Drugs and Crime

Safety Valve: Omnibus Crime Control Act 1994

First time, non-violent drugs offenders would be exempt from mandatory minimum sentences if they met the criteria.

Pulling Levers

Focused deterrence strategies are problem-oriented policing strategies that follow the core principles of deterrence theory. The strategies target specific criminal behavior committed by a small number of chronic offenders who are vulnerable to sanctions and punishment.

Attorney General Eric Holder

"By targeting the most serious offenses, prosecuting the most dangerous criminals, directing assistance to crime 'hot spots,' and pursuing new ways to promote public safety, deterrence, efficiency, and fairness - we can become both smarter and tougher on crime."

Drug Courts

-Integration of substance abuse treatment with justice system case processing -Use of nonadversarial approach -Early identification and prompt placement of eligible participants -Access to a continuum of treatment, rehabilitation, and related services -Frequent testing for alcohol and illicit drugs -A coordinated strategy among judge, prosecutor, defense, and treatment providers to govern offender compliance. -Ongoing, judicial interaction with each participant.

California Proposition 36

-Revises the three strikes law to impose life sentence only when the new felony conviction is "serious or violent." -Authorizes re-sentencing for offenders currently serving life sentences if their third strike conviction was not serious or violent and if the judge determines that the re-sentence does not pose unreasonable risk to public safety. -Continues to impose a life sentence penalty if the third strike conviction was for "certain non-serious, non-violent sex or drug offenses or involved firearm possession." -Maintains the life sentence penalty for felons with "non-serious, non-violent third strike if prior convictions were for rape, murder, or child molestation."

Characteristics of Imprisoned Drug Offenders

-Were incarcerated for drug trafficking or possession with intent to sell rather than drug possession. -Were incarcerated for crack or powder cocaine offenses. -Federal rather than state offenders were involved with larger drug amounts and were less likely to be convicted of simple drug offenses. -Only a fourth of federal cases reported firearms involvement and a fifth on state cases. -Most did not have a violent criminal record. -36% Federal and 21% State were first time drug offenders.

Substantial Assistance Departure

A "5K" motion is motion filed by a prosecutor under the authority of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. It asks a sentencing court to "depart downward" under the guidelines based on "substantial assistance" provided by the defendant.

States Where Marijuana Medical Legalization

Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusets, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, District of Columbia, Wisconsin

Plea Bargain

An arrangement between a prosecutor and a defendant whereby the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge in the expectation of leniency.

Courtroom Workgroup

An informal arrangement between a criminal prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and the judicial officer.

"The Hassle Effect"

Argued by Erich Goode in 2012, and he said that maintaining the illegality of drug use reduces use. The more difficult or stigmatizing or dangerous it is to buy illegal drugs, the fewer the users.

Diversion Programs

Arrestees are offered an opportunity to have their cases held in abeyance while they attend a court monitored treatment program. Successful completion of the treatment results in the original criminal charges to be dismissed.

Smart on Crime Initiate

At the direction of the Attorney General in early 2013, the Justice Department launched a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system in order to identify reforms that would ensure federal laws are enforced more fairly and—in an era of reduced budgets—more efficiently.

Harm Reduction

Common in Western European countries, reflect the belief that no matter how stringent the anti-drug laws and how intensive the law enforcement efforts against drug use and trafficking, many people will continue to use drugs.

Discrimination

Decisions based on the offender's race, ethnicity, etc.

Disparity

Decisions based on the seriousness of the crime, type of crime, etc.

Systemic Discrimination

Discrimination at all stages, in all places, and during all time periods.

Contextual Discrimination

Discrimination in certain situations or context. Discrimination that is not systematic, but instead confined to certain regions of the country, certain stages of the decision making process, certain types of crimes, or offenders with particular characteristics.

Individual Discrimination

Discriminatory decisions made by a few individuals within the system.

States Where Marijuana Recreational Legalization

District of Columbia, Washington, Colorado, California, Oregon, Nevada, Massachusets, Maine, Alaska

Effectiveness of Drug Courts - Retention

Drug Courts should be evaluated by: those in the drug treatment program - those who complete the program or are still enrolled in the program divided by those who entered the program during a particular time period

Effectiveness of Drug Courts- Recidivism

Evaluated by: Rate of new arrest for drug court participants, both during program participation and after program completion

Effectiveness of Drug Courts - Sobriety

Evaluated by: negative drug test as a percentage of all the test given to drug court participants.

William Bratton

Former Police Commissioner who focused on proactive policing and was given credit for the decline in homicides.

Jail Treatment

Given their high volume, jails represent a significant potential treatment intervention point in the criminal justice system.

Collateral Consequences of the War on Drugs

Has resulted in the arrested, prosecution, and incarceration of millions of American men and women during the past three decades.

Pure Justice

Indicates that discrimination does not exist at any time or place in the criminal justice system.

Medicated Assisted Treatment

It is effective for the treatment of opiate addiction and alcohol dependence, and NIDA recommends use of MAT as an effective treatment for opiate dependence in general populations, as well as for criminal justice populations.

