FINANCING THE WAR ON DRUGS: THE IMPACT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT GRANTS ON RACIAL DISPARITIES IN DRUG ARRESTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-224
Author(s):  
Robynn Cox ◽  
Jamein P. Cunningham
1993 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 528-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Marquart ◽  
Madhava Bodapati ◽  
Steven J. Cuvelier ◽  
Leo Carroll

The degree to which the criminal justice system operates as an integrated network of agencies has not been systematically examined. This article illustrates how the police, courts, and corrections systems in Texas adapted to the conflicting demands to increase enforcement of drug laws and punish offenders, on the one hand, and complied with a prison population cap, on the other. Results show that drug arrests remained a small proportion of total law enforcement efforts. The drug war was waged in the courts. Convictions resulted in the incarceration of more offenders. Inmates were released early to maintain compliance with population caps.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312110270
Author(s):  
Mariam Ashtiani

Racial biases in law enforcement over the past three decades have been linked to the racialized policies of the war on drugs. The author examines the educational consequences of the war on drugs on the lives of youth by analyzing racial differences in the impact of a juvenile drug arrest on high school dropout. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health, the author finds that juvenile drug arrests are more consequential for Black and darker phenotype Latinx youth, who are less likely to be involved in delinquent and criminal behaviors than white youth with drug arrests. The author suggests that racial disparities in drug enforcement may be creating a racialized selection bias among drug arrestees, leading to racially disparate consequences for drug arrests, but not for other types of arrest. The results hold important implications for how drug arrests can produce and sustain racial disadvantages in educational attainment.


Author(s):  
Anita Lam ◽  
Timothy Bryan

Abstract In contrast to quantitative studies that rely on numerical data to highlight racial disparities in police street checks, this article offers a qualitative methodology for examining how histories of anti-Blackness configure civilians’ experiences of present-day policing. Taking the Halifax Street Checks Report as our primary object of analysis, we apply an innovative dermatological approach, demonstrating how skin itself becomes meaningful when police officers and civilians make contact in the process of a street check. We explore how street checks become an occasion for epidermalization, whereby a law enforcement practice projects onto the skins of civilians locally specific histories and emotions. To think with skin, we focus on the narratives shared by African Nova Scotians, a group that has been street checked at higher rates than their white counterparts. By doing so, we argue that current debates about police street checks in Halifax must attend to the emotional stakes of police-initiated encounters in order to fully appreciate the lived experience of street checks for Black civilians.


2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-182
Author(s):  
WILL COOLEY

AbstractThe rise of crack cocaine in the late 1980s propelled the war on drugs. The experience of Canton, Ohio, shows how the response to crack solidified mass incarceration. A declining industrial city of 84,000 people in northeast Ohio with deep-seated racial divides, it was overwhelmed by aggressive, enterprising crack dealers from outside the city. In response, politicians and residents united behind the strategy of incessant arrests and drastic prison sentences. The law-enforcement offensive worsened conditions while pursuing African Americans at blatantly disproportionate rates, but few people engaged in reframing the drug problem. Instead, a punitive citizenry positioned punishment as the principal remedy. The emergency foreclosed on more comprehensive assessments of the city’s tribulations, while the criminal justice system emerged as the paramount institution.


Author(s):  
Luca Giommoni ◽  
Giulia Berlusconi ◽  
Alberto Aziani

AbstractThere is a relative dearth of literature on both the effects of cross-border interdictions and the impact of different types of interventions on international drug trafficking. This study identifies the main trafficking routes for cocaine and heroin, along with comparing the disruptive effects induced by targeted and non-coordinated interventions. It adopts a social network approach to identify the routes along which cocaine and heroin are trafficked, and then simulates the impact of different interdiction strategies on these two trafficking networks. The findings indicate that targeting countries based on their respective positions in the networks, as opposed to on the basis of the quantity of drugs exchanged, is more likely to disrupt drug flows. More specifically, concentrating law enforcement resources on countries with several incoming or outgoing trafficking connections, or those countries that mediate between producer, transit and consumer countries, would appear to be particularly effective in this regard. Interventions focused on specific trafficking routes are also likely to be effective if these routes have high edge betweenness centrality scores. This study contributes to extant understanding on the vulnerability of cocaine and heroin international trafficking networks, and, moreover, demonstrates that empirically-driven strategies are potentially more effective at interdicting international trafficking than non-strategic and non-coordinated interventions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-76
Author(s):  
Miriam Fisher ◽  
Brian McManus

Purpose – To explain the details and implications of a September 9, 2014 federal indictment, US v. Robert Bandfield, the first time a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) violation has been charged as an “overt act” in furtherance of a tax conspiracy and securities fraud. Design/methodology/approach – Provides background, including the enactment of FATCA and the details of the indictment; describes an undercover investigation conducted by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force; and discusses the warnings this indictment sends to the global financial community. Findings – The indictment confirms the coordinated and aggressive tactics US law enforcement is now employing to investigate and prosecute offshore financial fraud. Practical implications – Banks and financial service providers need to be aware of the impact of enhanced US regulatory obligations and implement appropriate compliance measures. These institutions must also remain sensitive to risks presented by unscrupulous customers. Finally, they must be ready to manage appropriately information-gathering and investigatory inquiries originating with US authorities. Originality/value – Practical guidance from experienced tax controversy lawyers.


Neurology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (15) ◽  
pp. 729-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian L. Gordon Perue ◽  
Susan E. Fox-Rosellini ◽  
Nicole B. Sur ◽  
Erika Marulanda-Londono ◽  
Jason Margolesky ◽  
...  

Recent racial inequities as illustrated by the health disparities in COVID-19 infections and deaths, the recent killings of Black men and women by law enforcement, and the widening socioeconomic inequality and have brought systemic racism into a national conversation. These unprecedented times may have deleterious consequences, increasing stress, and trauma for many members of the neurology workforce. The Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism Committee within our Department of Neurology provides infrastructure and guidance to foster a culture of belonging and addresses the well-being of faculty, staff, and trainees. Here, we present the creation and implementation of our Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism (EDIA) Pledge, which was central to our committee's response to these unprecedented times. We outline the process of developing this unique EDIA Pledge and provide a roadmap for approaching these important topics through a Continuing Medical Education Neurology Grand Rounds aimed at fostering a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and antiracist work environment. Through the lived experiences of 4 faculty members, we identify the impact of bias and microaggressions and encourage allyship and personal development for cultural intelligence. We hope that these efforts will inspire neurology departments and other academic institutions across the globe to make a similar pledge.


Author(s):  
Wendi Pollock ◽  
Natalia D Tapia ◽  
Deborah Sibila

The death of George Floyd on 25 May 2020 again left people asking why U.S. police officers so commonly resort to the use of deadly force when interacting with Black individuals. The current article proposes that media, combined with cultivation theory and social cognition concepts may create implicit biases that are potential contributors to this problem. Police officers have a greater vulnerability to these biases because intake of crime-related media positively predicts their interest in selecting law enforcement as a career. Other predictors of an interest in working in law enforcement, and implications of these findings, are discussed.


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