Criminal Justice Policy Foundation


HOLIDAY FAST AND PRAYER FOR JUSTICE -- On December 22nd, Eric Sterling and the Crack the Disparity Coalition led a fast and prayer and circulated a petition for President Obama to show mercy and to commute unjustly long sentences – like every president before him. The event commemorated the 10-year anniversary of President Clinton’s commutation of Kemba Smith and Dorothy Gaines, two women sent to federal prison for 24 and 19 years, respectively, for playing peripheral roles in their boyfriends’ drug operations. On November 17th, Eric Sterling spoke at the Georgetown University Law Center chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy regarding drug policy and the U.S. Congress. On November 16th Eric Sterling spoke at "Confronting an Oxymoron: Taking Control of 'Controlled Substances,'" a panel discussion sponsored by the New York City Bar Association. On November 10th, The Drug War Chronicle quoted Eric Sterling in a feature article about likely prospects for drug policy reform in a new Republican-led House of Representative. On November 2nd, Eric Sterling spoke regarding U.S. drug policy to international leaders participating in the International Visitor Leadership Program, the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program. On October 27th, Eric Sterling spoke to students at George Washington University Law School regarding marijuana policy and Prop 19, California's Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act. On October 15th, Eric Sterling was quoted in the National Journal and the Atlantic regarding potential outcomes if Prop.19 passes and the Obama Administration subsequently seeks to overturn it in court. On October 6th Eric Sterling moderated a panel titled "The Potential Solutions," at a day-long Author's Symposium and Pavilion sponsored by the Open Society Institute and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. From October 4 - 6, Eric Sterling toured the campus of West Virginia University, speaking to students of anthropology and sociology, and to the local chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. He also spoke to several area Rotary clubs as a representative of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). WVU's student newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum, published an article about one of his talks. After several former DEA Administrators called for the Department of Justice to challenge Proposition 19, California's Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act in court, Eric Sterling posted an analysis on firedoglake, likening Prop. 19 to the legal and constitutional decision of the New York State Legislature to repeal its alcohol prohibition law in 1923. On September 9th, Newsweek quotes Eric Sterling in an article regarding claims made by opponents of Prop. 19, California's Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act. The article suggests that desire for additional tax revenue may trump scare tactics in the minds of voters. It also references a recent response by Sterling to the California Chamber of Commerce's misleading legal "analysis" of Prop. 19. Firedoglake reports on September 8th regarding Eric Sterling's response to LA County Sheriff Lee Baca's claim that medical marijuana dispensaries increase and attract crime. Baca is also contradicted by the conclusion of the LA Police Chief that "banks are more likely to get robbed than medical marijuana dispensaries." Professor Jesse Choper, Allen Hopper and Dr. Nora Volkow were among speakers at Marijuana Regulation: A Clash of State and Local Policy, a panel discussion held on August 7th at the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association. The Voluntary Committee of Lawyers hosted an event, Marijuana Legalization: Legal and Practical Issues in California, on August 6th to coincide with the Annual American Bar Association Meeting in San Francisco. At what age can an individual reasonably be expected to have the maturity to use marijuana? On August 3rd, Eric Sterling poses this question on Just Say Now, in a post titled "Happy Birthday President Obama - What Do You Say Now?." A project of Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Firedoglake, Just Say Now is a transpartisan coalition that aims to end marijuana prohibition. * * * * * On July 22nd the Houston Chronicle published "Law Would Give U.S. Tools to Punish Drug Barons" an op-ed by Eric Sterling regarding S. 1789. Known to be an important step in reducing the injustice of the 100-1 crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity, it also would substantially increase fines that can be ordered against large-scale drug traffickers. S. 1789 was approved by the Senate this spring and may be up for a vote in the House of Representatives very soon. On June 20th, Drug Truth Network posted several clips of Eric Sterling discussing drug policy with guest host Otis McLay. Topics covered include mandatory minimum sentences and their enactment, treatment scams, and the Obama Administration's current approach to drug policy. On June 17th Eric Sterling spoke on the topic "Protecting Treatment from the Criminal Justice System" at New Directions DC: A Public Health and Safety Approach to Drug Policy. The day-long event was held on Capitol Hill and sponsored by the Drug Policy Alliance, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, National Association of Social Workers, National Black Police Association and Physicians for Human Rights. On June 7th, Charles Shaw at openDemocracy posted an article about Eric Sterling's leadership in drug policy reform, along with The Failed Politics of Sentencing Reform, a paper Sterling released at "Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy and the 25th Anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act," an event hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus in June 2009. * * * * * On May 27th, as the United States Sentencing Commission heard expert testimony regarding federal mandatory minimum sentences, Eric Sterling was interviewed by Free Speech Radio News about the role of race in drug sentencing. In response to a May 18 Denver Post editorial Will feds allow state pot laws?, Eric Sterling wrote a letter to the editor published on May 20th, explaining that a key obstacle to implementing medical marijuana laws may be the new nominee for DEA adminstrator, Michele Leonhart. He suggests that senators should question her about this issue during confirmation hearings. * * * * * On Sunday, April 25, 2010, Eric Sterling spoke to the Peace and Social Justice Committee of the Bethesda Friends Meeting in the Sidwell Friends School about structural racism and American drug policy. In response to an April 19th Washington Post editorial about implementation of the District of Columbia's medical marijuana law, Eric Sterling wrote a letter to the editor that was published on April 26, 2010. Sterling argues that the key obstacle to implementation is federal drug law and the DEA and that the Senate Judiciary Committee should question the nominee for DEA administrator, Michelle Leonhardt, about her willingness to work with the growing number of states that have enacted medical marijuana laws. So far, her record in this area is one of marked resistence. On April 16 and 17, 2010, Eric Sterling met with doctors, researchers and patients at the 6th National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, sponsored by Patients Out of Time, in Warwick, Rhode Island. * * * * * On March 26, 2010, Eric Sterling spoke at the Annual Summit of the National African-American Drug Policy Coalition about innovative treatment for cocaine addiction. On March 20, 2010, Eric Sterling spoke on the panel, "From Colombia to Mexico: Better Approaches to an Inhumane Drug War," at the annual gathering called Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace and Justice in Arlington, VA. He discussed the necessity and techniques for members of the faith community to reach key partners in the community, such as business leaders, to accomplish their prophetic vision of peace and justice. On March 10, 2010, Eric Sterling spoke at the Institute for International Education in Washington D.C. to 18 top criminal justice officials from12 Francophone African nations who were guests of the U.S. Department of State. His topic was the U.S. criminal justice system and the U.S. Constitution. He arranged for a copy of the U.S. Constitution translated into French to be provided to each official and summarized the criminal justice features of the Constitution. He discussed the complex relationships between municipal, county, state and Federal criminal justice agencies; the problems of racism in the criminal justice system; and issues of drug prohibition and control. Julia Dahl quotes Eric Sterling in Pipe Dreams, a March 14th post on The Crime Report that is the first in a two-part series examining national trends in marijuana policy. Sterling notes that state legislators' support of marijuana legalization suggests the issue is moving into the mainstream. On March 13th and 14th Eric Sterling spoke at the National Conference of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. His panels were titled "Is the Drug War Racist?" and "Spirituality and Drug Reform: the moral questions and how to collaborate with university chaplains and the faith community." In mid-March, Eric Sterling submitted a statement to the Maryland General Assembly regarding H.B.712/S.B.627 An Act Concerning Public Health - Medical Marjiuana. * * * * * On February 23, 2010, Eric Sterling testified at a rescheduled hearing of the Washington, DC City Council Committees on Health and Public Safety and the Judiciary in support of B18-622, a bill that would amend the District of Columbia's medical marijuana law. On February 6, 2010, Eric Sterling and Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance appeared with David Evans and John Coleman here in the inaugural broadcast of Two Way Street, a PBS Series in which experts with opposing opinions discuss pressing issues. * * * * * On January 27, 2010, Eric Sterling testified before the Virginia House of Delegates on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) regarding medical marijuana and marijuana decriminalization bills in the State of Virginia. His testimony is available here and here. On January 20, 2010, CJPF co-sponsored an open forum on Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) organized by the Drug Policy Alliance and George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. Speakers included domestic and international research scientists and local policy makers. * * * * * Eric Sterling was the keynote speaker at the SSDP Northeast Regional Conference at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island on December 8, 2009. Here is a link to video clips of his remarks. On December 3, 2009, Eric Sterling spoke regarding the legalization of medical marijuana at a day-long conference of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy in Tucson, AZ. A copy of his prepared remarks is available here. * * * * * On October 28, 2009, Eric Sterling spoke before the Senate of Canada Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, regarding a proposed bill that provides for mandatory minimum sentences, drug treatment courts and other matters. Mr. Sterling's written statement (a "brief" in the terminology of the Parliament of Canada) can be found here. Eric Sterling's comment at a Cato Institute program on Oct. 1, 2009, on the problems of criminal law was picked up in a report on the forum. More News Below * * * * *

	Meth Resources	Visit our Methamphetamine Resources page that provides news, background, and analysis from CJPF President Eric E. Sterling.

