categories, a staggering 91% of those incarcerated under the Rockefeller Drug Laws are Black and Latino. Nationally, there are over 2.3 million people in U.S. prisons and jails-almost 500,000 of whom are incarcerated for drug charges.

This year, the New York State Assembly passed a bill ( http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/ctt.asp?u=4180489&l=140384 ) that would enact real reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Now we need to make sure the Senate and the Governor approve this bill as well.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Please consider joining the Drug Policy Alliance: https://secure3.ctsg.com/dpa/donation/index.asp?Item=18&MS=https://secure3.ctsg.com/dpa/donation/index.asp?Item=18&MS=RockyJimJones-050807-aa

Sentencing changes for crack cocaine

U.S. Sentencing Commission votes for changes to crack cocaine
sentencing guidelines!


WASHINGTON, D.C.: For the first time in 12 years, the U.S. Sentencing
Commission has approved guideline changes to federal crack cocaine
penalties tonight, by a 6-1 vote. The amendment affects approximately
78 percent of defendants convicted of crack cocaine offenses, reducing
their sentences by an average of 16 months. It will now be sent to
Congress on May 1, 2007, along with other proposed sentencing
amendments.


"While this incremental change is a far cry from the
'equalization' of crack and powder cocaine the Commission recommended
in 1995, it is a long overdue first step to improving crack
sentences," said Julie Stewart, president of Families Against
Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), a national, nonpartisan sentencing reform
organization.


For 15 years the Commission has researched crack cocaine and its
penalties and concluded current federal crack sentences are
unjustifiable. Among the findings from its 2002 report are that crack
penalties


1. exaggerate the relative harmfulness of crack cocaine
2. sweep too broadly and apply most often to lower level offenders
3. overstate the seriousness of most crack cocaine offenses and fail
to provide adequate proportionality
4. and mostly impact minorities


Despite this evidence, Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission have
been in a stalemate for a dozen years over how to improve crack
sentences. During that time, nearly 56,000 people were sentenced under
the harsh federal crack cocaine statutes and guidelines. Now, the
U.S. Sentencing Commission has taken the bold step of saying enough is
enough.


"While the Commission's amendment does not solve the problem of
excessive crack cocaine penalties it moves us closer to that goal,
which is why FAMM supports the Commission's crack amendment," says
Stewart.


Congress has six months to consider the amendments before they
automatically take effect on November 1, 2007. Congress would have to
pass bills in both the House and Senate to stop the amendment. It is
highly unlikely such an action will happen this year. If passed, the
amendment will not affect people sentenced before November 1, 2007.


The U.S. Sentencing Commission's crack guideline amendment will
be accompanied by language to Congress that urges them to address the
crack cocaine mandatory minimum. Combined changes to the sentencing
guidelines and mandatory minimum statutes for crack cocaine would
result in more appropriate penalties for roughly 5,000 defendants who
face crack sentences each year. With their faces in mind, FAMM
applauds the Commission for acting on an injustice that can no longer
be tolerated.


Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) is a national, nonpartisan,
nonprofit organization that promotes just sentencing policies. For more
information, visit: www.famm.org.

What's wrong with the drug war?

What's Wrong With the Drug War?

taken from web site
www.drugpolicy.org

Everyone has a stake in ending the war on drugs. Whether you’re a parent concerned about protecting children from drug-related harm, a social justice advocate worried about racially disproportionate incarceration rates, an environmentalist seeking to protect the Amazon rainforest or a fiscally conservative taxpayer you have a stake in ending the drug war. U.S. federal, state and local governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to make America “drug-free.” Yet heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit drugs are cheaper, purer and easier to get than ever before. Nearly half a million people are behind bars on drug charges - more than all of western Europe (with a bigger population) incarcerates for all offenses. The war on drugs has become a war on families, a war on public health and a war on our constitutional rights.

Many of the problems the drug war purports to resolve are in fact caused by the drug war itself. So-called “drug-related” crime is a direct result of drug prohibition's distortion of immutable laws of supply and demand. Public health problems like HIV and Hepatitis C are all exacerbated by zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean needles. The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

Visit these pages to see how the drug war affects all aspects of our lives:

Drug War Funding
Pain Underprescribing
Terrorism
Informants
Environmental Consequences
Economics
Mandatory Minimum Sentences
Voter Disenfranchisement
Public Health Crisis
Access to Treatment
Higher Education Act
Public Benefits
Forced Evictions