|
Today's
Stories
September
25, 2007
Nicole
Colson
On the March Against Racism
September
24, 2007
George
Ciccariello-Maher
Racist Violence from Jena to Oakland
Saree Makdisi
The
War on Gaza's Children
David
Keen
Action-as-Propaganda: Learning About the Iraq War from Hannah
Arendt
Sherwood
Ross
Just How Powerful is the Israel Lobby? Only Cheney Knows for
Sure
Ron
Jacobs
Greenspan's Open Secret
Donna
Saggia
The Cult of the Military and the Decline of Democratic Values
Mike
Ferner
Free Speech Takes a Capitol Beating
Malini
Johar Schueller
Norman Hsu is a Model Minority
Monique
Dols
and Dylan Stillwood
Ahmadinejad and Columbia
Website
of the Day
The Promotion
September 22 / 23, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
On Naomi Klein's "The Shock
Doctrine"
Jennifer
Loewenstein
Beneath the Hideous Veneer of
Security
Linn
Washington, Jr.
The Injustice in Jena: Prosecutorial Misconduct More Dangerous
Than Racism
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Going Down in Dinosaur: Oil, Dams and Whitewater (Part One)
Alan
Farago
Genuflecting to China
Brian
Cloughley
Of Hate, Hubris and Atrocities
Robert
Fantina
The Deadly Pattern of US Imperialism
Roxanne
Dunbar-Ortiz
Land Tenure and Resistance in New
Mexico
Jason
Hribal
Fear of an Animal Planet
David
Rosen
Slugger Sex: Athletes, Violence and Male Sexuality
Mike
Whitney
The Era of Global Financial Instability
John
V. Walsh
Who Will Lead a Filibuster of the Iraq War Spending Bill?
Dave
Lindorff
Why Aren't We Banning Blackwater Here?
David
Michael Green
Hiding Behind a Camouflage Skirt
Fred
Gardner
Claudia Jensen (Look Back in Anger)
Cassandra
Jones
Support Our Mercenaries
Roger
van Zwanenberg
Pluto Press Under Attack by Israel Lobby
Poets'
Basement
Buknatski, Davies and Ford
Website
of the Weekend
"For the Bible Tells Me So"
September
21, 2007
Karim
Makdisi
Letter from Lebanon
M.
Shahid Alam
A History of Violence
Alan
Farago
Who Will Buy My House?
Joshua
Frank
The Demise of the Congressional Black Caucus
Dave
Zirin
Notre Dame and the Economy of Sports
Kenneth
Couesbouc
A Short History of Lending and Borrowing
Dr.
Steffie Woolhandler and Dr. David Himmelstein
Mass Health Care Failure
Ben
Terrall
The Streets of San Francisco: Where Impeachment is Taken Seriously--By
Everyone But Pelosi
Steve
Fournier
Ex-Dems, Sign Up Here
Frederico
Fuentes, et al
Voices in Defense of Bolivia
Website
of the Day
Sabra and Shatila, Remembered
September
20, 2007
Kathleen
Christison
Whatever Happened to Palestine?
Zoltan
Grossman
An Endless Occupation?
Paul
Craig Roberts
As the Empire Slips: Greenspan and the Economy of Greed
Stan
Cox
and Wes Jackson
Carbon-Free and Still Wrecking the Planet
Russell
Mokhiber
AARP to Kucinich: Drop Dead
Charles
Modiano
Jim Crow's Children: the Jena 6, Shaquanda Cotton and Blog Power
Raymond
J. Lawrence
Bush's Worrisome Use of Religion
Brendan
Cooney
Body-Snatched Nation
Website
of the Day
Mind Control for Breakfast
September
19, 2007
Paul
Craig Roberts
Why Did Senator John Kerry Stand
Idly By?
Paul
Krassner
The Power of Laughter
Sgt.
Martin Smith
The New Private Warriors: Blackwater in Iraq
Seth
Sandronsky
Living in a Dilapidated Market: To Rent or Own?
Claud
Cockburn
Looking back at the Great Crash
Victoria
Buch
Israel's Agenda for Ethnic Cleansing
and Transfer
Robert
Weissman
Oil Warriors: From Greenspan to Kissinger
Mike
Ferner
Can We Talk?
Dan
Bacher
Schwarzenegger's $9 Billion Boondoggle for Big Water
Website
of the Day
Housing Cost Calculator
September
18, 2007
Mike
Whitney
U.S. Banks Brace for Storm Surge
as Dollar and Credit System Reel
Alan
Farago
Interviewing Alan Greenspan: How 60
Minutes Blew It
John
Ross
America's Great Wall:
Where Will the Workers Go
When They Finish It?
Ron
Jacobs
Nooses Hung From Jena, La. to College
Park, Md.
Alex
Doherty
Britain's 9/11 "Truth Movement":
Who's Responsible?
September
17, 2007
Marjorie
Cohn
Erwin Chemerinsky and the Post-9/11
Attack on Academic Freedom
Paul
Craig Roberts
Conservatism Isn't What It Used to
Be
Ricardo
Alarcón
The Return of C. Wright Mills Amid
the Dawn of a New Era
Marc
Levy
Fake Vets Chasing Fame
Eva
Liddell
In 1969 We Already Knew What 2007
Would Look Like
Website
of the Day
Propaganda:
Your Job in Germany. Directed by Frank Capra, and written by
Theodor Geisel
Sept.
15-16, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
The General Came to Washington
Vicente
Navarro
How the U.S. Schemed Against Spain's
Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy
Mike
Whitney
Plummeting Dollar, Credit Crunch
Herman
Mindshaftgap
Has There Ever Been a Surge?
If so, Has it a Future?
Ellen
Cantarow
Girls! Music! Palestine!
Jordan
Flaherty
K-Ville: Fox's New Paean to the
N.O.P.D.
Zachary
Hurwitz
Julio Cusurichi on Amazonian Development
September
14, 2007
Debbie
Nathan
New York Times reporter was a member
of an illegal underage porn site, claims he was only "posing
as online predator"
Franklin
Lamb
Sabra-Shatilla, 25 Years Later
Patrick
Cockburn
Greet Bush and Die: The Killing of
Abu Risha
Farzana
Versey
The World's Richest Muslim Tycoon
Alan
Farago
This is Florida, Epicenter of the
Housing Bust and of Public Corruption
Hank
Edson
Bill's New Book is Giving Me a Headache
September
13, 2007
Patrick
Cockburn
Petraeus Confided Presidential Ambitions
to Iraqi Official
Scott
Vest, former Air Force Captain at Minot
The Barksdale Nukes
Andy
Worthington
Guantánamo: "Ghost"
Prisoners Speak At Last
Michael
Baney
Mr. Fixit of Quake-Stricken Peru Has
Death Squad Past
Dr.
Susan Block
Is U.S. Run by Secret Homintern?
September
12, 2007
Paul
Craig Roberts
American Economy: RIP
Stan
Goff
The Petraeus Report
William
Blum
When Soldiers Mutiny...Only Those Fighting
the War Can End It.
Manuel
Garcia
Forgetting 9/11
Debbie
Nathan
Why One Sex Survey Didn't Make the
Big Time
September
11, 2007
Patrick
Cockburn
The Fakery of General Petraeus
Iain
Boal
Specters of Malthus: Scarcity, Poverty,
Apocalypse
Michael
Dickinson
Osama on 9/11
Guerry
Hoddersen
Free Speech is Not Given, but Taken
Bill
Hatch
Irish Politics in Old Time California
Gary
Leupp
The Legacy of Luciano Pavarotti
Website
of the Day
Elisa Salasin's
"My September 11th"
September
10, 2007
Uri
Avnery
A Big Victory Against the Wall
Patrick
Cockburn
Petraeus's Closet
Saul
Landau and Farrah Hassen
Screwing Up In Iraq
David
Michael Green
Why Fred Thompson is Uniquely Qualified
to be the GOP's Nominee
Pius
Adesanmi
A Solidarity Letter to a Victim
of Michael Vick
Betty
Schneider
How to Deal With Sex Offenders
September
8 / 9, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
Will the US Really Bomb Iran?
Saul
Landau
The Irrational Drama of a Declining Empire
Ismael
Hossein-Zadeh
Hurricane Katrina and Bush's Wars
Ray
McGovern
Petraeus, the Westmoreland of Iraq
Matthew
Abraham
Finkelstein's Legacy at DePaul
Alan
Farago
The Governor and the Growth Machine
Christopher
Brauchli
Grand Old Party Animals
Rannie
Amiri
Battle of the Camps
Fred
Gardner
Will Snoops Get Stopped?
James
L. Secor
B-52 Flexing Nuclear Muscles: H-Bombs Over Barksdale
Missy
Comley Beattie
Choices: Shall We Stay or Shall We Go Now?
Ben
Tripp
Still in the Clover
Francis
Boyle
The University of Illinois' Little Red Sambo Show
Joe
Allen and Paul D'Amato
Jason Bourne vs. James Bond
Website
of the Weekend
Drilling Wyoming: the View from Above
September 7, 2007
Robert
Fantina
Those Iraq Reports: Bush vs. Reality
John
Ross
Coca-Cola's Raid on a Sacred Mountain
James
Brooks
The Occupation Within
Russell
Mokhiber
Robert Reich and the Elimination of Corporate Criminal Liability
Joshua
Frank
The Green Implosion Continues: Cyberlynching John Murphy
John
Walsh
On the Green Party
Mark
Brenner
New York Taxi Workers Strike Over Tracking Devices
Mike
Ferner
"I Will Salute No More Forever"
Website
of the Day
Help Save Osny Zachary's Life
September
6, 2007
Kathleen
and Bill Christison
Bush, Iran and Israel's Hidden
Hand
Allan
J. Lichtman
When General Petraeus Speaks, Don't Listen ...
Norman
Solomon
The Secret Addiction of Thomas Friedman
Yifat
Susskind
Hurricane Felix's First Responders: Courage and Tragedy on the
Miskito Coast
Catherine
Fenton
Why I Am Going to the Protest
Laura
Santina
Can the War Machine be Contained?
Farzana
Versey
Fission Kashmir
Yves
Engler
Haiti: Where a Wage of $2 a Day is Too Much for the Lords of
Industry to Pay
Kelly
Overton
Bang Bang; Shoot Shoot: Is Hunting Racist?
Michael
Simmons
One Jew's Views: The Strange Genius of Drew Friedman and Kominsky
Crumb
Website
of the Day
Dams and Genocide in Guatemala
September
5, 2007
Stan
Goff
The End Begins
Michael
Dickinson
Working for Mother Teresa: Memoirs of a Rebellious Volunteer
Matthew
Abraham
Standing Firm with Norman Finkelstein and DePaul's Heroic Students:
a Defining Moment
Patrick
Cockburn
The Basra Debacle
Dave
Lindorff
Beware the Wounded Beast
Paul
Craig Roberts
Who Are the Fanatics?
Clifton
Ross
Ecuador and the Struggle for Latin American Unity
Elizabeth
Schulte
Katrina's Forgotten Refugees
Joseph
Grosso
Labor Day in New York City
Ben
Terrall
Where's Nancy? On Trying to Protest Pelosi in San Francisco
Website
of the Day
A Guide to Narco Dollars
September
4, 2007
Jean
Bricmont
Why Bush Can Get Away with Attacking
Iran
Patrick
Cockburn
Cut and Run in Iraq
Ron
Jacobs
The Haditha Massacre: Spinning a War Crime
Tom
Kerr
Buried Alive on San Quentin's Death Row
Gary
Leupp
The Case of Jose Maria Sison
Sonja
Karkar
The Weeping Olive Trees of Palestine
Heather
Gray
The Best and Worst of America: 9/11, Joseph Lowery and the Lethal
Silence of Billy Graham
Fidel
Castro
The Super-Revolutionaries
Jackie
Corr
Home Depot Comes to Butte--Begging Bowl in Hand
Sunsara
Taylor
Katrina and the Progress of the System
Website
of the Day
Colombia Journal
September
3, 2007
Patrick
Cockburn
Brits Flee from Basra
Eamon
McCann
Qana, Derry: The Dead Lie in Familiar Shapes
Joshua
Frank
The End of the Green Party?
Chris
Floyd
Post-Mortem America: Bush's Year of Triumph
Marjorie
Cohn
A Look at Bush's Iran War Plans
Walter
Brasch
The News Drones: How Fake Photos Helped Lead the US to War in
Iraq
Matt
Reichel
Redefining the American Dream
Website
of the Day
Don't Get Fooled Again
September
1 / 2, 2007
Alexander
Cockburn
Entrapment Snares Larry Craig
Andy
Worthington
Britain's Guantánamo
Saul
Landau
The Tragic Ordeal of the Cuban Five
David
Keen
An Occident Waiting to Happen: Intellectuals and the War on Terror
Patrick
Cockburn
The Collapse of Iraq's Health Care
Services
Diana
Johnstone
Back in Uncle Sam's Pocket
George
Longstreth, MD
& Karen Longstreth, RN
The Sorrows of Occupation: Life in the West Bank
Linda
M. Woolf
A Sad Day for Psychologists--a Sadder Day for Human Rights
Ralph
Nader
Wrapping the World with Advertising
Fred
Gardner
The Trial of Mollie Fry, MD
Ben
Tripp
Enquiry in America Today
David
Michael Green
American Indigestion: Why Bush Governs from the Gut
Missy
Comley Beattie
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: What the GOP Hasn't
Learned About Tolerance
Michael
Dickinson
Who's Cheating: Remembering Princess Diana
Paul
Krassner
Assholes of the Week: From Larry Craig to Wesley Clark
Ron
Jacobs
A Sports Nation of Millions
Poets'
Basement
Buknatski, Davies and Mickey Z
|
September
25, 2007
Will Drug Lord
Do Less Time Than the Average American Nonviolent Drug Offender?
