War on Drugs
Let’s take a simple test about the scope of the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution (ratified in 1865).
True or false: the Thirteenth Amendment prohibiting slavery applies to all people.
The correct answer is false.
The thirty-two-word Amendment states the following:
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to its jurisdiction.… Read the rest
The September 12–19, 2016, issue of Time, in its Ticker section on page 12, has a short entry: “President Obama commuted the sentences of 111 prisoners on Aug. 30, bringing the number of early releases he has granted to 673—more than the previous 10 Presidents combined. Most were drug offenders.”
Those who appreciate the unfairness of the harsh mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines baked into the punitive sentencing guidelines of the “War on Drugs” (the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986), clap with one hand for the president’s actions.… Read the rest