	CJPF Media Clips	Listen background to Eric Sterling's powerful speech in Hartford, CT, on Oct 21, 2005. Watch him on PBS Frontline, 60 Minutes, and the dutch television program De Nieuwe Wereld.

	Crack-Cocaine Sentencing	Read our white paper on the crack cocaine sentencing disparity, Getting Justice Off Its Junk Food Diet. The white paper was cited during the U.S. Sentencing Commissions public hearing on cocaine sentencing policy (page 29-30).
	Crime Prevention	Safe City has produced a series of practical crime prevention manuals, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Justice and The Urban Institute.


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	* * * * * September 27, 2009 - featured in a short, original documentary about the crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity, Eric Sterling spoke at a panel following its DC debut. He argued that advocates must explain to the public how crack and other low-level drug prosecutions waste federal resources and direct authorities away from serious national security threats. September 23, 2009 - To help kick off the 2009 Legislative Weekend of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Eric Sterling and a panel of drug policy experts spoke at a DC screening of the ESPN documentary, Without Bias. Directed by Kirk Frasier, the award-winning film debunks one of the myths surrounding the death of Len Bias - that he died of crack cocaine overdose. In his remarks, Sterling debunked other myths, and critiqued existing efforts to reform crack-cocaine sentencing laws. Various news reports have characterized recent legal changes in Mexico simply as decriminalization. This fact sheet prepared by the Embassy of Mexico to the United States, however, notes that there are mandatory minimums for various distribution offenses -- stricter than the mandatory sentences that had been so controversial in Canada. Possession with intent to distribute any quantity carries a minimum of three years. Possession of any drug other than the specified 8 drugs is still a criminal offense. * * * * * On August 4th, Eric Sterling spoke at the National Bar Association Annual Convention regarding "What changes in drug policy and enforcement should the Obama Administration make?" Proposed policy changes emphasized the need to direct federal law enforcement resources toward the highest level cases, reduce collateral consequences of conviction, expand the availability of drug abuse treatment and improve drug prevention efforts. * * * * * On July 29th, the Washington Post published "Wasteful Drug Prosecutions" a letter in which Eric Sterling argues that federal resources must target international drug trafficking, not crack and other neighborhood drug cases that can be effectively managed by state authorities. At a July 9th hearing of the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime, Sterling offered a similar analysis in this statement. The July 24th edition of Drug War Chronicle extensively quotes Eric Sterling in a discussion of drug policy reform prospects in the Obama Administration and the 111th Congress. "Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy and the 25th Anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act." On July 24th, Eric Sterling joined judges Spencer Letts and Nancy Gertner on a panel discussion at this forum, sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus and Harvard Law School's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. A revised version of Sterling's remarks is available here. * * * * * In the June 20th edition of Newsweek Ellis Cose quotes Eric Sterling in a report on the Drug Abuse Act of 1986. As Cose notes, the law's mandatory minimum sentencing provisions aid international drug trafficking cartels by directed federal resources away from such essential targets. Cose suggests that repealing the crack-powder disparity could be one first step in acknowledging the need to reverse decades of failed drug control policy. On June 3rd, Canada.com published an account of the mandatory minimum bills moving forward in the Parliament of Canada. The article quotes Eric Sterling and describes some of the testimony he presented before the the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on May 11, 2009. In this newsletter MP Libby Davies updates her community about the matter, highlighting Sterling's contribution to the debate. Also on June 3rd, the Vancouver Sun published a similar article in which Eric Sterling calls mandatory minimum drug sentences "the essence of ineffectiveness" in the United States. On June 2, 2009, Eric E. Sterling was quoted by Foxnews.com regarding Clarence Aaron's prospects for a commutation of sentence from President Obama. You can find out more about Clarence Aaron