The US Government's Drug War
Terrorism
Drug War
terrorism: Hidden bombs carried in guise of good:
"Amber Alert" bill used to hide two attacks on
liberty
Hidden bomb #1: Feeney Amendment takes away discretion for judges to have mercy
Hidden bomb # 2: Rave Amendment strips freedom of speech from property owners
Like a suicide bomber standing in a day care center, the drug warriors used a popular agenda as a cover to do some of its dirtiest political work in recent years. A federal bill ostensibly to help rescue abducted children from their kidnappers was hijacked and made to carry two explosive attacks on legal integrity, personal freedom and property rights. The Feeney Amendment and Rave Act were unable to win passage on their own, but with chilling calculation, public support for protecting children was twisted into
Federal Feeney amendment passed
Washingdon DC, April 10, 2003 -- The Amber Alert bill was passed by the House and Senate with the Feeney Amendment that significantly limits judicial discretion to consider the circumstances of a particular case or to show any sort of compassion or mercy for defendants. The House approved the bill 400 to 25; the Senate, 98 to 0. Of the 25 House members who voted nay, the only Republican was Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) members who called and faxed their members of Congress and groups like the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), the American Bar Association (ABA) and many other individuals and organizations are credited with heading off the worst of the conference committee outcome yesterday. There was a great deal of pressure generated over a very short period of time and we are all gratified at how quickly a diverse set of people, organizations and institutions rose to try to save the guidelines.
The Feeney amendment was weakened somewhat -- the specific limitations on departure authority are now more limited, though it still overrules Koon and imposes reporting requirements that will surely chill judicial discretion. It also directs the Sentencing Commission to amend the guidelines and policy statements "to ensure that the incidence of downward departures are [sic] substantially reduced."
WHAT THE LEGISLATION DOES (we do not yet know when it takes affect):
1. Establishes new, separate departure procedure and standards for child-related offenses and sex offenses. Only permissible departures are those that the Commission specifically enumerates.
2. Limits departures based on age and physical impairment in child and sex cases.
3. Prohibits departures based on gambling dependence, aberrant behavior, family ties, and diminished capacity departures in child and sex cases only.
4. Establishes de novo appellate review of all departures (thus overruling Koon).
5. Prohibits downward departure on remand based on new grounds in all cases.
6. Requires government motion for extra 1-level adjustment based on extraordinary acceptance of responsibility and prohibits the Commission from ever altering this amendment.
7. Chills departures by imposing more burdensome reporting requirements on judges who depart, and gives DOJ access to Commission data files that identify each judge's departure practices.
8. Requires DOJ to report downward departures to Judiciary Committees, unless within 90 days AG reports to Congress on new regulations for opposing and appealing downward departures.
9. Directly amends pornography guidelines and commentary and prohibits the Commission from ever altering that text.
10. Prohibits the Commission, for a period of two years, from adding new departure grounds or passing amendments that are inconsistent with the departure restrictions.
11. Directs the Sentencing Commission to amend the guidelines and policy statements "to ensure that the incidence of downward departures are [sic] substantially reduced."
12. Limits the number of judges on the Sentencing Commission to three.
ACTION NEEDED
Thank you letters should be sent to the 25 lawmakers in the House of Representatives who voted against the Feeney amendment. We will post their names and links to their contact information as soon as possible on www.famm.org.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
Your calls, faxes and emails made the difference in mitigating some of the worst aspects of the Feeney amendment. Without you, the bill that passed would have been worse. In the coming weeks and months, FAMM and other groups will be strategizing on how we can work to stop further threats posed by this legislation and to put a 'human face' on departures and judicial discretion so that Congress will once again understand the importance of considering the individual facts of the case when fitting the punishment to the crime.
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