Gender Disparities in Sentencing

Men receive far worse/longer sentences than women.

Legalization v. Decriminalization

Legalizing drugs would greatly reduce the economic, social, and health costs of drug use. Decriminalization refers to policies in which the drug remains illegal, but its use is treated in a manner similar to a traffic ticket or administrative summons.

Indirect Effect

Occurs when an independent variable influences a defendant variable through some other factor rather than directly.

Interaction Effect

Occurs when either the effects of race or gender vary because of some other factor, or when the effects of other variables are conditioned by offender race or gender.

Inter Jurisdictional Disparity

Occurs when the sentencing patterns of judges in different jurisdictions vary.

Demand Reduction

Prevention of drug use, expansion of drug treatment access, and a more rehabilitative focus on controlling drug use.

focal concerns (Steffenmeier et al. 1998)

Prosecutors and judges use information to evaluate hard done by the crime, threat posed by the offender, and the offender's potential for reform and rehabilitation.

Supply Reduction

Reducing the manufacture or processing of illegal drugs, disruption of supply routes and drug dealing organizations, and enforcement against street drug markets.

Direct Discrimination

Refers to a situation in which race, ethnicity, or gender affects the sentence severity after all legally relevant case and offender characteristics are taken into consideration.

Institutional Discrimination

Refers to differences in treatment or outcomes resulting from established policies or procedures that are not themselves based explicitly on race, ethnicity, or gender.

Subtle Discrimination

Refers to what researchers characterize as indirect or interaction effects.

"The Dangerous Drug Offender"

Researcher hypothesized that cases that fully matched the stereotype of the dangerous drug offender - that is male drug dealers with prior convictions, would be treated more harshly than cases that did not. They also said that the effect would be larger on white offenders than black offenders.

Real Case

Researchers look at previous real cases and collect data based on judges decisions.

Hypothetical Case

Researchers present cases to judges and ask what sentences they would impose. The researcher can determine whether sentences are consistent from one another and can isolate characteristics of the cases.

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Set by Congress, not judges - require automatic, minimum prison terms for certain crimes. Most mandatory minimum sentences apply to drug offenses, but Congress has enacted them for other crimes, including certain gun, pornography, and economic offenses.

Janet Reno - (D)

She was the former state attorney general for the state of Florida. She is most famous for running an aggressive prosecution of three sensational child abuse cases in Miami-Dade County. She pioneered a controversial technique for eliciting intimate details from young children and inspired passage of a law allowing them to testify by closed-circuit television, out of the possibly intimidating presence of their suspected molesters

Racial Disparities in Sentencing

Statistics indicate that the sentences imposed on black and hispanic drug offenders are harsher than those imposed on white drug offenders.

Heroin Maintenance Clinics: Switzerland

Switzerland has the most established program for maintaining heroin addicts on the drug by allowing them to inject heroin into certified clinics. The target population is typically that group of long-term addicts who have failed in other types of treatment.

Prosecutors Discretionary Power

The prosecutor decides who is charged, what charge is filed, who is offered a plea bargain, and the type of bargain that is offered.

Intra Jurisdictional Disparity

The sentencing imposed by the judges in the same jurisdiction vary.

New York Murder Mystery

The unexplainable decline of homicides in New York City.

Prison Treatment

Therapeutic communities provide an intensive, highly structured pro-social environment in which treatment staff and peers interact to influence attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors associated with drug use.

Community Corrections Treatment

There is a lack of data on the implementation and effectiveness of drug treatment for offenders under probation or parole supervision.

Intra Judge Disparity

This type of disparity occurs when an individual judge makes inconsistent sentencing decisions.

Michael Tonry's View on The War on Drugs

Tonry charged that the racial disparities in the criminal justice system were not merely happenstance, but the result of a 'calculated effort foreordained to increase [the] percentages [of Blacks in prison].' According to Tonry, the planners of the drug war knew that the War on Drugs was unnecessary and that the policies they selected to fight the War on Drugs would not work. More critically, Tonry charged that the drug war's planners were aware that the ineffective policies they proposed to implement would adversely affect African American males. The War on Drugs was unnecessary, according to Tonry, because drug use was already declining in the United States, and had been doing so for several years. If less and less Americans were using drugs, then a costly war to reduce drug usage would not seem to make sense. More importantly, Tonry charged, even if the drug war was necessary to address a burgeoning problem with illegal drugs in the United States, the policies the drug warriors selected to deal with that problem were not likely to work. Tonry argues that changes in drug usage are best effected through a combination of supply reduction and demand reduction strategies. The anti-drug policies of the Reagan and Bush administrations were skewed too far in favor of supply reduction approaches to be effective. The drug policy strategists who planned the drug war, Tonry asserts, knew this.

Broken Windows Theory

Used broken windows as a metaphor for disorder within neighbourhoods. Their theory links disorder and incivility within a community to subsequent occurrences of serious crime.

Imprisonment Binge

When the prison population increases and the crime rate remains the same.

Trends in Sentencing Drug Offenders

While the number of personnel sent to prison has increased, the average prison sentence has decrease since about 2005.