Policy evaluation in the news: California's Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties. Initiative Statute

This actually applies to a variety of topics in both 2305 and 2306, including:

- federalism.
- initiatives.
- laboratories of democracy.
- public policy process.

The law converted a variety nonviolent offenses from felonies to misdemeanors and was passed as an initiative presented to voters  in California in November 2014. It's considered to be part of a broad effort to scale back the drug war. There have been efforts to decriminalize nonviolent crime in Texas. Negative assessments of the impact of this change may well impact that trend.

For background read these:

- Wikipedia: California Proposition 47 (2014).
- Ballotpedia: California Proposition 47, Reduced Penalties for Some Crimes Initiative (2014).

Much like Texas is dealing with the fallout associated with the implementation of the open carry laws, California is doing the same with the consequences of the reduction in punishment associated with these crimes. Little surprise that police are opposed to the initiative, but here's a look at a variety of groups assess this policy change. Collectively, their assessments will give us a hint abut whether other states will change their policing policies as well.

- California Cops Frustrated With 'Catch-And-Release' Crime-Fighting.
- What we learned from California's Prop 47 in 2015.
- Unintended consequences of Prop. 47 pose challenge for criminal justice system.
- A ‘virtual get-out-of-jail-free card’.
- Did California Prop. 47 Cause State Crime Boost?.

From the Houston Chronicle: Harris County should stop jailing small-time drug offenders

Here's an opinion piece arguing that the Harris County District Attorney should use her discretion to restrict how it implements one of the laws on its books. I offer this since it illustrates a point made in the section on counties in the state. While they are administrative units, the actual administration is done by locally elected officials, which means that it is done in a manner that is in sync with local public opinion - or at least the opinion of people who show up at the polls.

- Click here for it.

While the state of Texas has not yet reformed its drug laws, many local jurisdictions, frustrated with the lack of results from locking up citizens for nonviolent drug offenses, have begun to exercise discretion in their enforcement of drug laws. In the interest of saving valuable taxpayer dollars and conserving scarce law enforcement resources, these jurisdictions have sought out alternatives to jail that allow them to hold drug users accountable without saddling these individuals, many of them young, with a criminal record.

Increase the initiative now

Harris County is one of these places. Faced with an overcrowded jail and a criminal justice budget that will account for more than 75 percent of the county's total general revenue budget in the next fiscal year, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson instituted the First Chance Intervention Program in October of last year. The program allows those arrested for possession of small amounts of marijuana with no criminal record to avoid starting one through cognitive classes or community service. However, because the program targets first-time offenders only, its reach is limited. We argue that the full potential for economic and social improvements cannot be realized with the program in its current form.

The initiative has been effective so far. From its rollout through August 2015, more than 1,800 individuals enrolled in the program, with 85 percent of those enrolled completing the program or still actively participating. The program is reaching a diverse audience, with blacks and Hispanics making up over two-thirds of the program's enrollment - a positive sign since arrest numbers show that blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented for all marijuana arrests relative to their populations. Further, the median age of program participants is 20 years, indicating that the program is furnishing opportunities for young people to avoid a lifetime of consequences that come with a drug conviction. So far the evidence shows that the county's initiative is a promising avenue for reducing the collateral costs that accompany a criminal record and the race and age disparities in drug arrests, all while saving taxpayer money.

Won't endanger public

The success of this pilot program should encourage Harris County to expand eligibility to all marijuana offenders, regardless of past drug arrests, as well as to offenders facing felony charges for possession of less than a gram, or a sugar packet's worth, of other controlled substances. The problems associated with misdemeanor marijuana arrests - high costs, racial disparities and collateral consequences - are only exacerbated in the case of felony drug arrests.

Generational Politics and Attitudes about Marijuana

This looks like charts showing attitudes about same sex marriage.

- Click here for the source.

