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It’s as if everything the drug war touches is corrupted or destroyed. The U.S. child foster care system is no exception.
From 2000 to 2011, researchers estimate one third of children in the U.S. were subject to a child neglect or abuse investigation — including more than 50 percent of Black children, according to a groundbreaking report…researcher Lisa Sangoi of the Movement for Family Power…exposes the foster system as rife with drug war attitudes and state violence. […]
The number of children taken from their parents and placed in foster care has risen in recent years, most often for “neglect” and “drug use,” although critics say child protective services (CPS) agencies often conflate drug use and neglect…In 2017, 83 percent investigations into alleged child maltreatment were closed after no evidence of mistreatment was found. […]
In 2014, the foster system allocated nearly three time as much money on removing and maintaining children outside of their original homes than on services aimed at keeping families together… a significant portion of the cases in family courts allege parental neglect based on drug use. Data varies across the country, but by some estimates, about 80 percent all foster system cases involve drug use at some point in the life of the case…. While these cases range from occasional cannabis use to debilitating substance use disorders, parents and their advocates agree that virtually every case is characterized by “gross misinformation” on the science of drug use…. The system also conflates treatment noncompliance with bad parenting, even as parents are attempting to juggle time-consuming [drug] treatment programs with making money and taking care of their kids.
“The judge stated I had been utilizing poor coping mechanisms because I discussed the potential of buying marijuana … and that justified removing my children from my care and removing me from home and making me homeless,” Brico said.
The racist myth that Black and Brown mothers were giving birth to drug-addicted “crack babies” has been thoroughly debunked, but at the time, the term was thrown around recklessly by pundits and lawmakers eager to blame poor people for the conditions of their poverty. Researchers now know that prenatal exposure to cocaine, has little to no effect on a child’s long-term physical and cognitive development. The same goes for cannabis, which some pregnant people use to treat morning sickness. Research shows that the stresses and harms of poverty, however, can have a tremendous impact on child development. […]
Myth-busting common drug stereotypes would likely have succeeded whereas drug-busting failed to preserve the lives of citizens like George Floyd who died because of a myth that says Black men on drugs are violent and require physical restraint. Many others are cut down in some way by botched or racist drug enforcement that seeks to cure poverty by eliminating the impoverished.
[cross-posted from Facebook]
A friend of mine recently posted: “I wish Breonna Taylor got as much attention as Aunt Jemima.” Absolutely. I love the enthusiasm across the board, but I do hope there can be enough focus on actually accomplishing some major reforms to the criminal justice system while people are interested and motivated to effect change.
And no, what has been proposed by the President is not it. As Radley Balko said: “The highlights of Trump’s police reform plan: 1) Addressing the system’s inability to hold bad cops accountable by setting up a database of bad cops whom the system has held accountable. 2) Banning chokeholds, except when cops decide they need to use one. 3) LAWANDORDER”
Here are a few things that I would support (certainly not an exclusive list):
- End Qualified Immunity (as it exists now). As originally intentioned in the 1967 Supreme Court ruling, the doctrine was intended to prevent nuisance suits. Qualified immunity prevented suing a police officer for violating rights unless those rights were clearly established and would reasonably be known. As it currently stands and is bizarrely being interpreted by the courts (in the last 15 years or so), plaintiffs must prove that there exists a prior court determination made in actual litigation under facts extremely close to those of the case at hand, or else the case is dismissed (It’s the “how could I possibly have known that having a dog attack a suspect who is sitting on the ground with his hands up is a violation of his rights, since in the prior case, the suspect was lying down?” defense). Yes, that’s an actual example (Baxter v. Bracy). This makes it almost impossible to sue regardless of how egregious the behavior. The Supreme Court has just chosen not to visit this, so it needs to be done through legislation. This is an area that has some bi-partisan support (tri-partisan, actually, with Amash co-sponsoring a bill in the House). Short of eliminating qualified immunity, I’d accept a significant adjustment to the doctrine that prevents trivial lawsuits while not assuming all police officers to be ignorant of the rights of citizens.
- End the drug war. Treat drug abuse like a medical and social problem (which is what it is) and not a criminal problem. Plenty of other countries are doing much better than we are with drugs because they’ve taken it out of the criminal justice system (we don’t have to invent something new – good models already exist). At the very least, legalize marijuana at the federal level, eliminate all drug task forces, and remove all financial incentives (asset forfeiture, etc.) that end up prioritizing drug policing over other kinds of policing.
- Related to 2, eliminate the DEA. It has become a violent rogue federal law enforcement agency that is rife with corruption and abuse of power, and regularly undermines local authority when it comes to policing. If not eliminated, re-purpose the organization to focusing on making sure federal pharmaceutical supply chains needed for medical purposes are not disrupted.
- Also related to 2, end the use of SWAT-style approaches (including all dynamic entry) except as originally intended (hostage situations). The explosion of serving warrants using SWAT-style approaches has made policing much more life-threatening for both citizens and police. There are other ways to safely serve warrants (no more Breonna Taylors, please!).
- End the militarization of police forces. Small-town police forces don’t need tanks, and images of soldiers in the street do not promote peaceful problem-solving.
- Accountability. This is probably the most challenging. A lack of accountability breeds a lack of respect. And when one player fails to protect and serve (and yet stay on the force), it damages all (the bad apple spoils the barrel). Trust is impossible when there is undiscerning blue fandom, unwillingness to turn in those who betray the trust, and an inability to permanently weed out those who need to be in another profession. This is going to require changing internal culture and the role of the unions, as well as developing better independent oversight.
- Work to dramatically reduce prison populations. End any agreements with private prisons that contractually require a certain percentage of cells filled (quotas). Release non-violent drug war prisoners. Change laws to end the practice of piling on sentences for low-level non-violent criminals. Use incarceration savings to fund transition programs, and work to re-enfranchise released prisoners.
- Related to 7, we must stop evaluating District Attorneys by how many people they incarcerated and for how long, but rather how they most efficiently used the resources of the judicial system to make us safe. Not quantity, but quality.
For me, that would be a good start. What would you add?
Force Against Protesters Was Necessary Because Of… Drug Traffickers, Feds Assert
The supposed presence of “drug trafficking organizations” at protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death justified the use of “escalated force” at the demonstrations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection claimed in a memo revealed Wednesday.
There’s not any evidence to back up that claim in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by Yahoo News.
Nonetheless, at the top of an incident report dated Tuesday, the Homeland Security agency said that “due to nefarious actors and drug trafficking organizations using these protests as façades, there have been incidents where law enforcement (LE) officials have needed to respond with nonlethal and escalated force — incidents including the use of pepper spray, riot shields, and rubber bullets.”
The claim came two days after the Justice Department signed off on a Drug Enforcement Administration plan to act as federal law enforcement at the protests outside of the agency’s usual narcotics activities.
Maybe I’m getting old, but it makes me just a little bit cranky to see everybody on Facebook finally “discovering” that our criminal justice system is broken.
SMH
For an agency that has always looked at the world as a nail.
The DEA Has Been Given Permission To Investigate People Protesting George Floyd’s Death
The Drug Enforcement Administration has been granted sweeping new authority to “conduct covert surveillance” and collect intelligence on people participating in protests over the police killing of George Floyd according to a two-page memorandum obtained by BuzzFeed News. […]
Attorney General William Barr issued a statement Saturday following a night of widespread and at times violent protests in which he blamed, without providing evidence, “anarchistic and far left extremists, using Antifa-like tactics,” for the unrest. He said the FBI, DEA, US Marshals, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives would be “deployed to support local efforts to enforce federal law.”
I really hate this, but it may be time to remind people of my Drug War Victims page.
A study headed by Elizabeth O’Connor, PhD, at the Kaiser Permanente Evidence-based Practice Center in Portland, Oregon, has bad news for drug counselors and the youth-focused drug prevention industry:
26-MAY-2020–Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has concluded that current evidence is insufficient to make a recommendation regarding primary care-based behavioral counseling interventions to prevent illicit drug use (including nonmedical use of prescription drugs) in children, adolescents and young adults. The USPSTF routinely makes recommendations about the effectiveness of preventive care services and this recommendation is consistent with its 2014 statement, although it now includes young adults ages 18-25. Illicit drug use, defined as the use of substances (not including alcohol or tobacco products) that are illegally obtained or involve nonmedical use of prescription medications, contributes to the leading causes of death among young people ages 10-24. […]
Further conclusions and relevance:
…The evidence for behavioral counseling interventions to prevent initiation of illicit and nonmedical drug use among adolescents and young adults was inconsistent and imprecise, with some interventions associated with reduction in use and others associated with no benefit or increased use. Health, social, and legal outcomes were sparsely reported, and few showed improvements.
A thorough investigation of the efficacy of drug prevention has long been overdue.
There’s an old Guitherism:
The entire philosophy behind SWAT-style drug raids is that the death of a mother, a child, or the family pet is an acceptable risk to prevent flushing.
I spent years railing about the drug-war exception to the 4th Amendment, and so I tend to still perk up when I hear discussions about it.
So this headline caught my attention: Why a Toilet Flush Is Chief Justice John Roberts’ Worst Nightmare Come True
Ah, finally, a critical 4th amendment case?
No, merely the sound of a toilet flushing in the midst of online oral arguments.
Naturally, this hit pretty much every news outlet.
Grow up.
Tom Angell points out one of those incredible “how far we’ve come” indicators…
Coronavirus Crisis Shows Marijuana Is ‘Essential’ And Mainstream
In state after state, governors and public health officials are deeming cannabis businesses “essential” operations that can stay open amid coronavirus-related forced closures and stay-at-home mandates. People might not be able to go bowling or see a movie in theaters, but they can still stock up on marijuana.
It wasn’t long ago that anyone growing and selling marijuana faced the risk of being arrested, prosecuted and jailed. But now, in the era of expanding legalization, cannabis providers in many states are held up as vital members of the community who are providing a valuable service on par with picking up prescription drugs at a pharmacy or filling up your car at a gas station.
Could any of us even have imagined that 15-20 years ago?
Hey gang, I know I haven’t been posting here (thanks so much to Servetus for keeping the site active!) Retirement is a different game, and I’ve been hard at work recovering from my shattered leg two years ago.
Some of you may have extra time during these next few weeks due to virus-related closings and self-quarantine. So what are your favorite drug-related movies and music to watch/listen to while quarantined? Let’s get some fun threads going in comments.
I’ll start off with my all-time favorite that has been a go-to for me since I was in college in the 1970s — Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”
Side note: I just returned from a week in New York leading a student group, seeing Broadway plays. Unfortunately, Broadway shut down the day we were to see our last show — the first preview of “Flying Over Sunset” at Lincoln Center Theatre. It’s a musical(!) about Clare Boothe Luce, Aldous Huxley, and Carey Grant on LSD. And it has tap-dancing. The concept blows my mind and I really wish we could have seen it!
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