One of the consequences of treating drug addiction as a crime rather than a public health problem is the damage done to many urban neighborhoods. Current policies have made drug dealing a profitable venture, so it is not surprising that people in neighborhoods where profitable ventures are rare choose to deal drugs. Well-meaning public officials want to help reclaim those neighborhoods for law-abiding residents–a laudable goal. But like the drug war itself, these efforts can be misplaced.
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Category Archives: Criminal Justice
A Piecemeal Federalism
The recent Supreme Court term has ended with a flurry of decisions, some of which can only be characterized, charitably, as troubling.
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Promoting Public Safety
Is the criminal justice system broken? If so, how do we best fix it?
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Is This Reform?
As a (relatively) young lawyer, I once attended a party with my husband, an architect, at which I was accosted by another architect who very clearly was not fond of lawyers. He demanded to know what we were going to do about "all these d — d frivolous lawsuits!" When I asked him how he defined "frivolous" he looked at me…
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Gun Power
There is a difference between knowing something intellectually and knowing it viscerally. My husband and I just took a European holiday with two other couples. Each couple had a rental car. This particular day we…
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