End Mass Criminalization of Black and Brown Youth (89)
The DEA has failed to eradicate marijuana. Some members of Congress want it to stop trying.
Written by Christopher Ingraham | The Washington Post
The Drug Enforcement Administration is not having a great year.
The chief of the agency stepped down in April under a cloud of scandal. The acting administrator since then has courted ridicule for saying pot is "probably not" as dangerous as heroin, and more recently he provoked 100,000 petition-signers and seven members of Congress to call for his head after he called medical marijuana "a joke."
Virginia ramps up its war on pot — and the arrests show a disturbing racial divide
Written by Christopher Ingraham | The Washington Post
As states across the country are relaxing their marijuana laws and federal lawmakers consider doing the same, at least one state is bucking the trend and ramping up its war on pot. Marijuana arrests in Virginia have increased dramatically over the past decade, according to a new report from the Drug Policy Alliance, a group that advocates for drug policy reform. And black Virginians account for the overwhelming majority of this increase, causing the racial disparity in the state's marijuana arrests to widen.
More protests in Minneapolis over police shooting of Jamar Clark
Written by Al lJazeera Staff | Al Jazeera America
Image of police at protest pointing weapon at son of congressman Keith Ellison goes viral
Justice-Reform Bills Reflect Move Away From Mass Incarceration
Written by Lauren Victoria Burke | The Root
After years of Americans being locked up in historic numbers, bipartisan wheels in Congress are turning toward reform.
600 churches publish resolution calling for end of drug prohibition in U.S.
Written by Walter Einenkel | DailyKos
The New England Conference of United Methodist Churches voted this past Saturday on a resolution declaring that the Christian thing to do is end the failed War on Drugs, in part by ending the prohibition on drugs in our country.
The Sex-Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline: How Girls of Color Are Unjustly Arrested and Incarcerated
Written by Malika Saada Saar | The Root
Black and brown girls are first victimized and then punished, often in connection with sexual violence that has been perpetrated against them.
One of the Boldest Cannabis Initiatives in History is Taking Place Right Now in Mississippi
Written by Stephen Bradley | Southern Cannabis
Two Mississippi cannabis reform organizations have joined forces to end marijuana prohibition in their state, and if successful will pull off one of the most comprehensive pieces of citizen-generated legislation dealing with cannabis that we have seen yet. Proposition 48 is a ballot initiative that would not only legalize both medical and recreational marijuana in Mississippi but industrial hemp production as well. Additionally, Prop 48 calls on the Mississippi Governor to pardon all persons convicted of non-violent marijuana crimes.
More Drug War History in the Making: The U.S. House Votes to Weaken the DEA and Support Medical Pot
Written by Phillip Smith | AlterNet
A series of votes on the Justice Department appropriations bill attempt to rein in the rogue agency.
40 Reasons Why Our Jails are Full of Black Brown and Poor People
Written by Bill Quigley | The Huffington Post
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reports 2.2 million people are in our nation's jails and prisons and another 4.5 million people are on probation or parole in the U.S., totaling 6.8 million people, one of every 35 adults. We are far and away the world leader in putting our own people in jail. Most of the people inside are poor and Black. Here are 40 reasons why.
Chicago Police Put Antlers on Black Man and Posed for Pictures
Written by Juan Thompson | The Intercept
The photo shows two white Chicago Police officers posing with an unidentified black man. The officers — Timothy McDermott and Jerome Finnigan — are holding rifles as the black man lies on the floor with a dazed look on his face and with antlers on his head as if he were a prized, big buck finally hunted down.
More...
America cannot lock its poor in debtor's prisons to fund its police departments
Written by Corinna Regnier The Guardian
Ray Charles Staten Sr. should have celebrated his 60th birthday this month. Instead, his family marked the fourth anniversary of his death. It all started, according to a lawsuit that settled in March 2015, when a small debt became a death sentence in the spring of 2011.
New Literature Tackles Big Questions on Mass Incarceration
Written by James Kilgore | Truthout
The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America, Naomi Murakawa, Oxford University Press, 2014
Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era, Dan Berger, University of North Carolina Press, 2014
Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics, Marie Gottschalk, Princeton University Press, 2014
A Costly American Hatred, Joe Dole, Midnight Express Books, 2015
Law school dean: If you help Freddie Gray protesters in Baltimore, you can defer an exam
Written by Susan Svrluga | The Washington Post
The dean of the law school at the University of the District of Columbia urged students to take part in protests in Baltimore, even offering to defer an exam for those who help people on the street with legal advice.
Playing Tough: Baltimore's So-Called Justice System Takes Revenge On Those Questioning Its So-Called Justice
Written by Abby Zimet | Common Dreams
Ruthlessly wielding its power over those who dared to take to the streets to challenge it, Baltimore judges and other law enforcement officials have come down insanely hard on protesters, suspending habeus corpus to prolong holding uncharged suspects, setting wildly excessive bail amounts - $500,000 for the 18-year-old kid widely seen smashing the state in the form of a cop car, and disappearing at least one peaceful activist, on live TV yet - abuses that in fact help shine a spotlight on the venal, broken system that sparked it all.