Odds and Ends (and open thread)

“bullet” Alex at Drug Law Blog has a very interesting post (inspired by a discussion in comments here at Drug WarRant): Civil Disobedience, the War on Drugs, and Fiorello LaGuardia.
Where’s our Fiorello LaGuardia?
“bullet” From Jerry Large of the Seattle Times (and picked up elsewhere): Rescuing drug war’s prisoners

The crack we’re addicted to is an over-reliance on police and prisons, which, among other things, perpetuates America’s racial divide.

“bullet” Jerry Large also has this piece:

Politicians are beginning to realize something’s broken, too.
Voters need to support them. Let them know we no longer think looking beyond easy answers is being soft on crime.

“bullet” The ramifications of militarizing the drug war in Mexico are starting to surface. The Chicago Tribune reported:

Officials say most of the complaints statewide involve soldiers entering homes without warrants and illegally detaining residents without probable cause. […]
“We need to take a few steps back and ask ourselves if a society like Mexico wants its military occupying the plazas, the city halls,” Sierra said. “In the long term, I don’t think it is healthy for a democracy.”

“bullet” Looks like things may not be going so well for the feds in the Ed Rosenthal trial
“bullet” When police departments depend on seizure money for their operations…