Before the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on Jeff Sessions’ nomination to be attorney general, senators should demand an explanation for the sudden bout of amnesia he had at his nomination hearing earlier this month.
When Sen. Patrick Leahy asked him about his past support for imposing mandatory death sentences on people twice convicted of dealing marijuana, Sessions smiled and claimed to have a foggy memory.
“Well, I’m not sure under what circumstances I said that,” he told the committee.
Perhaps this will refresh Sessions’ memory:
In 1996, when serving as Alabama’s attorney general, he promoted H.B. 242, S.B. 291, a state bill to establish mandatory death sentences for a second drug trafficking conviction, including for dealing marijuana. His support for the bill was reported at the time by several local newspapers, as well as The Alabama Lawyer, the Alabama State Bar’s official publication. The Alabama Lawyer described the bill as part of a legislative package that Sessions and then-Governor Fob James proposed to “fix a broken system.”
On Feb. 29, 1996, for example, The Huntsville Times reported that the proposed package of bills to fight crime by “ending parole, eliminating part of the appeals in death penalty cases, and executing people twice convicted of being drug kingpins” had drawn “praise from Attorney General Jeff Sessions.”
The drug bill was advertised as targeting “kingpins,” but to qualify for execution, the defendant merely needed to lead a group of five people and make the minimum wage in drug proceeds. Alabama’s minimum wage was US$4.25 per hour in 1996.
We teach and study death penalty law, but you didn’t need to be an expert to know that the bill to execute drug dealers would “never pass constitutional muster,” as The Huntsville Times then reported. That’s because by 1987, the Supreme Court had completely banned mandatory death sentences. The court ruled that the individual circumstances of the crime and defendant must always be considered. Furthermore, in 1977, the high court had held that even in cases of rape, the death penalty is “grossly disproportionate,” “excessive” and therefore unconstitutional.
Despite Sessions’ support, the Alabama bill never passed. Presumably, the Alabama legislature had a better understanding of wise policy and the Constitution than their attorney general did.
Making a broken system worse
At his nomination hearing, Sessions said that he currently does not support mandatory executions for drug trafficking. But the fact that he once supported it in direct violation of established constitutional law is deeply troubling, especially in light of his direct knowledge, as Alabama attorney general, of the prosecutorial misconduct, racial bias and systematically weak defense lawyering that permeated the state’s capital system. As the state’s top attorney between 1995 and 1997, Sessions sought to uphold more than 40 death sentences, even in the most questionable circumstances.
For example, Sessions knew that during trial, prosecutors had hidden DNA-related evidence from Larry Padgett that pointed to his innocence. Yet Sessions still tried to convince the Alabama Supreme Court to uphold Padgett’s death sentence. Thankfully, Sessions was unable to persuade Alabama’s highest court. Padgett was exonerated at his second trial.
Sessions also worked to uphold the death penalty against defendants who’d received grossly inadequate legal representation, such as Jimmy Lee Dill. At the guilt phase of Dill’s trial, his lawyers didn’t call a single witness. They thus failed to present evidence that the victim died due to improper medical care, more than nine months after Dill shot him during a drug deal gone awry. The attorneys also failed to submit mitigating evidence at sentencing, telling the judge that “we were just blank on submitting it.” Had they tried harder, the attorneys would have found powerful mitigating evidence: Dill was intellectually disabled and had been sexually abused as a child, according to Bryan Stevenson, the renowned public interest lawyer who took on his case a month before he was executed in 2009.
Dill was represented at trial by court-appointed lawyers whose compensation for out-of-court preparation was capped at $1,000 by Alabama law. This is very low pay given the time-intensive nature of capital defense work. A study of federal capital trials in the 1990s found that defense attorneys spent an average of 1,480 out-of-court hours preparing death penalty cases.
As Alabama attorney general, Sessions could have sought reforms to address the glaring flaws in his state’s capital system. Instead, he chose to promote policies such as executing small-time drug dealers, and reducing death penalty appeals in a state where judges were already overriding jury decisions against the death penalty.
Sessions’ purported forgetfulness at his nomination hearing can be explained in two ways.
One explanation is that he lied under oath and actually remembered supporting the bill. Indeed, Sessions also may have been reminded by a New York Times op-ed we published the day before his hearing, which highlighted his support for the bill.
