cannabisnews.com: House Committee To Consider Draconian Sentencing

House Committee To Consider Draconian Sentencing
Posted by CN Staff on September 22, 2004 at 16:56:45 PT
For Immediate Release
Source: Common Dreams
Washington -- Despite growing opposition to long mandatory minimum prison terms, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security will consider imposing new, even more draconian mandatory minimums on nonviolent drug offenders on Thursday, Sept. 23, in 2141 Rayburn HOB at 9:00 a.m.Strong opposition to the measure is expected. On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) joined a group of religious leaders at a Capitol Hill press conference urging repeal of existing mandatory minimums.
Waters promised energetic backing for the effort, which has been endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Council of Churches, United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), Episcopal Church, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Union for Reform Judaism, Church of the Brethren Witness, United Church of Christ, and Unitarian Universalist Association.H.R. 4547, sponsored by U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) would provide radical new mandatory minimums for a variety of nonviolent drug offenses. "This bill would effectively impose a five year mandatory minimum for anyone distributing any amount of a controlled substance in an urban area -- even medical marijuana dispensaries supported by local authorities," said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "A 21-year-old who sells a few joints to his 17-year-old brother would face a mandatory ten years in federal prison for the first offense. Such cruel penalties will help nobody."The case of Weldon H. Angelos of Salt Lake City, Utah, has sparked new controversy over mandatory minimums. Angelos faces a minimum of 55 years in federal prison for selling marijuana to uncover officers -- in part because he carried a gun at the time, even though it was never used and Angelos was not accused of any violent acts. During a Sept. 14 hearing on the case, U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell compared the sentence faced by Angelos with the sentences assigned under federal law for violent crimes: 25 years for hijacking an airplane, 20 years for a terrorist bombing intended to kill a bystander, 13 years for second-degree murder, and 11 years for rape of a 10-year-old child, asking, "Is there a rational basis for giving Mr. Angelos more time than the hijacker, the murderer, the rapist and so on?"In April 2003 congressional testimony, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy said, "Mandatory minimums are harsh and, in many cases, unjust."Complete Title: House Committee To Consider Draconian Sentencing Bill Thursday Contact: Marijuana Policy Project -- http://www.mpp.org/Bruce Mirken 202-543-7972 or 415-668-6403 Source: Common Dreams (ME)Published: September 22, 2004Copyright: 2004 Common DreamsContact: editor commondreams.org Website: http://www.commondreams.org/Related Articles & Web Site:FAMMhttp://www.famm.org/Long Term in Drug Case Fuels Debate http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19474.shtmlLawyers: End Mandatory Sentenceshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19048.shtmlJudge: Federal Sentencing Unconstitutional http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19045.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help

Comment #27 posted by ekim on September 24, 2004 at 05:10:37 PT
does Kerry support more Mandatory Sentencing
C-Span just had a caller that said Mr. Kerry was to be in WI. for the next four days until the debate.
I hope that he will be asked by the good people of WI. how he stands on this issue and how many new prisons will be needed for this new Mandatory Law.
http://www.aammi.org
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #26 posted by Hope on September 23, 2004 at 20:52:03 PT
Safe Access to Drug Treatment & Child Protection
The Safe Access to Drug Treatment & Child Protection Act of 2004. What a fine sounding title! The devil is in the details though...for sure.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #25 posted by Dankhank on September 23, 2004 at 20:43:14 PT
FOM, Cat and Singing
You're welcome, I know songs that make me sad, happy, angry, helpless, determined ...You're very welcome ...Peace to you and to all who resist ...
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #24 posted by afterburner on September 23, 2004 at 20:25:49 PT
Take Action with California NORML's Letter Service
' Action Alert

' Dangerous New Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Bill' Ask Your Representative To Oppose The Safe Access to Drug Treatment & Child Protection Act of 2004

' Read about this bill
http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/bills/?bill=6045876&alertid=6045881
' H.R. 4547, "The Safe Access to Drug Treatment & Child Protection Act of 2004" would dramatically increase mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses. Under the proposed legislation, sponsored by House Judiciary Chair James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), any person age 21 or over who attempts or conspires to offer marijuana to someone younger than 18 years old shall face a mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison. The mandatory penalty for a subsequent violation of the statute is life in prison. ' Defendants found to have distributed marijuana near a drug treatment facility, or who have offered pot to someone who is currently or has been previously enrolled in drug treatment program, would receive a mandatory prison sentence of five years to life under the proposal. ' Representative Sensenbrenner's proposed expansion of mandatory minimum sentencing comes at the same time that delegates of the 400,000-member American Bar Association are considering recommendations to abolish the statutes. The ABA recently released a report concluding, "There is no need for mandatory minimum sentences in a guided sentencing system." Authors wrote that mandatory minimum sentences shift sentencing discretion away from courts to prosecutors, have an adverse effect on minority defendants, and "are inconstant with the notion that sentences should consider all of the relevant circumstances of an offense and offender." They blamed the enactment of mandatory minimum statutes for the dramatic rise in the American prison population, noting that "in the 1980s and 1990s the majority of new prisoners were nonviolent." ' The United States incarcerates its residents at a rate of "roughly five to eight times higher than the countries of Western Europe, and twelve times higher than Japan," the report found. ' Please write your member of Congress today and urge them to oppose H.R. 4547. '
--California NORML http://www.canorml.org/Home > Take Action > What Can I Do? > Contact Officials Enter your zip code to personalize the message to *your* Representative and add any text you feel would help persuade him/her.