Perverted
Justice
By ANTHONY PAPA
The U.S. government recently praised
the arrest of Colombia's top drug lord Diego Montoya when he
was captured earlier this month. Law enforcement and military
officials say it was a powerful blow to Colombia's most powerful
drug cartel, comparing it to the capture of Al Capone during
Prohibition. Montoya, who had been on the FBI's top ten most
wanted list, is said to be responsible for providing as much
as 70% of all the cocaine in the United States. In 1999, a $5
million bounty for his capture and extradition was offered after
he was indicted in a federal court in Miami.
There is much talk about how this capture will affect the drug
trade and the flow of drugs into the U.S. But the question on
my mind is how much time will he serve when he is brought to
the United States to stand trial for the death and destruction
he has caused? I would be willing to bet that he will get less
time than many Americans who are now serving extraordinarily
long sentences, many for low-level, nonviolent drug law violations
under the notorious mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Some
would ask how would I come to this conclusion. If you look at
the recently completed federal sentence of former Panamanian
dictator Manuel Noriaga who served a 17-year federal sentence
for drug trafficking, it might give you a hint what is in store
for Montoya. In Noriaga's case the U.S. attorney negotiated
deals with 26 high level drug dealers, including drug lord Carlos Lehder.
They in turn received a package of perks that included leniency,
cash payments, and were allowed to keep their drug earnings in
return for testimony against the infamous general who was once
a strong United States ally before he fell from grace in 1989
when the U.S. invaded Panama.
There are many Americans in prison that are serving sentences
of more than 17 years in prison for simple drug crimes. These
are marginalized offenders that don't have the bargaining chips
to establish deals. For example, Elaine Bartlett, a mother of
four, served a 20-to-life sentence under the Rockefeller Drug
Laws for seven ounces of cocaine. Her husband, Nathan Brooks,
was sentenced to 25-years-to-life. The list goes on and on.
There are an estimated 500,000 Americans locked up because of
the drug war. Many of them are serving lengthy sentences because
of a 30-year government campaign to demonize illicit drug use
and implement mandatory minimum sentencing.
In 1986, mandatory minimum sentencing laws were enacted by Congress,
which compelled judges to deliver fixed sentences to individuals
convicted of certain crime, regardless of mitigating factors
or culpability. Federal mandatory drug sentences are determined
based on three factors: the type of drug, weight of the drug
mixture (or alleged weight in conspiracy cases), and the number
of prior convictions. Judges are unable to consider other important
factors such as the offender's role, motivation and the likelihood
of recidivism.
The push to incarcerate drug offenders has been further exacerbated
through the current federal sentencing law that punishes crack
cocaine offenders much more severely than offenders possessing
other types of drugs, for example, powder cocaine. Distributing
just five grams of crack carries a minimum five-year federal
prison sentence while distributing 500 grams of powder cocaine
carries the same sentence. This 100:1 sentencing disparity has
been almost universally criticized for its racially discriminatory
impact by a wide variety of criminal justice and civil rights
groups, and in Congress. Although whites and Hispanics form the
majority of crack users, the vast majority of those convicted
for crack cocaine offenses are African Americans.
Because of the war on drugs, which mandates mandatory minimum
sentencing, average drug offenders are routinely elevated to
kingpin status and condemned to serve out long prison sentences
that should be reserved only for actual drug kingpins, not individuals
that are fabricated to that level. It's time to end these draconian
laws and implement a sentencing structure that promotes fairness
and justice.
Anthony Papa is the author of 15
Years to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom and Communications
Specialist for Drug Policy
Alliance. He can be reached at: anthonypapa123@yahoo.com
Papa's artwork can be viewed
at: www.15yearstolife.com/art1.htm
|
Now Available!
How the Press Led
the US into War
Buy End Times Now!
New From
CounterPunch Books
The Secret
Language
of the Crossroads:
HOW THE IRISH
INVENTED SLANG
By Daniel Cassidy
Click Here to Buy!
Cassidy
on Tour
Click Here for Dates & Venues
"The Case Against
Israel"
Michael
Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz
Click Here to Buy!
Saul Landau's
Bush and Botox World
with a Foreword by Gore Vidal
Click Here to Order!
Grand Theft Pentagon
How They Made a Killing on the War on Terrorism
The Occupation
by Patrick Cockburn
Humanitarian Imperialism
By Jean Bricmont
CITY BEAUTIFUL
By Tennessee Reed
Bruce Springsteen On Tour
By Dave Marsh
The Book on 9/11 the White House Denounced
as "ABSOLUTE GARBAGE"
|
