Steve Gotzler ----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com> To: "lbo-talk" <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2005 10:28 AM Subject: [lbo-talk] turn in your brother or go to jail!
> <http://www.alternet.org/story/22048>
>
> Spy vs. Spy
> By Bill Piper, AlterNet. Posted May 18, 2005.
>
> Proposed legislation would compel people to spy on their family members
> and neighbors, forcing all Americans to become foot soldiers in the war on
> drugs.
>
> Neighbors spying on neighbors? Mothers forced to turn in their sons or
> daughters? These are images straight out of George Orwell's 1984, or a
> remote totalitarian state. We don't associate them with the land of the
> free and the home of the brave, but that doesn't mean they couldn't happen
> here. A senior congressman, James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), is working
> quietly but efficiently to turn the entire United States population into
> informants--by force.
>
> Sensenbrenner, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman, has introduced
> legislation that would essentially draft every American into the war on
> drugs. H.R. 1528, cynically named "Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child
> Protection Act," would compel people to spy on their family members and
> neighbors, and even go undercover and wear a wire if needed. If a person
> resisted, he or she would face mandatory incarceration.
>
> Here's how the "spy" section of the legislation works: If you "witness"
> certain drug offenses taking place or "learn" about them, you must report
> the offenses to law enforcement within 24 hours and provide "full
> assistance in the investigation, apprehension and prosecution" of the
> people involved. Failure to do so would be a crime punishable by a
> mandatory minimum two-year prison sentence, and a maximum sentence of 10
> years.
>
> Here are some examples of offenses you would have to report to police
> within 24 hours:
>
> * You find out that your brother, who has children, recently bought a
> small amount of marijuana to share with his wife; * You discover that your
> son gave his college roommate a marijuana joint; * You learn that your
> daughter asked her boyfriend to find her some drugs, even though they're
> both in treatment.
>
> In each of these cases you would have to report the relative to the police
> within 24 hours. Taking time to talk to your relative about treatment
> instead of calling the police immediately could land you in jail.
>
> In addition to turning family member against family member, the
> legislation could also put many Americans in danger by forcing them to go
> undercover to gain evidence against strangers.
>
> Even if the language that forces every American to become a de facto law
> enforcement agent is taken out, the bill would still impose draconian
> sentences on college students, mothers, people in drug treatment and
> others with substance abuse problems. If enacted, this bill will destroy
> lives, break up families, and waste millions of taxpayer dollars.
>
> Despite growing opposition to mandatory minimum sentences from civil
> rights groups to U.S. Supreme Court Justices, the bill eliminates federal
> judges' ability to give sentences below the minimum recommended by federal
> sentencing guidelines. This creates a mandatory minimum sentence for all
> federal offenses, drug-related or not.
>
> H.R. 1528 also establishes new draconian penalties for a variety of
> non-violent drug offenses, including:
>
> * Five years for anyone who passes a marijuana joint at a party to someone
> who, at some point in his or her life, has been in drug treatment;
> * Ten years for mothers with substance abuse problems who commit certain
> drug offenses at home (even if their children are not at home at the
> time);
> * Five years for any person with substance abuse problems who begs a
> friend in drug treatment to find them some drugs.
>
> These sentences would put non-violent drug offenders behind bars for as
> long as rapists, and they include none of the drug treatment touted in the
> bill's name.
>
> At a time when everyone from the conservative American Enterprise
> Institute to the liberal Sentencing Project is slamming the war on drugs
> as an abject failure, Sensenbrenner is trying to escalate it, and to force
> all Americans to become its foot soldiers. Instead of enacting new
> mandatory minimums, federal policymakers should look toward the states. A
> growing number have reformed their drug sentencing laws, including
> Arizona, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, New York and
> Texas, and they have proved it is possible to both save money and improve
> public safety.
>
> Simply put, there is no way H.R. 1528 can be fixed. The only policy
> proposal in recent years that comes close to being as totalitarian as this
> bill is Operations TIPS, the Ashcroft initiative that would have
> encouraged -- but not required -- citizens to spy on one another. Congress
> rightfully rejected that initiative and they should do the same with H.R.
> 1528. Big Brother has no business here in America.
>
> Bill Piper is director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance.
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