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Mail Call! Subject: League Activity, 8/4-8/10 '97 AMERICAN ANTI-PROHIBITION LEAGUE · 3125 SE Belmont Street, Portland, Oregon 97214 · 03-235-4524 / AAL@InetArena.com Drug War POW Glenn H. Early writes, "It's an unfortunate
fact of life these days that when most see injustice they turn
their heads and look away." (Glenn writes for the November
Coalition: http://www.november.org, as their "Inside Correspondent"
from his cage at Oxford, Wisconsin). Give thanks and praise to
the following League volunteers who refuse to turn a blind eye:
Erica Wolfe, Paul Stanford, Krystal Cummins, Perry Stripling,
Dona MacPherson, Scott Ghares, and Chuck Stembridge; all of whom
withstood temperatures of over 90 degrees this weekend. I find your newsletter very informative and I really like how you going about making a change. We all know that change must start with the people. When we can get the people to realize what is really going on with this drug war, only then can we make a difference. By educating the people, you are creating change with each person you reach. The government will not listen to just a few, nor will they listen to senseless lobbying, and if family was one of their concerns, they would have changed these laws long before now. So the only way to make a change is to get the people behind us. We all know far too well that it is time for change. I have been in the Federal System for almost seven years, so my time is coming to an end. I want to get more involved upon my release, if you could let me know what I have to do, I would like to get involved once I'm out. John March, Jr., Prisoner of War in America Subject: Glad to see you Hi. I recently got a couple of issues of your newsletter and thanks. My husband, Alan, is a medical marijuana prisoner and is featured in the HR95 project. I wanted to give you something he was "inspired" to write after attending a mandatory "drug education" course in federal prison. He has written more serious pieces (and longer) which I will stick in the mail to y'all. Sgt. Stadanko's Addiction Sgt. Stadanko is a police officer in good standing. He also has a serious problem: he is afflicted with a condition that has caused millions of Americans to be ruined, and which costs the country billions of dollars every year. Sgt. Stadanko is addicted -- to the drug war. Sgt. Stadanko's addiction has reduced him to the depths of depravity. He is fascinated with other peoples' urine. He is often overcome by the urge to stop people of color for imaginary traffic violations so that he can subject them to full-body searches, in hopes of finding evidence of life-style choices that the government doesn't approve of. In fact, Sgt. Stadanko's drug war compulsion is so strong that he has made mass arrests by twisting and straining the conspiracy laws far beyond their intended purpose. Yes, Sgt. Stadanko is a very sick man. Please help Sgt. Stadanko and the millions of Americans who are suffering from the insane policies of the drug war pushers. Let's work to end the drug war, and to start thinking of people with drug addictions as having a medical problem rather than as being criminals. By ending the drug war and dismantling the incipient police state, we can make America truly the land of the free and the home of the brave, rather than the land of the plea and the home of the slave. Alan Carter McLemore, Prisoner of War in America CAN WE SPEAK OUR PEACE? Here we are again, faced with the same issue as the year before last, and every year prior for the last 8 years; Will the Crack law be changed come November of 1997? I hope so, for if it does not, America will no longer exist as a land of freedom, liberty, and justice for all, at least not in my eyes, and the eyes of so many other others like me that have been given harsh, extreme, undue, unjust, and outlandish sentences for violating Title 21 U.S.C. Section 2Dl.l(a). America will be seen as a country which thrives on money, more so, a country that will feel no shame in capitalizing off of the down fall of its own citizens. In 1994, I was sentenced to a 121 month term of Federal imprisonment, for the sale of two ounces of Crack cocaine, I couldn't understand why I was given so much time then, and I can't relate to it now. I asked the Judge that gave me such a harsh sentence, "Why do I have to serve a sentence so extreme and this is the first time that I've ever been in trouble with the law?" His response was, "Mr. Hicks, your sentence shall serve as a deterrent to others." Well, I've been here in a federal prison for the past three years, and a bus comes in with new commitments every Monday and Wednesday. Out of the 40 or 50 prisoners that get off of that bus, I've found that the majority have been convicted for the same crime as myself, and one or two happen to be from my home town. So much for the Judge's reasoning. President Clinton has stated on national television that he disagrees with the current punishments for crack cocaine offenders, and has thus signed a proposal to correct it, In November, Congress will have the opportunity to veto this proposal, or grant it, but there are certain people that are putting up too much of a fight about it, such as Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Ms. Waters could not be fighting for my freedom, not with the attitude that she has displayed as of recently, and if she continues to be as strong headed as she has been, she will be added on my list as one that prevented the change that me and so me others are hoping to see in November. In 1995, Congress vetoed the Sentencing Commissions proposal to change the Crack Law by an overwhelming vote, so far overwhelming that the outcome for those that opposed it nearly tripled the vote of those that were for it, and in the end, riots broke out in 4 different regions of the Bureau Of Prisons. Ms. Waters, something is better than nothing, and I for one suggest that you take on such an attitude, because Congress has no intent to change the ratio between crack cocaine, and powder cocaine, to the 1 to 1 ratio that your looking for. A suggestion of 10 to 1, with a ceiling of 15 is very reasonable. Maurice Hicks, Prisoner of War in America Subject: A pleasant surprise in my mailbox I am writing to thank you for sending me two issues of the November Coalition newsletter; they arrived this morning intact and I have found both of them very interesting. It was a pleasant and unexpected surprise! I have visited the Coalition Web site on the odd occasion, and I have been very impressed with the content; there are a lot of unique items which can't be found on other drug policy sites, especially the material from judicial decisions of drug cases (as an aside; I think it would be useful to include the dissenting opinions in Harmelin v. Michigan, which are available on the Web.) You are bringing a great deal of attention to an area of drug policy reform which is obviously politically unpopular but extremely urgent. I wish your organization the best of luck, and I would be
happy to provide you with a small donation in order to defray
the costs of publishing the newsletter. Subject: MDMA rescheduling?? Details and commentery: An old friend has fallen outside the "Just Us System" and will soon become one of the dead bodies upon which the political careers of deadbeats are constructed in lieu of substantial contribution or anything requiring more effort than graft. Of course, the term DEAD BODY is exaggeration. Although I have not known a young man in his early twenties to spend five years down in a Southern penitentiary and survive the experience. Two years maybe, three possibly, but not five. I am confident the body will emerge, in his case, probably strong and healthy......tattooed. But the inhabitant will die and another similar soul will have moved in, with a whole new way of looking at the world and the people in it. I can't imagine this person as 'dangerous', it's not in him. But he will be gone. I haven't seen this friend in some years, I have a feeling our correspondence may soon increase, but another five years may pass before I meet the new inhabitant, if ever. Should this come to pass, we will get along. I have learned the language he will speak and have become reluctantly familiar with the peculiar habits and new priorities of the transformation. Yet I will sorely miss my old friend, and his foolish optimism. Anyway, rumors have reached him of pending legislation that might result in the rescheduling of MDMA which could influence his case. This is the sort of hopes any human being freely entertains when face to face with such a bleak and lifeless prospective. However, the delaying tactics and judicial dalliances that could be beneficial, if this is indeed true, might just as easily backfire, and elicit even more draconian sentencing from intolerant railway employees under pressure to deliver a swift, efficient service. I need to do a bit of surfWork myself, but I thought I'd get
this out on the boards first. Another Question for our Political Leaders At what point will the new prisons now being built be closed down, or do we plan on incarcerating over a million and a half Americans forever? Pat Jordan, Prisoner of War in America Dear Fellow Digusted Citizens, A fellow P.O.W. just passed your newsletter on to me and the fighting spirit has just returned like a breath of fresh air. I'm currently at the tail end of a mandatory 10-year sentence for LSD. I must admit that after hundreds of letters to representatives who usually didn't care, I ran out of gas around the time of the '93 LSD Guideline amendment which did bring 2 1/2 years of relief. Today I'm dusting off my pen and ready to head back to the front. Thanks again for waking me from my hibernating. Prem, A prisoner of War in America THOUGHTS ON PRISON If society had sought to impose savage, barbaric vengeance on someone, it has succeeded far beyond the knowing of any who had not endured, themselves the uncivilized purgatory of prison. If the object of such punishment, is to push a human being out of his humanity, and make of him an animal of lowest instincts, then the prison system is in its present form the way to do it. What prison does not do, and never will is make a man better member of society than when he entered it. The prison system is de signed to make a second class citizen of the prisoners during and after incarceration. Given any time at all, prison will only degrade and worsen him, it will only increase his hatred of the "system" which had sent him there. It will only reduce the possibility of his becoming, ever a useful, law abiding citizen. The longer the sentence, the less likelihood there is of any moral salvage. Most of all it is time which eroded and eventually destroyed any potential for reform or rehabilitation which the prisoner might have when he arrived. Again, the prison system is not designed to promote rehabilitation it is structured to produce the opposite. Most prisoners have been brutalized in the legal system before they came to prison and made worse since, or others whom time in prison had worn down, time and the cold hearted inhumanity of a citizenry outside, indifferent and IGNORANT to what horrors were perpetuated or decencies neglected, all in society's name behind prison walls. Thanks for your support, Quin Million, Prisoner of War in America THOUGHTS ON PRISON If society had sought to impose savage, barbaric vengeance on someone, it has succeeded far beyond the knowing of any who had not endured, themselves the uncivilized purgatory of prison. If the object of such punishment, is to push a human being out of his humanity, and make of him an animal of lowest instincts, then the prison system is in its present form the way to do it. What prison does not do, and never will is make a man better mem ber of society than when he entered it. The prison system is de signed to make a second class citizen of the prisoners during and after encarceration. Given any time at all, prison will only de grade and worsen him, it will only increase his hatred of the "system" which had sent him there. It will only reduce the poss ibility of his becoming, ever a useful, law abiding citizen. The longer the sentence, the less likeihood there is of any moral salvage. Most of all it is time which eroded and eventually destroyed any potential for reform or rehabilation which the prisoner might have when he arrived. Again, the prison system is not designed to promote rehabilation it is structured to produce the opposite. Most prisoners have been brutalized in the legal system before they came to prison and made worse since, or others whom time in prison had worn down, time and the cold hearted inhumanity of a citizenry outside, indifferent and IGNORANT to what horrors were perpetuated or decencies neglected, all in society's name behind prison walls. Thanks for your support, Quin Million, Prisoner of War in America Wilfred Walker Leyland's Thoughts I've been thinking off a number of thoughts to share with you and two that come to mind are: 1) Someone needs to bring attention to the blatant number of cases of prosecutorial misconduct/abuses that are being uncovered (just think of how many are "covered" up). Janet Reno is toothless when it comes to her minions. Further, the Office of Professional Responsibility (Mr. Michael Shaheen's little coven) are useless when it comes to investigating the reported cases of prosecutorial misconduct and abuse. Why would anyone doubt the prosecutors would go to such outrageous duplicitous depths to further their "agendas"? As the saying goes, "Power corrupts... and absolute power corrupts absolutely". One of the most fundamental things wrong with the current criminal "just-us" system is that it is 'incentive driven'. History contains many examples why such a system is prone to fallibility, as it is inherently flawed. I agree with Judge Wachtler's assessment in his recent book After the Madness when he says this country needs to reform the criminal justice system to one concerned with "public safety" rather than the "moral agenda" of some hypocritical drone/criminal in Congress. 2) CONSPIRACY... I can't think of a more unfair, unjust, and un-American law enforcement 'tool' that the conspiracy laws. They are the mark of a deviate, sick mind and the spawn of some wicked anti-American politician. No other law is more responsible for the incarceration of so many thousands of innocent Americans than the conspiracy laws. The conspiracy laws are unconstitutional for a number of reasons
but more easily described as being void for vagueness. They do
not adequately inform citizens of the conduct which they proscribe.
Conspiracy laws do not prohibit criminal activity per se, they
prohibit thinking about criminal activity. Prosecutors love conspiracy
laws because they are impossible to defend against, or disprove.
They are thought crimes. Only a person who is a member of a conspiracy
of who possessed guilty knowledge would be able to defend against
a charge of conspiracy. An innocent person would not have any
knowledge with which to rebut the allegation or to prove innocence
(which is something that the prosecutor is supposed to do: prove
guilt). An innocent person could never prove their innocence. Tyro Knowledge By Mauricio A. Rueben, Prisoner of the War on Drugs Steve Forbes, under the heading, "With all they getting get understanding," wrote a commentary entitled, "Deadly Deceit," published in the Forbes Magazine, Sept. 8, 1997 issue. Of course, he can do this because he is the Editor-in-Chief of this once thought of by me to be a great magazine. It probably still is, but he has definitely changed my out look toward the magazine simply because now he is an acclaimed enemy of the struggle against the War on Drugs. Lucky for him that he gained what he has the old fashion way; by inheritance. I personally don't think he would have had so many readers if he would have printed his thoughts and feelings in a starting magazine. I believe that his self-proclaimed expertise in the topic at hand is amateurish, and his ideas are refutable to say the least. And most destructively, it is people such as this Republican that make it difficult to right the wrong that has been done in the name of the so called "War on Drugs." The point here is that he is most definitely misinformed or just plain doesn't care about the facts and background of the drug problem in our country, and he is relaying his tyro knowledge to propagandize the American public, which is something we don't need. It gets worse. Steve Forbes, Editor-in-Chief and owner of the publication named Forbes Magazine is once again attempting to run for the presidency in the next presidential elections. I guess now we know why he is using this vehicle that he owns in such a destructive way. He simply is not concerned with the drug problem or anything that has to do with it, except the presidency. He has printed this hogwash about the drug problem for the same reason all politicians do-personal gains. He is using this article for no other reason than to pilot his campaign. Well, we don't need someone like this in the White House, especially since it is no secret that most of the money being made on this war on drugs, lines the pockets of politicians. I don't know about the rest of you, but as of yesterday Forbes has been put on notice to drop me off the mailing list. Perhaps I will look at it every now and then to see what other nonsense he prints, but I will not contribute to his wealth or presidential campaign by purchasing his publications. |
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