Alternatively, President Trump’s pick for attorney general really did forget promoting the legislation. This possible explanation is perhaps more frightening: that Sessions couldn’t recall advocating to kill drug dealers would suggest that he didn’t give much thought to backing such an extreme and unlawful policy.
At the end of the day, we need an attorney general who is trustworthy, understands the demands of the Constitution and respects them, and has good judgment on criminal justice enforcement policy. The record of Jeff Sessions as Alabama’s attorney general and his current evasiveness about his prior support for a mandatory death penalty for marijuana dealers raises concerns on all these grounds.
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Showing posts with label marijuana prohibitionism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marijuana prohibitionism. Show all posts
Monday, January 30, 2017
Friday, May 9, 2014
Fight marijuana prohibition in Virginia
From NORML PAC:
Representative Jim Moran of Virginia's 8th congressional district is retiring. This is important news in the world of marijuana law reform because Representative Moran has been a long time ally in our fight for ending federal marijuana prohibition and reliably co-sponsored all of the various pieces of federal reform legislation that have been introduced over the years. While we wish Rep. Moran all the best after many years of dedicated service, we must now fight to ensure his successor is just as strongly in favor of marijuana law reforms as he was. In a crowded field of candidates, only one stands out as a true reform leader: state Senator Adam Ebbin.
That is why NORML PAC has endorsed Senator Ebbin in his campaign to be the next US Congressman from Virginia's 8th. While serving in the Virginia General Assembly, Adam Ebbin introduced marijuana decriminalization legislation and called for ending the egregious, racially disparate marijuana arrests in the commonwealth. Senator Ebbin has publicly called for the legalization of marijuana noting that "marijuana is less harmful than liquor" and that some of the worst racial disparities in marijuana arrests occur right in the 8th congressional district. In Arlington County, African Americans make up just over 8% of the population, but account for over 50% of all marijuana arrests. Senator Ebbin has taken a stand in favor of ending this discriminatory policy while serving in the state legislature and would be a great champion for our cause in Washington, DC.
SEND A MARIJUANA LAW REFORM CHAMPION TO CONGRESS
NORML PAC is standing with Senator Ebbin and doing all we can to send him to Washington, DC to fight for reform at the federal level. Will you stand with us? This will be a highly competitive election and every dollar helps print campaign literature, fuel get out the vote efforts, and put Senator Ebbin's message before as many voters as possible before the June 10th primary. We can't afford to lose one of our reliable supporters in Congress, it is imperative we elect Senator Adam Ebbin as Jim Moran's successor, not just for Virginia, but for the state of reform nationwide.
Contribute $20, $50, $100 or whatever you can afford to Ebbin for Congress and together we can send a true marijuana law reform leader to Washington, DC.
We need to support candidates who support us.
CLICK HERE TO STAND WITH NORML PAC AND SENATOR EBBIN.
NOTE: The NORML PAC is the political arm of NORML that permits us to provide campaign contributions to office holders and candidates for public office who support NORML-friendly public policy and legislation.
Representative Jim Moran of Virginia's 8th congressional district is retiring. This is important news in the world of marijuana law reform because Representative Moran has been a long time ally in our fight for ending federal marijuana prohibition and reliably co-sponsored all of the various pieces of federal reform legislation that have been introduced over the years. While we wish Rep. Moran all the best after many years of dedicated service, we must now fight to ensure his successor is just as strongly in favor of marijuana law reforms as he was. In a crowded field of candidates, only one stands out as a true reform leader: state Senator Adam Ebbin.
That is why NORML PAC has endorsed Senator Ebbin in his campaign to be the next US Congressman from Virginia's 8th. While serving in the Virginia General Assembly, Adam Ebbin introduced marijuana decriminalization legislation and called for ending the egregious, racially disparate marijuana arrests in the commonwealth. Senator Ebbin has publicly called for the legalization of marijuana noting that "marijuana is less harmful than liquor" and that some of the worst racial disparities in marijuana arrests occur right in the 8th congressional district. In Arlington County, African Americans make up just over 8% of the population, but account for over 50% of all marijuana arrests. Senator Ebbin has taken a stand in favor of ending this discriminatory policy while serving in the state legislature and would be a great champion for our cause in Washington, DC.
