Human Rights & the U.S. Drug War - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0963975447 ISBN 13: 9780963975447

Inhaltsangabe

An evaluation of US Drug War policy in the context of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the US Bill of Rights. Analysis plus more than 20 case stories to illustrate how current US policy is a direct violation of the approved international standard for human rights, including the right to privacy, to medicine, to family, to culture, to religion, and to property. Furthermore it catalogs violations of due process and the increasing use of cruel and unusual punishments in the form of mandatory minimum sentences and establishing the death penalty for non-violent drug offenses. This official-looking book is 8-1/2 by 5-1/2 inches, 62 pages, black and white pages with a blue, black and white cover bearing the UN logo. There are photos of prisoners and casualties of the Drug War throughout, and appendices include a resource guide, a list of established human rights, and a Drug War Truce that includes peace negotiations between the government and people. It is a smaller spin off of the book, Shattered Lives: Portraits from the US Drug War, similarly based on the Human Rights and the Drug War photo exhibit, with some new information.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Chris Conrad is production and art director, editor and writer for the Human Rights and the Drug War (HRDW/HR 95) Exhibit Project. He is author of Hemp: Lifeline to the Future and Hemp for Health, director of the Business Alliance for Commerce in Hemp (BACH) and the Family Council on Drug Awareness, designing curator of the Hash / Marihuana / Hemp Museum of Amsterdam, and past president of the Hemp Industries Association (HIA). A popular guest on radio talk shows around the country, Mr. Conrad is an internationally recognized expert and consultant on topics related to cannabis and prohibition, and has met with government officials in the US, Canada, Holland, Germany and other countries. As Californians for Medical Rights' Community Action Coordinator, he organized grassroots activist groups statewide to petition and qualify the Medical Marijuana Initiative (Prop 215) for the ballot. He addressed a special hearing of the UN Committee on Reorganization regarding human needs, and has testified at numerous state and local government. He regularly contributes articles and reports to various books and publications, and is among a handful of civilians who have been qualified as expert legal witnesses on hemp and marijuana in the Superior Court of California.

Mikki Norris is creator, curator, and co-coordinator of the Human Rights and the Drug War (HRDW/HR 95) Exhibit Project. She works with the Family Council on Drug Awareness, a public policy think tank which researches and develops materials on drug-related issues. As community action co-coordinator for Californians for Medical Rights, she helped organize petitioners to qualify the California Medical Marijuana Initiative (Prop. 215) for the 1996 ballot. Ms. Norris advocates harm reduction and tolerance policies to reduce drug abuse while protecting families and civil liberties. She has traveled around the US and Europe collecting information and networking with hundreds of groups and individuals that are involved with drug policy reform. Ms. Norris is a former teacher with a BA in sociology and an MA in Special Education. She has worked on numerous peace and justice issues.

Virginia Resner is creator, curator, and co-coordinator of the Human Rights and the Drug War (HRDW/HR 95) Exhibit Project. As California coordinator for Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), she organizes local public events and meetings to muster public support for changing sentencing laws. She provides information and support through correspondence to prisoners and their families, to public officials and media. She joined FAMM in 1991 after her boyfriend was arrested by the federal government and her home raided in a warrantless search. She has lobbied in Washington DC to change mandatory sentencing laws and began working on the FAMM Women's Project when she realized how many women are being targeted by current policy. An experienced public speaker, she was drawn into HR 95 due to her empathy and desire to help form support systems for families of prisoners. Born & raised in a progressive activist family in San Francisco, Ms. Resner's father was a prominent labor lawyer.

Von der hinteren Coverseite

From the creators of the award-winning photo exhibit Human Rights and the Drug War (HR 95) and the authors of Shattered Lives: Portraits From America's Drug War, Chris Conrad, Mikki Norris, and Virginia Resner

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood." - Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Chapter 1. Undermining Due Process The phrase "due process" refers to the course of proceedings established by the legal system of a nation or state to protect individual rights and liberties. In the United States, the structure of due process is enshrined in the Bill of Rights - the first ten Amendments to the US Constitution. Statutory laws, those enacted by elected legislative bodies, must still comply with Constitutional law. Courts must adhere to the Constitution to ensure the fair application of justice and have the authority to strike down unconstitutional laws.

Unfortunately, this system of checks and balances has been badly eroded by the course of the US Drug War. This is manifest in a pattern that has become commonly known as the "drug exception" to the Bill of Rights.

Before a person gives legal testimony, they are required under penalty of perjury to swear to tell "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Yet there are many things the jury is not allowed to know and the judge is not allowed to consider. Even grand juries directed to look into drug cases and hand down indictments are kept in the dark about circumstances that could determine their decisions.

The courts and due process of law are the People's ultimate defense against injustice and ill-conceived laws. Sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum penalty laws tie judges hands to prevent them from using discretion in drug cases. They must only look at the type and quantity of drugs involved and the defendant's criminal history, rather than consider the mitigating circumstances and individual characteristics of the person who is charged. It is the prosecutor who determines the charges leveled and thus the penalties. Prosecutorial threats and back room plea bargains have replaced public hearings.

Under civil asset forfeiture law, a person's entire life savings can be seized without their even being charged with a crime, let alone convicted. When all your money is seized, you cannot hire a good attorney to defend yourself.

The competence of judge and defense counsel have a direct bearing on court rulings that establish the defense, include or exclude evidence, and determine what arguments the jury is allowed to hear. Medical necessity and religious use are frequently disallowed in drug cases, thus limiting a person's defense capability and a jury's access to the truth. Juries are not informed of the penalty which a defendant faces or of their own power to acquit, despite the evidence, in the interest of justice.

In Drug War cases, witnesses who provide "substantial assistance" to prosecutors are enticed, by promises of reducing or working off their own charges, to provide possible evidence against others. Informants (anonymous or identified) are paid sums of money to provide evidence, putting their honesty in question. Police entrap people to break the law or increase quantities of their buy to enhance penalties. They also may seize personal property for law enforcement use. These are examples of de facto bribery and conflicts of interest.

Conspiracy law means you never have to touch any drugs or money to be prosecuted in the Drug War. Physical evidence has been supplanted by hearsay. In a conspiracy case, each person is held responsible for the entire offense, no matter how insignificant their role was. No crime needs be committed to implicate you in a conspiracy. Talking about breaking a drug law is enough ... or even hearing someone else mention the idea in your presence. This is different than in normal criminal law, where proof is required of a crime occurring or of an overt act towards committing a crime.

The net effect of all this is to round up and lock away, for unduly long periods of time, many people who are minor participants in drug offenses or may even be innocent.

Case story: Amy Pofahl, age 37, serving 24 years, charged with conspiracy to import and distribute ecstasy

Amy Ralston's husband was Charles "Sandy" Pofahl, a graduate of Stanford Law School and successful Dallas businessman. They were married for a few years until she could no longer handle his alcohol problem.

They had been separated for a year and Amy had her own promotional company, Prime Time, in Los Angeles, when her nightmare began. In 1989, she learned that her estranged husband had been arrested in Germany for manufacturing and distributing ecstasy (MDMA). He mistakenly thought it was legal there at the time, but some of the ecstasy was traced to the US.

Amy helped her husband during his trial and early confinement. As a result, she became a target of the US government. "Federal agents promised that if I refused to help them gain the information against my husband, they would destroy my life. This they did." Friends and clients of her thriving company were intimidated by agents. They told people Amy was a drug dealer and associating with her would get them into trouble. Then, Amy was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit the crimes attributed to her husband and his co-defendants. They also accused her of money laundering.

Amy refused to plea bargain or 'cooperate' by fabricating information she didn't have. On top of that, her court-appointed attorney misled her about her rights and refused to present evidence or call witnesses she requested. The prosecutor had the trial moved to a Texas court which was reputed to have a 100% conviction rate. Her husband received a six year prison sentence in Germany and got out in four. Amy is still serving a 24-year sentence for his crimes.

"So much for keeping the streets free of criminals by demanding harsh mandatory minimums, because every single person who pled and was guilty in my case was handed their freedom in exchange for testimony," said Amy.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0963975447
• ISBN 13: 9780963975447
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar