"Helen Clark, the head of the United Nations Development Program, has publicly slammed global strategies to combat drugs, claiming there is increasing evidence that 'the war on drugs' has failed. The former prime minister of New Zealand urged Latin American leaders to develop new policies to tackle drugs, which she says should be addressed as a public health problem rather than criminalized." Continue reading →
"Today the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston said it will not appeal a ruling that blocked the federal government's attempt to seize and sell a family-owned motel in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, based on drug offenses committed by a tiny fraction of the people who stayed there. The government conceded that the owner, Russell Caswell, did not participate in those crimes and was not aware of them at the time, but it argued that he was 'willfully blind' to them." Continue reading →
"California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday called on politicians to be honest about legalizing marijuana, claiming many lawmakers and officials secretly opposed the drug’s outlaw status. He noted that drug prohibition had been particularly harmful to racial minorities, who are imprisoned at a disproportionately high rate for drug offenses. Newsom opposed Proposition 19 in 2010, which would have legalized the recreational use of marijuana in California. Last December, however, he declared he no longer supported the prohibition of cannabis." Continue reading →
"In nine states you can be jailed and your driver's license suspended for 'DUI' even if you were not in the least bit high. THC is the chemical compound in marijuana that makes you high, but there are others as well that have no such effect. These latter chemicals can remain in your bloodstream for a month or so after smoking a single joint. Nine states now have laws that if such chemicals are detected by the police, then you can be jailed and fined and have your driver's license suspended, even if you are not accused of driving 'under the influence' of alcohol or any other substance. Call it revenge of the drug warriors over the inevitable national legalization of pot." Continue reading →
"Tennessee lawmakers are prepared to consider a major overhaul of laws that allow police to take cash off of drivers to fund their agencies. Rep. Barrett Rich's bill would completely outlaw the practice known as civil asset forfeiture. That practice allows police to take people's cash or property without charging them with a crime. A New Jersey man had $22,000 cash taken from him during a traffic stop. An officer took George Reby's money based on his suspicion that it might be drug money. The Monterey police officer had a judge to sign off on the seizure in a secret hearing, but he never told the judge about Reby's side of the story." Continue reading →
"Even if the cops 'respond within minutes,' it’s too late. They responded within minutes at Sandy Hook. They responded within minutes in Aurora, Colorado. Ten minutes is too long. Two minutes is too long. If you are unarmed, two minutes after you are attacked by a violent criminal, you’re dead. Do the math. If the cops do arrive at your home or place where you are attacked before you’ve been killed, your problems might just be beginning. As Will Grigg reminds us, the first priority for police responding to a 911 call is 'officer safety.' More often than not, the officer attempts to secure his or her own safety at the expense of yours." Continue reading →
"Prosecutors in New Jersey have a long history of abuse, playing by their own rules, and (of course) always getting away with their dishonest actions, since the courts for the most part have covered for the worst of the bunch. However, it seems that the state's prosecutors have been a bit too successful in their relentless pursuit of gun owners, as an appeals court in New Jersey has ruled that retired prosecutors are 'not entitled the same concealed carry permits afforded retired law enforcement officers.'" Continue reading →
"New York City police have been ordered to run criminal background checks on domestic abuse victims, The New York Post reported on Friday. According to a March 5 memo obtained by the newspaper, Chief of Detectives Phil Pulaski has directed detectives to run background checks on both the accuser and the alleged perpetrator in domestic violence cases. If victims are found to have outstanding warrants, police are ordered to arrest them. The new policy is already drawing criticism from victims’ advocates." Continue reading →
"The parents of a British-born man killed by a US drone strike after being stripped of his UK citizenship have spoken out for the first time – to say they will never forgive the British Government for his death. Mohamed Sakr was born and brought up in London before he was targeted and killed in February 2012 in Somalia. Now his Egyptian-born parents Gamal and Eman Sakr, who have lived in Britain for 35 years, have accused ministers of betraying this country's democratic values. The couple said they believe their son was left vulnerable to the attack after the Government stripped him of his British citizenship months before he was killed." Continue reading →
"William Leonard, who was entrusted with ensuring proper treatment of state secrets by government agencies in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said that over the past decade both the Obama and the previous Bush administrations had manipulated their classification authority to create new executive powers without congressional oversight or judicial review. Leonard, the former head of the Information Security Oversight Office from 2002 to 2007, said that what was at stake was 'the abuse of the very form of government we are operating under, as unilateral executive powers go unchallenged.'" Continue reading →