When compared with many other states, it is no secret — in fact, it is easily perceived and readily noted by even a quick scan of relevant law — that Georgia authorities have an entirely uncompromising attitude toward marijuana-related matters. It takes only a minute or so to uncover stories demonstrating the harsh outcomes for… Read More

This blog has commented in select prior posts about the critically important role that trust must play in our criminal justice system in Georgia and nationally. In its absence, notions of fundamental fairness for persons suspected of crimes and facing the immeasurable powers of the police, investigators and prosecutors are out the window. “The most… Read More

Although marijuana might continue to be viewed harshly by law enforcement bodies, legislators and courts in Georgia, areas in many other parts of the country are showing signs that reveal a progressively relaxed attitude and tolerance for marijuana possession and use. A number of reasons underlie what some commentators are regarding as a virtual sea… Read More

United States Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) has stepped front and center in national media publications recently with his announcement that he will use all his clout and political capital to help “crush” Chicago’s street gangs. Kirk says that a state and federal crackdown reminiscent of the late 1920s and early 1930s campaign that brought down… Read More

Following is a story that manifestly reveals the stringent nature of Georgia’s drug laws and the potentially draconian outcome of a drug crimes case following conviction on a charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana. In 2007, a Jamaican citizen and legal immigrant was arrested by police in Georgia after they discovered marijuana in… Read More

As this blog has noted in prior posts, Georgia has comparatively harsh laws in place addressing drug crimes, even drug charges involving first-time non-violent offenders caught with small amounts of marijuana intended for personal use. According to the Georgia Campaign for Access, Reform and Education (CARE), state law enforcement officials arrested as many as 40,000… Read More

Many Americans might fail this Jeopardy-type question: Which country incarcerates more people than any other nation on earth, both in terms of absolute numbers and inmates per capita? That answer, confirmed through multiple and diverse sources, is, sadly, the United States. Many of those prisoners, both in the federal prison system and incarcerated in the… Read More

Commentators from the American Civil Liberties Union have taken aim at what they call “insidious interests” underlying legislation that has arisen in many states — including, centrally, Georgia — targeting poor and needy families in a selective manner exempting other groups. What the ACLU and other advocacy groups view with disdain and growing concern are… Read More

Baltimore prosecutors and officials from that city’s police department thought that an investigation was behind them after a suspect was sentenced to 10 years in prison on a crack cocaine and handgun charge. They were wrong, with a federal appellate court panel reminding them that it was egregious conduct committed by one of their employees… Read More

Police officers in Miami, Florida, got a tip in December 2006 that a person was likely engaged in a marijuana growing operation in his home. An officer and a trained police dog went up to the resident’s front door, where the dog assumed an alert position indicating the presence of pot. That action was used… Read More