The Sociological Impact of U.S. Constitutional Rights on the Drug War
This legal position paper discusses relevant Supreme Court case law to the Drug War, such as 4th Amend. Search & Seizure and conflict with State law allowing medicinal marijuana. A change in current policy and law is strongly advocated.
Young Black Americans and the Criminal Justice System: Five Years Later
In 1990 The Sentencing Project released a report that documented that almost one in four (23 percent) African American males in the age group twenty to twenty-nine years old was under some form of criminal justice supervision—in prison or jail, on probation or parole. That report received extensive national attention and helped to generate much dialogue and activity on the part of policymakers, community organizations, and criminal justice professionals.
HOMEBOYS, DOPE FIENDS, LEGITS, AND NEW JACKS*
Milwaukee research finds that most young male adult gang members cannot be described accurately as “committed long-term participants” in the drug economy. Rather, most adult gang members are involved sporadically with drug sales, moving in and out of conventional labor markets at irregular intervals. Four types of male adult gang members are described; only one type has rejected conventional values. Despite relatively high average earnings from drug sales, most gang members would accept full-time jobs with modest wages. This suggests that severe and mandatory penalties for cocaine use and sales should be ended.