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The War On Drugs: Moral Panic And Excessive Sentences, Michael Vitiello
The War On Drugs: Moral Panic And Excessive Sentences, Michael Vitiello
Cleveland State Law Review
The United States’ War on Drugs has not been pretty. Moral panic has repeatedly driven policy when states and the federal government have regulated drugs. Responding to that panic, legislators have authorized severe sentences for drug offenses.
By design, Article III gives federal judges independence, in part, to protect fundamental rights against mob rule. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has often failed to protect fundamental rights in times of moral panic. For example, it eroded Fourth Amendment protections during the War on Drugs. Similarly, it failed to protect drug offenders from excessive prison sentences during the War on Drugs. This Article …
Reforming The High-States Gamble Of Covert Government Seizures, Jonathan Witmer-Rich
Reforming The High-States Gamble Of Covert Government Seizures, Jonathan Witmer-Rich
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
In a covert government seizure, police secretly enter a home when no one is present and seize contraband, often staging the scene to look like a burglary. These covert seizures are authorized by delayed notice search warrants. This Article identifies two serious problems with this practice and proposes reforms.
The first problem is that a successful covert seizure will likely provoke violent retaliation against innocent third parties. If the target of the covert seizure--say a drug dealer--believes someone has stolen a valuable drug stash, the dealer will seek to kill or harm whomever they believe conducted the burglary. The statute …