Published:
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Inaugurating our periodic feature of civil liberties items in the media:
Spokane’s Spokesman-Review reports on a new study by Gonzaga University on dropout prevention for middle schoolers. Included are many practical alternatives for people concerned about the “school-to-prison pipeline” – i.e., the reliance on “zero tolerance” discipline and other harsh measures that result in students being pushed out of school and ending up in the criminal justice system.
An article in The Stranger calls into question the Seattle Police Department’s many arrests of individuals simply for possessing marijuana when this is supposed to be – by the voter-passed Initiative 75 – the city’s lowest law enforcement priority. Included is this nugget from Alison Holcomb, the ACLU-WA’s drug policy director: "Even if police are stumbling across marijuana secondarily, it's still a waste of their time to process the paperwork for the marijuana offense. It's a waste of tax dollars to submit that marijuana for testing."
And finally, a point of pride: Our recent blog post on the Witt Standard in “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” cases is now featured on the national ACLU’s “Blog of Rights,” Daily Kos, and Pam’s House Blend.
