Spy vs. Spy: Proposed legislation would compel people to spy on their family mem

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http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/22048/

 

Spy vs. Spy

 

By Bill Piper, AlterNet. Posted May 18, 2005.

 

Proposed legislation would compel people to spy on their family

members and neighbors, forcing all Americans to become foot soldiers

in the war on drugs.

 

Neighbors spying on neighbors? Mothers forced to turn in their sons or

daughters? These are images straight out of George Orwell's 1984, or a

remote totalitarian state. We don't associate them with the land of

the free and the home of the brave, but that doesn't mean they

couldn't happen here. A senior congressman, James Sensenbrenner

(R-Wis.), is working quietly but efficiently to turn the entire United

States population into informants--by force.

 

Sensenbrenner, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman, has

introduced legislation that would essentially draft every American

into the war on drugs. H.R. 1528, cynically named " Safe Access to Drug

Treatment and Child Protection Act, " would compel people to spy on

their family members and neighbors, and even go undercover and wear a

wire if needed. If a person resisted, he or she would face mandatory

incarceration.

 

Here's how the " spy " section of the legislation works: If you

" witness " certain drug offenses taking place or " learn " about them,

you must report the offenses to law enforcement within 24 hours and

provide " full assistance in the investigation, apprehension and

prosecution " of the people involved. Failure to do so would be a crime

punishable by a mandatory minimum two-year prison sentence, and a

maximum sentence of 10 years.

 

Here are some examples of offenses you would have to report to police

within 24 hours:

 

* You find out that your brother, who has children, recently

bought a small amount of marijuana to share with his wife;

* You discover that your son gave his college roommate a marijuana

joint;

* You learn that your daughter asked her boyfriend to find her

some drugs, even though they're both in treatment.

 

In each of these cases you would have to report the relative to the

police within 24 hours. Taking time to talk to your relative about

treatment instead of calling the police immediately could land you in

jail.

 

In addition to turning family member against family member, the

legislation could also put many Americans in danger by forcing them to

go undercover to gain evidence against strangers.

 

Even if the language that forces every American to become a de facto

law enforcement agent is taken out, the bill would still impose

draconian sentences on college students, mothers, people in drug

treatment and others with substance abuse problems. If enacted, this

bill will destroy lives, break up families, and waste millions of

taxpayer dollars.

 

Despite growing opposition to mandatory minimum sentences from civil

rights groups to U.S. Supreme Court Justices, the bill eliminates

federal judges' ability to give sentences below the minimum

recommended by federal sentencing guidelines. This creates a mandatory

minimum sentence for all federal offenses, drug-related or not.

 

H.R. 1528 also establishes new draconian penalties for a variety of

non-violent drug offenses, including:

 

* Five years for anyone who passes a marijuana joint at a party to

someone who, at some point in his or her life, has been in drug treatment;

* Ten years for mothers with substance abuse problems who commit

certain drug offenses at home (even if their children are not at home

at the time);

* Five years for any person with substance abuse problems who begs

a friend in drug treatment to find them some drugs.

 

These sentences would put non-violent drug offenders behind bars for

as long as rapists, and they include none of the drug treatment touted

in the bill's name.

 

At a time when everyone from the conservative American Enterprise

Institute to the liberal Sentencing Project is slamming the war on

drugs as an abject failure, Sensenbrenner is trying to escalate it,

and to force all Americans to become its foot soldiers. Instead of

enacting new mandatory minimums, federal policymakers should look

toward the states. A growing number have reformed their drug

sentencing laws, including Arizona, California, Kansas, Louisiana,

Maryland, New Mexico, New York and Texas, and they have proved it is

possible to both save money and improve public safety.

 

Simply put, there is no way H.R. 1528 can be fixed. The only policy

proposal in recent years that comes close to being as totalitarian as

this bill is Operations TIPS, the Ashcroft initiative that would have

encouraged -- but not required -- citizens to spy on one another.

Congress rightfully rejected that initiative and they should do the

same with H.R. 1528. Big Brother has no business here in America.

 

Bill Piper is director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance.