RedCeltic
20th May 2002, 14:20
'Drop the Rock!'
By Sara Catalinotto
New York
On May 8 at noon, about 200 people rallied in front of Gov. George Pataki's Manhattan office to demand repeal of the Rockefeller drug laws that feed the prison-industrial complex and tear apart families while doing nothing to cure substance abuse or stop drug profiteering. Chanting, "Drop the Rock," demonstrators held placards with pictures and slogans of people now serving long prison sentences for minor drug possession charges.
The state has many ways to prey on people suffering from drug addiction, including entrapment. Even bystanders who are not drug users have been caught in the vicious web of sweeping drug arrests. Mandatory minimum sentences under these laws can mean that first-time offenders could spend decades in jail.
The laws' overall racist character can be seen in the statistics: African American and Latino people make up 94 percent of those jailed under these laws, while the use and sale of drugs is much more evenly distributed among all nationalities.
Some speakers at the rally characterized their growing movement as the "civil rights movement of the 21st century."
Speakers and delegations represented various churches, community-based substance abuse recovery programs, and organizations for relatives of the incarcerated. The related issue of a lack of alternatives to prison for mothers who are convicted of non-violent crimes was raised by the Mothers in Prison-Children in Crisis National Campaign, whose members played a tape recording of a crying baby to dramatize the suffering of the laws' innocent victims.
Under capitalism it is a crime to be poor, but not a crime to profit off captive labor at prison factories and switchboards. Anyone can show their support for the Drop the Rock campaign by attending the next major New York City event on June 15. This will include a rally outside the Harlem State Office Building at 12 noon and a concert in Marcus Garvey Park.
Reprinted from the May 23, 2002, issue of Workers World newspaper
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [email protected] Subscribe [email protected] Unsubscribe [email protected] Support independent news www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
By Sara Catalinotto
New York
On May 8 at noon, about 200 people rallied in front of Gov. George Pataki's Manhattan office to demand repeal of the Rockefeller drug laws that feed the prison-industrial complex and tear apart families while doing nothing to cure substance abuse or stop drug profiteering. Chanting, "Drop the Rock," demonstrators held placards with pictures and slogans of people now serving long prison sentences for minor drug possession charges.
The state has many ways to prey on people suffering from drug addiction, including entrapment. Even bystanders who are not drug users have been caught in the vicious web of sweeping drug arrests. Mandatory minimum sentences under these laws can mean that first-time offenders could spend decades in jail.
The laws' overall racist character can be seen in the statistics: African American and Latino people make up 94 percent of those jailed under these laws, while the use and sale of drugs is much more evenly distributed among all nationalities.
Some speakers at the rally characterized their growing movement as the "civil rights movement of the 21st century."
Speakers and delegations represented various churches, community-based substance abuse recovery programs, and organizations for relatives of the incarcerated. The related issue of a lack of alternatives to prison for mothers who are convicted of non-violent crimes was raised by the Mothers in Prison-Children in Crisis National Campaign, whose members played a tape recording of a crying baby to dramatize the suffering of the laws' innocent victims.
Under capitalism it is a crime to be poor, but not a crime to profit off captive labor at prison factories and switchboards. Anyone can show their support for the Drop the Rock campaign by attending the next major New York City event on June 15. This will include a rally outside the Harlem State Office Building at 12 noon and a concert in Marcus Garvey Park.
Reprinted from the May 23, 2002, issue of Workers World newspaper
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [email protected] Subscribe [email protected] Unsubscribe [email protected] Support independent news www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)