[ Post Comment ]

Comment #23 posted by FoM on September 23, 2004 at 20:09:24 PT
Dankhank
Wow. I'm watching the DVD and he is singing Father and Son and it's making me sad. Thank you for what you said.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #22 posted by Dankhank on September 23, 2004 at 19:52:36 PT
What did we do to them?
We have supported Israel since it's formation, not a bad thing , really, to the tune of multibillions every year.We have never really tried to improve the lot of the Palestinian people. If we had sent Brown and Root in 1950 or so to build some water/sewer treatment plants, some water infrastructure, some decent housing, some good schools, and taught them to maintain and improve how different this world would be.Instead we let the Israelis dictate policy, creating the most god-forsaken places we want the Palestinians to live.If I was a Palestinian I'd be pissed, too. Seeing the degradation that was my land. I wouldn't care if you wore jeans, I'd wonder why the Israelis were so much better in the eyes of the US.I'd wonder why I had to live that way while Israel was so much better.I's be pissed at the rest of the Arabs, too. They had a hand in this mess. Politics. Anathma to the good order and maintenance of human relationships.Pissed, royally pissed ....
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #21 posted by afterburner on September 23, 2004 at 19:43:08 PT
dr slider, "it's only just begun"
now, every day is just like 12.31.1999"Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999." --Prince"You gotta' fight for your right to party." --Beastie Boys http://www.beastiemania.com/lyrics/index.php?l=fight
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #20 posted by dr slider on September 23, 2004 at 11:16:08 PT:
it's only just begun
On c-span last night, a deputy to Ashcroft showed up ( in lieu of J.A. himself who ,it seems, cannot be concerned with congressional oversight) to trump the Patriot Act. At every turn he pointed out that the American people gave up the rights violated by "sneek-n-peek" warrants et. al. over 30 years ago with the creation of the modern "drug war". The repub. on the senate panel seemed astounded with moves to restrict such tactics in the "terror war" repeatedly "asking" the question (in a high, whiney, sarcastic tone) "Why would we do that?" When he finally the "answered" the deputy shark said;"That's a fair statement." As Jon S. would say...Whaaaaa?This new push for draconian mandatory min.s is proof positive that we no longer live in a representative democracy. One does not have to tax the brain to realize which "constituants" these congressmen truly represent.The repubs control all but the judiciary. For more years of Bush's appointments will make the changes from 2000-04 (now, every day is just like 12.31.1999, always waiting for the hammer to fall) seem inconsequential.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #19 posted by afterburner on September 23, 2004 at 09:52:49 PT
Over-Control vs. Freedom
"It is nonsense that we should be devoting so many law-enforcement resources to marijuana. I am skeptical of a society that is so tolerant of alcohol and cigarettes should come down so hard on marijuana use and send people to prison for life without parole."
- US Federal Judge Richard Posner - "The cure for evil and disorder is more liberty, not suppression. "
- Alexander Berkman -
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #18 posted by E_Johnson on September 23, 2004 at 08:17:43 PT
I think it's broader than that VitaminT
"The appropriate and effective approach to fighting terror lay in carefully studying the history of the middle east and understanding the role we have played there and how that role has contributed to where we are today.
"I disagree with the idea that the entire world revolves around America and what America does. I think there are things going on inside the Middle East that are about how those people choose to treat one another. They do not choose to treat one another very well, and they haven't made the choice to treat one another well for a very long time. That cannot be blamed on America. And all the American self-loathing in the world won't fix that or make it better.What did I do to offend them? Basically, I vote, I wear jeans, I drive. That makes some of those terrorists go crazy right there.I'm not going to change that to stop offending them.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #17 posted by dongenero on September 23, 2004 at 07:50:44 PT
let them hear you
I suggest writing Sensenbrenner about this ridiculous proposal and while you're at it, copy your House Representative on the message. Here's mine.......Dear Representative Sensenbrenner,I respectfully question the "sense" of promoting laws for mandatory minimum sentencing under any circumstances. Our great nation already has by far the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world. Is it due to the fact that we somehow have more violent criminal activity in the U.S.? I don't believe so. It is because we are building an industrial prison complex based on incarcerating our own citizens. Admit it or not, the facts bear it out. Often for non-violent, victimless "crimes".Specifically related to drug laws as is your Bill, allow me to present this case:The case of Weldon H. Angelos of Salt Lake City, Utah, has sparked new controversy over mandatory minimums. Angelos faces a minimum of 55 years in federal prison for selling marijuana to uncover officers -- in part because he carried a gun at the time, even though it was never used and Angelos was not accused of any violent acts. During a Sept. 14 hearing on the case, U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell compared the sentence faced by Angelos with the sentences assigned under federal law for violent crimes: 25 years for hijacking an airplane, 20 years for a terrorist bombing intended to kill a bystander, 13 years for second-degree murder, and 11 years for rape of a 10-year-old child, asking, "Is there a rational basis for giving Mr. Angelos more time than the hijacker, the murderer, the rapist and so on?"I feel that your proposal is terribly misguided and that the system of mandatory minimum sentences in is need of immediate reform.
Why should we not allow our judicial system to work as designed? These issues of sentencing should not be pre-determined in a cookie cutter fashion. It undermines critical thought and whatever fairness is intended in our judicial system.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #16 posted by billos on September 23, 2004 at 07:23:38 PT
VitimanT....
yes, the point was focused on effort. HOW the war on terror is won is another issue.
I agree with you whole heartedly; the war on terror cannot be won with a brute military front.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #15 posted by siege on September 23, 2004 at 07:18:51 PT
war
Bush's war on terror don't put money in pocket's only a fue get it.
The war on drugs puts money in all of there pocket's and keeps his goon squad working so they can take form the citizens
[ majority ] is an easy grab. When will the citizens stop this MADNESS. when it gets to the point of the North and sough. that will be a bad state of afares THEN, is this what they are looking for, so they can test there new Weapons on there own people to show rest of the world how bad there are, so the take over will be easy for them.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #14 posted by VitaminT on September 23, 2004 at 07:17:34 PT
I disagree billos
As with every non-military objective that the government attempts to achieve by declaring war, the War on Terrorism will become an endless failure just like the War on Drugs and the all but forgotten failed War on Poverty.The appropriate and effective approach to fighting terror lay in carefully studying the history of the middle east and understanding the role we have played there and how that role has contributed to where we are today.One thing's for sure, we're not going to stop terrorists by mass military adventure. Not even were we to bomb every cave on the planet because the "enemy" doesn't conform to any identifiable mode of operation. They shift gears with great stealth much like drug smuggling operations.Getting off our high horse and behaving responsibly in the world is our only path to resolution.Of course your point is well taken: If we concentrated as much effort on terrorists as we do on the drug war we'd definitely improve our chances. The question then becomes will we use our power with intelligence, or will we just become another well funded bull in world's china shop?
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #13 posted by billos on September 23, 2004 at 06:48:32 PT
Does anyone else agree..................
that if the bush put half the effort into the war on terror that he does into the war on drugs we would win the war on terror hands down in much less time?
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #12 posted by global_warming on September 23, 2004 at 06:34:11 PT
NJ Update
There is a bill going through the legislature today having to do with needle exchange..on the local radio talk show, you should have heard the drug warriors calling in, they were all in lockstep in perfect cadence,they even brought up that most dreaded name "SOROS" and how he is undermining the "war On Drugs-People"..
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #11 posted by Dark Star on September 23, 2004 at 04:04:17 PT
The Future
In Dubya's second term, there will be only three available jobs: burger flipper, Walmart slave, and prison guard. The rest will be enemies of the state.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on September 23, 2004 at 03:57:05 PT:
"Desperation Tactics", indeed
It's been mentioned here very often that there is a kind of social pendulum at work in American society, and those who have held the pendulum from swinging back for the last 20 years know they can't hold it back any longer.So what do they do? Try to insert as much of their agenda into law as they can, knowing that bad laws are very easy to create, and very hard to destroy once enacted.So, yes, laws like this are bound to be suggested by the die-hard fascists. Just like dogs, they have to mark leave their mark on 'their' territory...by legislatively doing to the country what Fido does to fire hydrants.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #9 posted by billos on September 23, 2004 at 03:15:40 PT
This push by the antis........................
has been in the making a long while. I hear stories now about how they build new prisons and then let them sit idle because they cannot afford to get them up and running.