here at PBS Frontline. * * * * * Ten years ago, there was a spike in violence in Mexico similar to the one we are seeing today. In December of 1999, the LA Times published “Legalize Drugs or Expect More Mass Graves,” an op-ed in which Eric Sterling called the phenomenon a “shocking, but not surprising” result of our country’s War on Drugs. As shown in this Anderson Cooper news clip, close-up photo of fresh plots, and articles by CNN and Reuters, we are now finding more mass graves. Another repeat issue is government corruption. In 1999 it was “not long ago” that a Mexican drug czar was arrested for working for cartels. Last November, the man who had been Mexico's top sitting anti-drug official from 2006 to August 2008 was arrested for accepting monthly bribes of $450,000. A former drug czar was arrested in January. Predictably, if we continue to adopt decades-old approaches, policies and assumptions, we will continue to see similar results. Drug trafficking, government corruption and drug abuse will continue to be cyclical issues, intractable and fraught with violence. It's time for an open, honest debate about drug control, with no potential solution off the table. On May 12, 2009 Debra Saunders reports again on the crack-powder sentencing disparity, relying on commentary from Eric Sterling to frame the issues. Eric Sterling was invited by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada to testify on May 11, 2009 regarding the bill C-15 which provides for mandatory minimum sentences, drug treatment courts and other matters. Mr. Sterling's written statement (a "brief" in the terminology of the Parliament of Canada) can be found here. On May 6, 2009, Courtland Milloy quoted Eric Sterling in a Washington Post column on the extreme disparities in the Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Milloy cites the 2007 Sentencing Commission finding that 81% of crack-related convictions were imposed against African Americans, who account for only 25% of users. He describes the incarceration rates as "ruthless," leaving many unable to buy homes, vote, or raise their children. * * * * * On April 29, 2009, columnist Neal Pierce of the Seattle Times quoted Eric Sterling in a piece advocated drug decriminalization as "sensible middle ground." Pierce notes success in Portugal, where drug use was decriminalized in 2001. April 28, 2009 - The leadership of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees received a letter organized by CJPF and signed by 258 scholars of criminal justice, criminology, sociology and law, urging repeal of the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. The provisions lead law enforcement agencies to focus on minor offenders and account for much of the increase in federal prison populations and the disproportionate rates of incarceration of people of color. April 21, 2009 - Eric E. Sterling was quoted in Courtland Milloy's column in the Washington Post. Malloy suggests that if we continue our failed drug policies in a depressed economic climate, an epidemic of hard drug use may emerge in 2012. * * * * * Eric Sterling was a featured speaker at the March 28, 2009 Connecticut statewide SSDP conference at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. Here is a link to a clip of some of his remarks. On March 15, 2009, Eric Sterling was quoted by Debra Saunders of the San Francisco Chronicle in a column discussing the violence in Mexico and the need for a new drug policy. On March 8, 2009, Eric Sterling was quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle article about the need to revisit cocaine sentencing guidelines. * * * * * Eric E. Sterling testified before a Montgomery County Council Budget Reduction Forum on February 3, 2009. Analyzing Maryland's 2007 Uniform Crime Report, Sterling identified a questionable feature of police resource allocation - large numbers of marijuana possession arrests, despite unsatisfactory rates of arrest for reported violent crimes. He suggests minor reform would reduce costs and enhance public safety without sacrificing public services. On January 31, 2009 Eric E. Sterling was quoted in a National Journal article on the Supreme Court case Abuelhawa v. United States. At issue is whether, using a decades-old law designed to target drug dealers, the federal government may charge individuals who are only purchasers with the felony of using a “communication facility” such as a cell phone, telephone, or the Internet, to facilitate the sale of drugs to themselves. NEWS ARCHIVES * * * * * If you like our work, please consider making a financial contribution to the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. Your tax deductible donation is greatly appreciated.

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