Five Year in U.S. Federal Prison for passing a joint? Sure, why not!

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I don't smoke any substance, but i have a MASSIVE problem with current American federal mandatory sentencing laws. Sending non-violent drug offenders to do hard time with really fucked up people doesn't do much to help to recidivism problem that we have in U.S. prisons right now, much less the amount of money we have to pay to fund all this shit.

There's a bill in the U.S. House right now that would put a FIVE YEAR MANDATORY minimum sentence for just passing a joint to somebody who has once been in a drug-rehab program.

http://talkleft.com/new_archives/010374.html

5 Years for Passing a Joint: Stop this Bill Now
Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner has launched his next assault on freedom. The full House Judiciary Committee is set to vote as early as next week on H.R. 1528, which creates a new group of mandatory miniumum penalties for non-violent drug offenses, including a five year penalty for passing a joint to someone who's been in drug treatment.
That's right: Passing a joint to someone who used to be in drug treatment will land you in federal prison for a minimum of five years.
The "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005" (H.R. 1528) was introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) on April 6, and it has already passed out of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security...

― kingfish maximum overdrunk (Kingfish), Monday, 18 April 2005 05:36 (twenty years ago)

oh, and if any folks in the States wanna do something about this, all you have to do is to just visit here, and it will auto-generate a letter/fax/email to send off to your Congresscritter. it takes 30 secs or less.

― kingfish maximum overdrunk (Kingfish), Monday, 18 April 2005 05:38 (twenty years ago)

isn't that law basically unenforceable? or at least really fucking difficult to enforce?

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 18 April 2005 05:39 (twenty years ago)

Well, the other part of is that everyone who's been in rehab will have to wear giant orange clown shoes, so you'll know.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Monday, 18 April 2005 05:42 (twenty years ago)

probably, but it won't exactly help to have really stupid precedents in the books for upping the mandatory sentences...

xpost

― kingfish maximum overdrunk (Kingfish), Monday, 18 April 2005 05:43 (twenty years ago)

Canada will be surely enjoying more tourism... especially that of ex drug-rehab people with big clown shoes.

― donut debonair (donut), Monday, 18 April 2005 05:46 (twenty years ago)

bump

― kingfish maximum overdrunk (Kingfish), Monday, 18 April 2005 13:16 (twenty years ago)

So clown shoes, then.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 18 April 2005 13:16 (twenty years ago)

NO MORE LENIENT SENTENCING

― Dan Beale, Monday, 18 April 2005 13:17 (twenty years ago)

Just sent one to my jackass of a representative, Bobby Jindal, King of Smarm.

― adam (adam), Monday, 18 April 2005 13:44 (twenty years ago)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3336-2005Jan12.html

hmm. according to this, the Supreme Court ruled back in January that mandatory sentencing rules were no long legally enforceable.

one would think this would be more common knowledge.

― kingfish, Monday, 18 April 2005 16:19 (twenty years ago)

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