Whenever I read about new proposed legislation or regulations that I know won't work, I try my damndest to believe that those making the proposal have good intentions and are simply not thinking clearly. There are, however, times when a proposal is so blatantly stupid and ill conceived that there is NO excusing the person(s) making the proposal.

Such is the case with the "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005" (H.R. 1528), introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) on April 6th. Naturally, it breezed through his committee, unlike many bills.

Yes, another piece of anti-drug legislation, and another "for the kids" bill.
Yes, another addition to the insane War on Drugs.
Yes, another Congressional attempt to subvert the Supreme Court.

Here is an analysis of the bill from FAMM (Families against Mandatory Minimums)

H.R. 1528 would:

- Effectively make the federal sentencing guidelines a system of mandatory minimum sentences through a "Booker-fix" provision. This provision forbids judges from departing below the guideline sentence in all but a few cases.

- Make the sale of any quantity of any controlled substance (including anything greater than five grams of marijuana) by a person older than 21 to a person younger than 18 subject to a ten-year federal mandatory minimum sentence.

-Create a new three-year mandatory minimum for parents who witness or learn about drug trafficking activities, targeting or even near their children, if they do not report it to law enforcement authorities within 24 hours and do not provide full assistance investigating, apprehending, and prosecuting the offender.

-Create a new 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for any parent committing a drug trafficking crime in or near the presence of their minor child.

- Mandate life in prison for persons 21 years or older convicted a second time of distributing drugs to a person under 18 or convicted a first time after a felony drug conviction has become final.

- Increase to five years the federal mandatory minimum sentence for the sale of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school, college, public library, drug treatment facility (or any place where drug treatment, including classes, are held), or private or public daycare facilities - in short, almost anywhere in cities across the U.S.

- Eliminate the federal "safety valve," granting it only when the government certifies that the defendant pled guilty to the most serious readily provable offense (the one that carries the longest sentence), and has "done everything possible to assist substantially in the investigation and prosecution of another person," and would prohibit the federal "safety-valve" in cases where drugs were distributed or possessed near a person under 18, where the defendant delayed his or her efforts to provide substantial assistance to the government, or provided false, misleading or incomplete information.

I don't give a whit about your attitudes toward drugs like marijuana. I don't use it, but I don't give a damn whether you do. But THINK about the effect of this legislation... is it designed to change behavior? Is it intended to reduce drug traffic or use? Is it really designed to protect youth?

In order for laws to have any effect on what people actually do, the people have to know about and understand it. If they don't know, or don't understand, it will have ZERO effect on them. You can't comply (even if you wanted to) with a law you don't know about.

If this passes, almost nobody is going to understand it... especially those people who are most likely to violate it. That leaves only one purpose for such legislation - to PUNISH... to make doubly-damned sure that punishment will be severe... for violation of laws you didn't even know about.

Are legislators really aiming to punish people for breaking laws they didn't know about? No legislator is likely to 'fess up to that, which leaves us with only one remaining conclusion:

The legislation is designed to make doubly sure government can convict and severely punish almost anyone they CHOOSE to go after. Congress has passed so many laws that no human being, including legislators, can possibly avoid being a law-breaker. We are ALL subject to arrest and conviction at any time. All it takes is someone to instigate an investigation, and an average citizen is likely to find himself behind bars, completely baffled at what just happened.

Congress has also increasingly taken discretion away from the courts and moved toward lock-step conviction and punishment that takes no notice of circumstances or context.

Ask someone who has been convicted of a drug crime (any kind, no matter how minor) to explain their case to you, and you will be astounded at the complexity. Our prisons are full of people who are studying law nearly full-time just to understand what happened to them, whether is was really legal, and what their lawyers might have done to prevent it. The only simple statement about drug laws is that "if they want you, there is some way they can nail you".

How bad are the drug laws and their penalties?

On federal marijuana charges the average sentence
served is 42 months, no parole

Compare that with sentences served for what most of us think of a real crimes... crimes where there are victims... crimes where people are hurt:

SEX ASSAULT - average sentence served: 35 months
HOMICIDE - average sentence served: 71 months
RAPE - average sentence served:65 months
KIDNAPPING - average sentence served:52 months
ROBBERY - average sentence served: 44 months
ALL VIOLENT CRIMES - average time served:43 months

This is legislative... political... insanity, and it is the basis of totalitarianism - total government control over the citizenry - government ability to "take out" whoever they want to, whenever they want to, for whatever reason they want.

This is the work of Republican legislators, but if you think that electing Democrats will make it any better, think again. It's all about power, and Democrats love power every bit as much as Republicans... power over you and I.