SEND A MARIJUANA LAW REFORM CHAMPION TO CONGRESS
NORML PAC is standing with Senator Ebbin and doing all we can to send him to Washington, DC to fight for reform at the federal level. Will you stand with us? This will be a highly competitive election and every dollar helps print campaign literature, fuel get out the vote efforts, and put Senator Ebbin's message before as many voters as possible before the June 10th primary. We can't afford to lose one of our reliable supporters in Congress, it is imperative we elect Senator Adam Ebbin as Jim Moran's successor, not just for Virginia, but for the state of reform nationwide.
Contribute $20, $50, $100 or whatever you can afford to Ebbin for Congress and together we can send a true marijuana law reform leader to Washington, DC.
We need to support candidates who support us.
CLICK HERE TO STAND WITH NORML PAC AND SENATOR EBBIN.
NOTE: The NORML PAC is the political arm of NORML that permits us to provide campaign contributions to office holders and candidates for public office who support NORML-friendly public policy and legislation.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Say no to pot prohibitionist Ron Nehring
Anti-Pot Rhetoric Out of Step With California Voters
Steven Greenhut | March 21, 2014
SACRAMENTO — As the state Republican Party searched for new ways to reach California’s young and independent-oriented electorate during its weekend convention outside of San Francisco, its main lieutenant governor candidate has chosen to run on an increasingly unpopular issue: opposing the decriminalization of marijuana.
At a press conference on Saturday, former party chairman Ron Nehring of San Diego argued that the advancing movement to decriminalize pot is endangering children: “Anyone who thinks that this is only going to be limited to adults needs to put the crack pipe down because that is simply not reality.”
Nehring seeks support from voters who don’t like Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s support for marijuana decriminalization. Oddly for a GOP convention, Nehring praised Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who recently suggested that a stoned populace is bad for the state’s economy as he criticized legalization efforts similar to those in Washington and Colorado.
Nehring said he favors the approach taken by a group called Project SAM. Its “Smart Approaches to Marijuana” are short on specifics, but are mainly about keeping marijuana illegal. In a Huffington Post article last April, Nehring even criticized the use of medical marijuana, which has been legal in California since Prop. 215’s passage in 1996.
He’s got an uphill battle, not just with his candidacy but in gaining traction for this issue. A December Field poll found that most California voters, by a 56 percent to 39 percent margin, favor a proposed marijuana-legalization initiative, with opposition coming mainly from Republicans and self-identified conservatives. Voter preferences can change as campaigns heat up, of course, but attitudes are shifting in the legalization direction over time.
Supporters of legalization say it’s better to regulate it than to fight a drug war. Despite what the governor said at a district attorneys’ event in 2010, marijuana legalization will not help the Mexican cartels. The last thing drug lords want is legal competition.
In his Huffington Post piece, Newsom argued that “Californians must renew our push for common-sense marijuana policy by developing a state level regulatory system and lead the national effort to end draconian laws that favor incarceration over education.” But the latest effort to develop such a system is sponsored by the police chiefs’ association and the California League of Cities – two groups that are trying to clamp down on dispensaries. Authored by Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), SB 1262 would give state authorities the power to license those facilities that sell medical pot, but it would also make it harder for patients to get doctor recommendations to buy it.
This seems counterproductive given fiscal realities. The state’s prison system is so overcrowded that officials are releasing inmates who have committed serious crimes. Cities are cutting their public-safety budgets as pension costs consume more dollars. One would think that police chiefs and city-government advocates would have other priorities.
Pot foes complain that it’s too easy for anyone to get a marijuana “card” for medical uses and that such drugs are harmful to kids for recreational uses. Legalization supporters say the question is not whether marijuana is good or bad, but whether maintaining a prohibition is a wise use of resources. Legalizing a substance does not necessarily mean that it will be more widely used, as Portugal’s drug-decriminalization efforts suggest.
Both sides of the debate insist that they want to downplay incarceration and focus on drug treatment, which might be a good place for a little common ground. But sensible solutions will no doubt get lost in a statewide political campaign where voters can expect sound-bites and hit mailers about crack pipes and potheads.
In 1983, conservative icon William F. Buckley argued that “The anti-marijuana campaign is a cancerous tissue of lies, undermining law enforcement, aggravating the drug problem, depriving the sick of needed help, and suckering well-intentioned conservatives and countless frightened parents.” On the political level, not much has changed after three decades. But voters seem to be moving beyond the scare tactics.
Source
Prohibitionism is a bad position as I have pointed out before. With medical marijuana or legal dispensaries money goes out of the pockets of organized crime which deprives them of a source of revenue. I don't usually endorse Democrats but on this one I have to. The Republican challenger is bringing up the bad old days of police raids and organized crime getting rich again. The War on Marijuana is a failure. The people have spoken and our elected leaders are duty bound to obey the will of the people.
Steven Greenhut | March 21, 2014
SACRAMENTO — As the state Republican Party searched for new ways to reach California’s young and independent-oriented electorate during its weekend convention outside of San Francisco, its main lieutenant governor candidate has chosen to run on an increasingly unpopular issue: opposing the decriminalization of marijuana.
At a press conference on Saturday, former party chairman Ron Nehring of San Diego argued that the advancing movement to decriminalize pot is endangering children: “Anyone who thinks that this is only going to be limited to adults needs to put the crack pipe down because that is simply not reality.”
Nehring seeks support from voters who don’t like Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s support for marijuana decriminalization. Oddly for a GOP convention, Nehring praised Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who recently suggested that a stoned populace is bad for the state’s economy as he criticized legalization efforts similar to those in Washington and Colorado.
Nehring said he favors the approach taken by a group called Project SAM. Its “Smart Approaches to Marijuana” are short on specifics, but are mainly about keeping marijuana illegal. In a Huffington Post article last April, Nehring even criticized the use of medical marijuana, which has been legal in California since Prop. 215’s passage in 1996.
He’s got an uphill battle, not just with his candidacy but in gaining traction for this issue. A December Field poll found that most California voters, by a 56 percent to 39 percent margin, favor a proposed marijuana-legalization initiative, with opposition coming mainly from Republicans and self-identified conservatives. Voter preferences can change as campaigns heat up, of course, but attitudes are shifting in the legalization direction over time.
Supporters of legalization say it’s better to regulate it than to fight a drug war. Despite what the governor said at a district attorneys’ event in 2010, marijuana legalization will not help the Mexican cartels. The last thing drug lords want is legal competition.
In his Huffington Post piece, Newsom argued that “Californians must renew our push for common-sense marijuana policy by developing a state level regulatory system and lead the national effort to end draconian laws that favor incarceration over education.” But the latest effort to develop such a system is sponsored by the police chiefs’ association and the California League of Cities – two groups that are trying to clamp down on dispensaries. Authored by Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), SB 1262 would give state authorities the power to license those facilities that sell medical pot, but it would also make it harder for patients to get doctor recommendations to buy it.
This seems counterproductive given fiscal realities. The state’s prison system is so overcrowded that officials are releasing inmates who have committed serious crimes. Cities are cutting their public-safety budgets as pension costs consume more dollars. One would think that police chiefs and city-government advocates would have other priorities.
Pot foes complain that it’s too easy for anyone to get a marijuana “card” for medical uses and that such drugs are harmful to kids for recreational uses. Legalization supporters say the question is not whether marijuana is good or bad, but whether maintaining a prohibition is a wise use of resources. Legalizing a substance does not necessarily mean that it will be more widely used, as Portugal’s drug-decriminalization efforts suggest.
Both sides of the debate insist that they want to downplay incarceration and focus on drug treatment, which might be a good place for a little common ground. But sensible solutions will no doubt get lost in a statewide political campaign where voters can expect sound-bites and hit mailers about crack pipes and potheads.
In 1983, conservative icon William F. Buckley argued that “The anti-marijuana campaign is a cancerous tissue of lies, undermining law enforcement, aggravating the drug problem, depriving the sick of needed help, and suckering well-intentioned conservatives and countless frightened parents.” On the political level, not much has changed after three decades. But voters seem to be moving beyond the scare tactics.
Source
Prohibitionism is a bad position as I have pointed out before. With medical marijuana or legal dispensaries money goes out of the pockets of organized crime which deprives them of a source of revenue. I don't usually endorse Democrats but on this one I have to. The Republican challenger is bringing up the bad old days of police raids and organized crime getting rich again. The War on Marijuana is a failure. The people have spoken and our elected leaders are duty bound to obey the will of the people.
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