From The Dish: Police State Watch

Andrew Sullivan reports on a case where a drug sniffing dog made the wrong call. Police were led to believe - incorrectly - that a person they pulled over had hidden drugs up his backside, and took invasive procedures to try to find them. Which they did not, since there were none.

He was billed for the services.

The person searched seems to have limited ability to because policy have qualified immunity from lawsuits.

Is there a "drug war exception" to the Fourth Amendment?

These incidents raise troubling questions about how the criminal justice system and medical establishment could allow for such extreme and invasive measures based on such little suspicion for nonviolent drug offenses. Oddly, according to constitutional scholars and medical ethicists I've consulted, the indignities imposed upon Eckert and Young were both illegal and unethical. And yet it also may be that (a) none of the law enforcement officials or medical personnel responsible for the violations are likely to be held accountable in any way, and (b) they could probably do it all again tomorrow, and still wouldn't likely be held accountable.

The Legal Issues

Any discussion of the legal issues involved in these cases needs to begin with the general evisceration of the Bill of Rights wrought by the drug war. There's a reason why some constitutional law scholars refer a "drug war exception" to the Fourth Amendment. Over the last 45 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has generally taken the approach that drugs are such an existential threat to American society that some basic and inherent rights need to be suspended in order to facilitate their eradication.

Texas Forensic Science Commission finds that the Department of Public Safety crime lab fabricated evidence against drug offenders. The Court of Criminal Appeals is expected to reverse the convictions.

The story is in myhighplains.com, among other places.

Since the criminal justice system in the state is decentralized, each affected county is responding to this in different ways:

Each district attorney may handle the situation as he or she chooses. Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healy told the Houston Chronicle that he was waiting for retesting of cases by DPS before alerting defendants and their lawyers.

Jack Roady, the district attorney in Galveston County, said he looked at each case and dismissed every one in which evidence had been destroyed or possibly "tainted by Salvador's involvement." Of the 700 convictions in this category, he said he focused on the 26 cases in which the defendant was still in prison.

In Harris County, Sara Kinney, a spokeswoman for the district attorney, said all pending cases connected to Salvador's work were dismissed. "Now we will just review, case by case, any writ we get as a result of that problem," she said.

Bob Wicoff, who heads the appellate division of the Harris County Public Defender's Office, said that his staff is beginning to file appeals, "armed with the Galveston cases," for some of the more than 400 Harris County cases that involved Salvador's work. He said that just four Houston defendants whose cases were handled by Salvador remain in prison; Harris County was less affected because it relies on a range of labs, not just the one where Salvador worked.

The story provides a link to the appelate court's ruling on a case involving a man sentenced to serve 32 years on a fabricated charge.

While the tests were the result of one employee, the report from the forensic commission finds that the DPS had a culture that tolerated such work, so the blame is being spread around.

The DPS employee responsible for the misconduct, Jonathan Salvador, has been the subject of an investigation by the Texas Forensic Science Commission. At the commission's last meeting in January, Nizam Peerwani, a member of the committee and the chief medical examiner for Tarrant County, said that Salvador was part of an office culture that "tolerated under-performance." Commissioner Sarah Kerrigan said that after multiple interviews with Salvador's colleagues, the commission concluded that his work was "marginal" and of "low quality."

Salvador, who could not be reached for comment, was suspended from his duties as a forensic scientist with DPS in February 2012, when the department discovered problems with his work, including the falsification of results in numerous cases involving marijuana, cocaine, heroine, pharmaceuticals and other controlled substances. Salvador had worked on 4,900 drug cases in 30 counties since he took the job in 2006, DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said.

After an internal investigation by DPS and the Texas Rangers, Salvador was brought before a Harris County grand jury in May 2012, which chose not to indict him. In August, he resigned from DPS.

"The department implemented more stringent quality control measures to help prevent similar issues in the future," Vinger said, adding that the department continues "to provide assistance in cases worked by this former employee, including re-examining evidence when requested."

