Saturday, September 24, 2005

Reader's Digest takes on mandatory minimums The historically conservative Reader's Digest comes through with Petty Crime, Outrageous Punishment by Carl M. Cannon. The article goes after the three-strikes law, but includes a lot more mandatory minimum madness, including this amazing story: A Florida welfare mom, Clyburn accompanied her boyfriend to a pawnshop to sell his .22-caliber pistol. She provided her ID because her boyfriend didn't bring his own, and the couple got $30 for the gun. But Clyburn had a previous criminal record for minor drug charges, and when federal authorities ran a routine check of the pawnshop's records, they produced a "hit" -- a felon in possession of a firearm. That's automatically 15 years in federal prison, which is exactly what Clyburn got. "I never even held the gun," she noted in an interview from prison. No one is more appalled than H. Jay Stevens, the former federal public defender from the middle district of Florida. "Everybody I've described this case to says, "This can't have happened." [But] it's happening five days a week all over this country." This one made me smile a little: Several years ago, a prominent Congressman, Rep. Dan Rostenkowski of Illinois, was sent to prison on mail-fraud charges. It was only then that he learned what he'd been voting for all those years when anticrime legislation came up and he cast the safe "aye" vote. Rostenkowski told of being stunned at how many young, low-level drug offenders were doing 15- and 20- year stretches in federal prison. "The waste of these lives is a loss to the entire community," Rostenkowski said. "I was swept along by the rhetoric about getting tough on crime. Frankly, I lacked both expertise and perspective on these issues." So true. All our elected leaders lack the expertise and perspective... Perhaps we could help them out by giving them all some jail time. 8:54:10 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Seize This! You may recall that Boulder City Attorney Dave Olsen wants to seize the home of 56-year-old Cynthia Warren for her misdemeanor charge of growing 6 marijuana plants (see here and here). The editorials in the papers have been slamming Olsen. At the time, several commenters here noted that Dave Olsen pled no contest to a misdemeanor drunk driving charge in 2004. Well that also didn't escape the notice of Steve Sebelius in this scathing article in the Las Vegas City Life. [...]And you know what? I agree with [Olsen], wholeheartedly. We must seize the property of those who put children in danger, and we must do it now. So that's why we've got to immediately seize Dave Olsen's motorcycle. You see, in 2004, Olsen pled no contest to drunken driving, a crime that surely has taken more lives than marijuana ever will. Anti-DUI advocates are fond of saying that, with a drunken driver at the controls, a vehicle is a weapon, surely one more dangerous than Cynthia Warren's house. Call the Boulder City police, and get the Henderson SWAT team for backup. There could be a standoff. The problem with Olsen is not just that he's a hypocrite -- although he surely is -- it's that he's also not telling the truth. [...] It's great to see this strong a response in the media. Outrage barely covers it: Regardless of what the law says, Olsen is engaging in an act of theft. Warren committed a crime, and was punished for committing a crime. Olsen's exacting a punishment for something Warren never did in the eyes of the law, making wild and untrue claims in the process. He should drop this case immediately, and if he doesn't, Boulder City fathers should find the courage to order him to stop. In the meantime, will somebody look at seizing that motorcycle? I think we'd all feel safer if they did. 8:38:11 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []