Michael Thompson was sentenced to 25 years in prison for selling three pounds of cannabis to a police informant, while the same substance is now being sold legally in clean storefronts with credit card readers and loyalty programs, leaving those who built the industry locked out of the profits.
Mandatory minimum sentences in the United States have failed to reduce crime and have instead driven mass incarceration, deepened racial disparities and undermined the fairness of the U.S. criminal legal system, according to extensive national research.
The American prison system is a carceral continuum that perpetuates cycles of harm, and reform is not the solution, but rather a reimagining of the society that produced prisons in the first place.
The War on Drugs has failed to address addiction, overdose, crime, and community breakdown, and instead has criminalized pain, isolation, poverty, and race, resulting in a public health disaster and a war on people, especially the most vulnerable among us.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins has made it clear that her approach to the city’s drug…
When it comes to criminal justice, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig’s office seems more concerned with…
Research shows extensive benefits from syringe exchange and other harm reduction programs. But misguided efforts to ban…
WASHINGTON, DC – Since the Presidential election results from earlier in November, activists and political scientists alike…
New Vera Institute research raises the alarm about stalling progress and warns that recent gains can’t be…
OAKLAND, CA— When media outlets reported last week on the results of the California Ballot, the Urban…
By Edward Krumpotich In recent years, Minnesota has undertaken a significant shift in its approach to addressing…
By David M. Greenwald Executive Editor Lost in the news crush of the militarized police response to…
By Bergen Greenley WASHINGTON, DC – The ACLU applauded President Biden’s announcement this week that he intends…
By David M. Greenwald Executive Editor If you are a hammer, everything looks like a nail. That…
By David M. Greenwald Executive Editor San Francisco, CA – Two weeks ago Ryan Khojasteh announced he…
By Audrey Sawyer WASHINGTON, DC – “One in Five: Racial Disparity in Imprisonment – Causes and Remedies.”…
Having survived multiple recall attempts in his first term, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón officially launched…
By The Vanguard Staff SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The recent surprise arrests of public defender clients by…
By David M. Greenwald Executive Editor San Francisco, CA – This week Governor Newsom and San Francisco…
As more and more states have turned toward the legalization of cannabis, the federal government continues to…