DPS Laboratory Manager Keith Gibson also sent a letter to district attorneys around the state with a list of nearly 5,000 convictions that could've been affected by Salvador's work.

Are we at a tipping point in the War on Drugs?

The successful marijuana initiatives earlier this year may have started something.
Here's a look at the impact a new documentary - The House I Live In - is having on attitudes about laws that treat non-violent drug criminals like violent criminals and send some to jail for life sentences for what seem like relatively minor offenses. It has led to the development of a caste system in the US since those convicted are burdened with a criminal record. The conspiratorially minded think that's the point.

But when opinion leaders like Pat Robertson think we should decriminalize marijuana, things have changed. Majorities of Americans now favor legalization (not that that always matters). The media is more likely to publish editorials favoring legalization as well.

As of yet, this only applies to marijuana, not harder drugs.

One sticking point mentioned in the story is the financial benefits that certain people and institutions receive from the status-quo. Drug laws give law enforcement something to do. And the rise of privately owned prisons means that the incarceration of large numbers of people - for whatever reason - produces profits.  I would guess that policy shifts will not really occur until powerful interests see more money to be made when marijuana is legal rather than illegal. Tobacco companies are apparently ready to go producing marijuana cigarettes (will we still call them joints? Doesn't seem appropriate.). They have tremendous political pull.

Who do we send to jail and who do we not?

A couple recent stories point out the great discrepancies in who gets sent to jail in the US and who does not.

1 - The NYT reports on second thoughts (a bit too late for some) about harsh sentencing policies for non-violent drug crimes.

2 - The New Republic tells us a bank that was involved in drug transactions - as well as with terrorist organization - will pay a hefty fine, but the official involved will not be subject to criminal charges.

It worth speculating on why that discrepancy exists.

Feds consider what to do about state marijuana initiatives

Something to add to the material on federalism:

The NYT reports on the Obama Administration's continuing struggles with how to respond to the Colorado and Washington marijuana initiatives. This isn't the first conflict between state and federal governments over marijuana - and whether states can circumvent the Controlled Substances Act. We cover Gonzalez v. Raich in our section on federalism. The federal government won that round, but state are not backing down.

This story points out a new wrinkle in the conflict. Voter for marijuana initiatives were Obama supporters. Does he risk alienating them?

Public opinion has swung behind supporting legalization in recent years. 58% support legalization according to this story - support is stronger among the young than the old.

To fit this story in the broader framework of drug policy click on these:

- Marijuana Policy Project.
- Marijuana Policy: Stop the Drug War.
- Drug Policy: Wikipedia.

Equal Justice?

Joe Patoski writes about the "Red Headed Exception:"

What is it about Willie Nelson, weed and the law?

It’s been a question worth asking since at least 1971, when Willie brought together rednecks and hippies at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin with his unique style of country music and his open attitude about marijuana. His eldest daughter, Lana, and his former wife Connie said pot helped tamp down the rage; he had been a mean drunk when alcohol was his drug of choice.

Now 77, Willie is perhaps America’s best-known marijuana smoker. He is co-chairman of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, has been a High Times cover boy and famously smoked a joint on the roof of the White House when Jimmy Carter was president. His disciples include the actor Woody Harrelson and the country crooner Ray Price, his former employer — each known to have enjoyed a puff now and then. He is the inspiration for Toby Keith’s hit song “(I’ll Never Smoke) Weed With Willie (Again),” which testifies to the quality of his stash.

All that is part of Willie's folklore. It’s when he tangles with law enforcement that things get interesting, though not necessarily all that punitive.

The Limits of National Supremacy

A note on the selective enforcement of prohibition. A certain consequence of our federal design.

Federalism and California's Prop 19

Following on a previous post, here are a few links regarding the nation/state issues brought up by California's proposal to legalize marijuana:

- Federalism and Medical Marijuana.
- Some Red Herrings.

2301s take note.