On March 15th, the Indianapolis Star ran a headline: "U.S. Poised to Become Top Jailer Worldwide." The article dutifully reported the results of a study by the Sentencing Project, documenting what criminal justice professionals all know?that thanks to prosecutions for drug offenses…
Continue reading “Our Insane War on Drugs”
Creating Crime
It looks as if Indianapolis’ murder rate will hit a record high again this year. The standard explanation for the epidemic is the prevalence of drugs in our community, and the recent "drug interdiction" traffic checkpoint netted chilling evidence of that prevalence….
Continue reading “Creating Crime”
A Culture of Contempt
It was an event for lawyers — a social occasion for those of us who have chosen careers devoted to interpreting and upholding the rules that civilized people use as a substitute for settling our differences by force. A dinner companion turned to me, almost angrily, to ask "Why isn’t the ICLU doing something about these thugs on…
Continue reading “A Culture of Contempt”
Curfew
There’s a lot of support for curfews to keep teenagers off the streets at night.
Continue reading “Curfew”
Making Public Policy
It is said that nature abhors a vacuum. While political observers complain about congressional gridlock, and policy wonks decry the absence of meaningful policy debates by our elected representatives, the vacuum is being filled by the courts–bor more accurately, by those who are…
Continue reading “Making Public Policy”