This is serious stuff however if Bush gets another 4 I feel this will be the least of our problems.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #8 posted by Hope on September 22, 2004 at 22:06:24 PT
Medicinal Toker Comment #5
Medicinal Toker...I noticed that, too, and wondered the same thing.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #7 posted by breeze on September 22, 2004 at 21:52:30 PT
just one LAST thing...
So, it seems that following politics is a nasty enterprise. Simply because the people who make these descisions are VOTED into office.Being wary of who is voted into office is the ONLY way to win points for decriminalization- or even eroding the laws at hand that harm others.To ignore who has their platform, and where their ideals place them on this issue is like the blind leading the blind. To stand back and watch this happen to others is something that many- MANY, people privately laugh about. If the leaders of the decriminalization of marijuana movement cannot see this, then may be there should not be leaders- maybe we should all become sheep without a sheperd, while the wolves rip so many apart.This article should CLEARLY demonstrate the ideals that cannabis in all its many forms are indeed to be dealt with by leaders who attain power by being voted into office by the people.To vote these people (and like mentality) out of office is the only way to gain ground.So, I suppose I am out of line. Speaking about how politics DIRECTLY influence laws, and those laws are passed by PEOPLE who were candidates for their position long before they got the job- by being elected.Being what I am, a BLACK SHEEP, I guess then I have only one thing to say.BAAAAaaaaa....BAAAAAaaaa... BAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa.......
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #6 posted by siege on September 22, 2004 at 20:59:53 PT
misguided
This poor misguided sole had best get his nose out of Bush's backside be for he takes a deep breathe and suffocate, witch
mite not be a bad idea. The Constitution of the United States was established to protect the sovereign right of citizens� to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Inherent in the structure of the federal government was a system of checks and balances to assure that a minority would not be positioned to force their will upon a majority.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #5 posted by medicinal toker on September 22, 2004 at 20:07:18 PT
whaaaaa?
Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. said, "A 21-year-old who sells a few joints to his 17-year-old brother would face a mandatory ten years in federal prison for the first offense. Such cruel penalties will help nobody."[snip]How ironic he would put it that way. Isn't that basically what MPP's Nevada propossal does?
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #4 posted by ekim on September 22, 2004 at 19:34:38 PT
C-Span not allowing Med Cannabis calls to get in
C-Span had a Rep Miller from CA on today announcing the New Dem Plan for middle America. Helping on Med issues and Schools and Jobs.
I called and was asked by the screener of C-Span what my question was. to which I replied yesterday Montel Williams spent the whole hour talking about Med Marijuana and how it helps him. I said that I would like to know from the Rep if Med Use of Marijuana would be one of the aspects of this new Dem effort, as CA was one of the first States to vote for Med Use of Marijuana.
I was put on hold and was listening on line for a while them was just cut off. I guess the lesson is do not tell the screener your question is about Med Cannabis.
http://www.leap.cc/events
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #3 posted by RasAric on September 22, 2004 at 18:04:28 PT
Time to raise the idea
...of recall/impeachment for any governing official in support of these Draconian measures.If you haven't seen Metropolis please do. If you thought 1984 was a scary vision before its time this will likely have a similar impression. Only thing is it was a silent movie made in the '20's.I have NO doubt that the NEO-CON(artists)have a similar, yet modernized plan for us."W"ar Criminal"W"eapons of mass destruction"W"orld of pain and suffering
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #2 posted by mayan on September 22, 2004 at 17:57:10 PT
Contact Sensenbrenner!
http://www.house.gov/sensenbrenner/contact.htm2449 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-4905 Telephone: (202) 225-5101His e-mail address is sensenbrenner mail.house.gov
His site says, "If you contact me through e-mail, please include your postal mailing address and phone number." We have to let this idiot hear it!!!
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #1 posted by mayan on September 22, 2004 at 17:50:02 PT
Aimed At MMJ?
H.R. 4547, sponsored by U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) would provide radical new mandatory minimums for a variety of nonviolent drug offenses. "This bill would effectively impose a five year mandatory minimum for anyone distributing any amount of a controlled substance in an urban area -- even medical marijuana dispensaries supported by local authorities," said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C.Is this just a desperation tactic to suppress medical cannabis? These prohibitionists must be terribly deperate to go to such unpopular,extreme measures! We must be getting very,very close! The way out is the way in...Political Deception - The Missing Link behind 9/11:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO206A.htmlFBI Whistleblower Challenges Government's Excessive Classification of Inspector General Report:
http://www.septembereleventh.org/newsarchive/2004-09-22-excessive.php9/11 - The Great Conspiracy:
http://www.greatconspiracy.ca/9/11 Truth Radio:
http://www.911truthradio.com/
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment