DPA Ally Fall 08

8/14/2019 DPA Ally Fall 08

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Historic Effort to Register Eligible

Voters in Alabama PrisonsEncounters Partisan Opposition

gabriel sayegh, Director, StateOrganizing and Policy Project

This Election Day, people in everypart of the country lost theiropportunity to cast a ballot. Votersuppression tactics and dirty tricksaside, many currently and formerlyincarcerated Americans simply arentaware that they are eligible to vote.

Widespread misconceptions alsokeep eligible potential voters bothin and out of prison from eventrying to register.

In Alabama, DPA helped assert theconstitutionally protected votingrights of Alabama prisoners, manyof them behind bars for simple druglaw violations. Our work with TheOrdinary Peoples Society (TOPS), anonpartisan Alabama organization,grabbed national headlines andcontributed to the broader strugglefor more democracy and greaterrepresentation during this historicelection cycle.

Alabama does not bar all people withfelony convictions from voting, onlythose convicted of crimes involvingan ill-defined moral turpitude.Thus, under Alabamas Constitution,the right to vote of people convictedof nonviolent, low-level drug crimes

is protected. However, most of the

estimated 10,000 people in the

Alabama criminal justice system forlow-level drug law violations havenever been informed that they retainthe right to cast a vote. Even oncethey find out that they are eligible,these drug war victims in prison andon and off parole have no easy accessto the ballot box.

In September, DPA began workingwith TOPS to repair the democraticprocess with a groundbreakingvoter registration project. The effort

was spearheaded by our close ally,Rev. Kenneth Glasgow, an advocatefor inmate and felon voting rightsand co-founding executive directorof TOPS.

To remedy this egregious example ofhow the drug war undermines ourdemocracy, TOPS went into prisonsto register voters this fall. Focusingon people serving time on drugpossession charges, DPA and TOPScontacted nearly 500 prisoners andregistered almost 200 at whichpoint the Department of Corrections(DOC) stopped our work, reportedlybecause they had received a letterfrom the Alabama RepublicanParty asserting vague fears of voterregistration fraud.

Rev. Glasgow, working with theNAACP Legal Defense Fund, filed alawsuit challenging the DOC. The

Actress and musician Jada Pinkett Smith

(with Executive Director Ethan

Nadelmann) came out to show her

support for the drug policy reformmovement at a fundraiser for the

Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act

(Proposition 5 on Californias November

ballot) held in Southern California in

October.

AllyFall 2008

Volume 8, Number 2

www.drugpolicy.org

Fighting for Voting Rights inAlabama Prisons

Inside This Issue

In Good Company

Rethinking Reform: California Rejects

Historic Sentencing Reform

DPA Members Bring Drug Policy

Reform to Online Communities

Absinthe Event Raises Consciousness,

Glasses to End of One Prohibition

You and NYs Top Artists Help Raise

$130,000 for DPA at Art Auction

DPA Releases New Drug Abuse

Prevention Video for Teens

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Allythe6 Fall 2008 www.drugpolicy.org

New York Convenes

Historic Assembly

Committee Hearings

DPA has played a leading role overthe past decade in efforts to reformNew Yorks draconian RockefellerDrug Laws. Now were expandingour message and advocacy to incor-porate this work into a broadercampaign to treat drug addictionprimarily as a health rather thancriminal issue in state law and policy.In the spring, DPA and our alliesprompted the New York StateAssembly to hold two unprecedentedhearings to consider just that. Thehearings coincided with the 35thanniversary of the enactment of NewYorks draconian Rockefeller DrugLaws. Under the disastrous laws,New York has had one of the highestracial disparities in the nation.

The hearings were conducted jointlyby six Assembly Committees threefrom the field of criminal justice(Codes, Corrections, and Judiciary),

and three from public health (Health,Alcoholism and Drug Addiction, andSocial Services). DPA worked withour allies to bring together an arrayof stakeholders to discuss andexplore what a coordinated publichealth approach to drug policywould look like. As a follow up tothe Assembly hearings, in January2009, DPA and the New YorkAcademy of Medicine will co-host atwo-day conference to developdetailed proposals on the issue.

San Diego Demonstrators

Call for Overdose

Prevention

In May, a Drug EnforcementAdministration (DEA) drug sting atSan Diego State University (SDSU) inCalifornia grabbed national head-lines. Nearly 100 students werearrested on a variety of drug charges,including possession and sales. In jus-tifying the college sting operation, theDEA cited a students overdose in2007 and touted their raid as a sig-nificant victory in the drug war amodel for other campuses to follow.Working closely with our allies atStudents for Sensible Drug Policy(SSDP), DPA responded by calling onSDSU to enact a life-saving GoodSamaritan immunity policy in forceat dozens of U.S. universities thatwould encourage more students tocall for help during a drug overdoseemergency.

Many of you joined with us andother students, parents and drug poli-

cy reformers in responding swiftly byorganizing a demonstration the nextday to call attention to the need formore effective and sensible responsesto overdose and drug abuse. Thedemonstration, led by SSDP, was amock graduation for the 75 studentswho were arrested and the two SDSUstudents who recently died of pre-ventable drug overdoses, one ofwhich led to the DEA investigation.

U.S. Conference of MayorsUnanimously Passes DPA

Resolution in Miami

In June, the U.S. Conference ofMayors (USCM) unanimously adopt-ed a resolution supporting policiesthat could save thousands of lives bypreventing and reversing fatal drugoverdoses. Santa Fe Mayor DavidCoss sponsored the resolution,researched and drafted by DPA. Drug

overdose is an unrecognized nationalcrisis. It is the second leading causeof accidental death in the U.S. afterauto collisions. Many overdosedeaths occur because witnesses waitto call 911, or dont call at all, forfear of arrest or police involvement.

At the 76th USCM Annual Meetingin Miami, Florida, our resolutionset forth a comprehensive strategyto reduce death and injury fromoverdose. Because most overdosesoccur in the presence of witnesses,the resolution supports local pro-grams that distribute naloxone anasal spray that temporarily restoresbreathing following a heroin over-dose directly to drug users, theirfriends, families and communities.

The resolution urges state govern-ments to adopt emergency GoodSamaritan immunity policies, like theDPA-championed law recently passed

in New Mexico, that would shieldfrom prosecution people who areexperiencing or witness an accidentalor intentional drug overdose andcontact 911. DPA is working to passsimilar, life-saving legislation inCalifornia, Illinois, Maryland, NewYork, New Jersey, Rhode Island andWashington.

Since We Last Spoke:Updates from Around the Nation

Following these raids, its very likely that SDSU students will

actually be less likely to call for help if someone is experiencing

an overdose, for fear of prosecution.

Deputy State Director for Southern California

Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, a San Diego native


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New Jersey MedicalMarijuana Hearings

Produce Passionate

Testimony

If you or someone you love wereseriously ill and none of the availablemedications relieved the suffering orimproved quality of life, wouldntyou want access to medical marijua-na if your doctor recommended it?

Overwhelmingly, most respondents inNew Jersey answer yes to thisquestion. A recent survey from ThePolling Company found 86 percentsupport access to medical marijuana.DPA New Jersey scored a victory forcompassionate drug policy when theNJ Assemblys Health and SeniorServices Committee held informa-tional hearings on the CompassionateUse Medical Marijuana Act in May.

Numerous organizations from DPA

New Jerseys Compassionate UseCampaign coalition testified in favorof the legislation including the New

Jersey Academy of Family Physicians,New Jersey League for Nursing, New

Jersey State Nurses Association, NewJersey chapters of the Leukemia andLymphoma Society, and New JerseyHospice and Palliative CareOrganization. But the most passion-ate testimony came from the coura-geous patients and families whocame to tell their stories. Scott Ward,

a 24-year-old diagnosed with multi-ple sclerosis while training for theMarine Corps Marathon, and Donand Gerry McGrath, parents of SeanMcGrath, who was 28 when hepassed away from cancer in 2004,spoke passionately about the reliefmedical marijuana provides. Withyour continued support, DPA willfight for legal access to medical mari-juana in New Jersey until we get leg-islation passed and signed into law.

DPA New MexicoUrges Comprehensive

Prison Reform

Families and communities across thecountry are increasingly feeling theburden of our nations failed drug warin the form of rising criminal justicesystem costs. In 2007 alone, NewMexico taxpayers spent over $22 mil-lion to incarcerate people convicted ofnonviolent drug possession offenses.

In addition to this immense wasteof taxpayer dollars, the majority ofpeople with drug addictions areunable to receive substance abusetreatment, and people coming out ofjail or prison often lack the resourcesand support they need to rebuild theirlives and succeed. In the face of thesechallenges, New Mexico GovernorBill Richardson, who last year signedboth DPAs medical marijuana andGood Samaritan 911 laws, took aproactive step in the spring of 2008by convening the Prison ReformTaskforce to address over-reliance onincarceration, rising costs and highrecidivism rates in New Mexico.

DPA New Mexico took part in eachtaskforce meeting and sought commu-nity input to help influence the finalreport. We are pleased to announcethat the NM Corrections Departmenthas already moved forward with onerecommendation by establishing the

Reentry Bureau within the departmentto facilitate peoples reintegration intothe community following their release.The 2009 legislative session will bringnew opportunities for our members toadvocate for comprehensive prisonand criminal justice reform.

Bungled Drug Bust inMaryland Exposes

Drug War Failures

Cheye Calvo, the mayor of BerwynHeights in Prince Georges County inMaryland, became an unlikely victimof Americas drug war. Coming homeone night in late July, he found a largepackage that, unbeknownst to him,happened to contain marijuana. Itturns out he had fallen victim to a

drug-smuggling scheme that targetsinnocent UPS customers. Momentsafter bringing the box inside, SWATofficers standing by broke in and shothis two Labrador retrievers. As thedogs lay bleeding to death at his feet,Mr. Calvo and his family includinghis mother-in-law were held in thesame room, handcuffed for hours. Mr.Calvos story made national headlines.

DPA jumped on this story and exposedthe fact that the outrageous tacticsused against Mayor Calvo happen incommunities around the country on adaily basis. Nearly 40,000 such raidsare conducted each year, according toa Cato Institute report, Overkill: TheRise of Paramilitary Police Raids inAmerica. DPA staff members wroteop-eds that appeared in the BaltimoreSun, Hartford Courantand theHuffington Post. We drew attention tothis war at home where innocent peo-ple are terrorized, doors are knocked

down and guns are pointed at families.The next time you see or hear aboutan injustice in your community relatedto the failed drug war, write a letter oran op-ed and send it to your localnewspaper. It can do a world of good.

Questions? Feedback?

We love to hear from our members. Contact The Allyby writing to

Isaac Skelton, editor, at [email protected].


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DPA Releases New Drug AbusePrevention Video for Teens

DPA New Mexico has just completedand released an educational DVDproduced with the support of a U.S.Department of Justice grant champi-oned by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM).Just4Teens: Lets Talk about Meth andOther Drugs is an innovative drugeducation video that helps teachers,counselors, prevention specialists andparents to initiate an open, honestdiscussion with young people aboutthe realities of drugs and drug use.

Building on DPAs other youth anddrugs publications, Safety First andBeyond Zero Tolerance, the Just4TeensDVD provides alternative methodsand strategies for drug preventionthat foster trust and use science-basedinformation, rather than scare tacticsand unrealistic messages like Just SayNo. The DVD includes a 15-minute

video and a 14-page FacilitatorsGuide with tools that can be usedto supplement current preventionprograms. Using the DVD, teachersand other adults can start in-depthconversations about drugs and druguse in their after-school programs,classrooms or other youth groups.

The video is being provided for freeto New Mexico residents, and DPANew Mexico will be conductingfree train-the-trainer drug educationworkshops around the state in2008 and 2009. To promote thevideo and trainings, we hostedJust4Teens video premiere events inSanta Fe, Albuquerque and several

other communities across the state.For more information about thisvideo or to order a copy, visit theDPA website.

Learn more about our work in the

2008 DPA Annual Report, available for free at

www.drugpolicy.org/annualreport

Any message that fails to contain balance is not

credible, advises Marsha Rosenbaum, director

emerita and author ofSafety First: A Reality-Based

Approach to Teens and Drugs.

Unless you lock your kid in their room, theyre

going to try and go out and just experience it.

This is Vicodin. I take it for pain.Screen stills from Just4Teens: Lets Talk about Meth

and Other Drugs

DPA Ally Fall 08

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