Tuesday, December 5, 2006

And the momentum just doesn't stop -- now the AP Another convert to the Kathryn Johnston story -- the Associated Press. This is pretty amazing for the AP! Atlanta police give few details for 'no knocks' Atlanta police often offer only cursory details when asking judges for so-called "no-knock" warrants that allow them to burst into homes unannounced, like the one used when an elderly woman was killed in a shootout with plainclothes officers as they stormed her home, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. [...] An AP review of all no-knock warrants filed in Atlanta's Fulton County this year found that authorities often give scant detail when applying for the warrants, which are typically used to search for drugs and weapons. [...] "One of the problems we have in the country are that lower-level judges who issue search warrants are notorious for being rubber stamps," said Donald E. Wilkes Jr., a University of Georgia law professor who studies the practice. "This is compounded by the fact that police tend to use these boilerplate allegations for no-knock search warrants." Use of the warrants has ramped up as the war on drugs has intensified, said Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore police officer who teaches police studies at New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "The problem is that you do get cases where police bust down the wrong door and people die," he said. "And to me, it's not worth it. I don't really care if they flush the drugs down the toilet. I don't care if drugs are destroyed. So what? It's not like the drug war is being won." [...] The NAACP is now calling for the establishment of a civilian review board with subpoena powers. On Sunday, the Rev. Al Sharpton called for a congressional inquiry into incidents like Johnston's and the fatal police shooting on Nov. 25 of 23-year-old groom-to-be Sean Bell in New York. Wow! And while they should have credited Radley Balko somewhere in there, I'm also impressed with the fact that they were able to get experts to speak out without even needing him. This is powerful stuff. And it could give some politicians cover. Even more reason to start asking questions of your local city council or your newspaper as to what safeguards are in place in your community. 6:13:39 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

Glenn Greenwald on the 'House of Death' Glenn Greenwald's Unclaimed Territory has picked up the 'House of Death' story big time with In the other "war" -- more of the same. Glenn's been a strong opponent of the drug war (he even let me co-post there once) and his blog is extremely important -- sort of the voice of the rationally outraged liberal. He gives the issue a scathing treatment (and read the comments -- it seemed to uniformly outrage his intelligent readers as well). Perhaps with his chiming in, the story will get the additional attention and scrutiny that it deserves. 6:05:29 PM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []

More 'Legalize it' articles Sheldon Richman in the Times Gazette (Ohio): Time for government to end the drug war. Vin Suprynowicz in the Las Vegas Review Journal: Hate to say I told you so, but keep those Kevlar jammies handy Over the decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has heard many cases stemming from police violence against Americans justified by the so-called "War on Drugs." Never once have the justices seized the opportunity to rule -- as they are obliged to rule by their oaths of office -- "Oh, and by the way, your so-called 'War on Drugs' is totally unconstitutional under the Ninth Amendment. So cut it out." [Thanks, Russell] This isn't exactly an article... There was a rather ignorant opinion piece in the Red and Black (University of Georgia paper) a few days ago saying that the police were right in the Kathryn Johnston case. Today there are two outstanding letters in response: one by Journalism student Dave Marck, Jr. and one by LEAP speaker Allison Myrden. Read them here. And by the way, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has published an OpEd by Radley Balko. Nice. Update: More at Grits for Breakfast. See the series at the Lone Star Iconoclast. Also check out the Operation Trick or Treat post. 9:21:27 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []