[lbo-talk] turn in your brother or go to jail!

Steven Gotzler Steve at Gotzler.org
Sat May 21 14:46:29 PDT 2005


Sensenbrenner had a pretty close call last election. The next one will be a rematch. He is not polling all that well, and his district is getting more Democratic because of demographic shift in the South end of the district. He is probably planning playing the tough on crime card for his election in order to get out the white suburbanites.

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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>
>
>



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