Davis / 2 Senator Williams

S.S._____

A BILL
Will allow Government to intervene in enforcing Drug laws, which will then allow less harsh
punishments, less of aggressive law enforcement on colored communities and less horde of the jail
population.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled.
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Drug Reform Act of 2015.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) Life-long exclusions inequitably affect individuals and communities of color.
2) The U.S. prison population increased between 1980 and 2009, from approximately 320,000 inmates
to 1.62 million.
3) 33 countries and territories around the world still use the death penalty.
4) The systematic imprisonment of drug offenders cost taxpayers millions of dollarsfunds that could
be invested in more effective responses to drug dependence, namely drug dependence treatment
services, educational campaigns and basic healthcare services.
5) Many states are now also engaged in drug law reform and the reduced use of long mandatory
sentences for nonviolent drug felonies.
6) The Obama Administration is committed to funding and evaluating the long-term effects of these
innovative criminal justice and corrections interventions.
7) In recognition of the considerable potential in cost savings, improved outcomes for offenders, and
improved public safety, a growing number of state and local officials around the country are starting
their own promising initiatives to break the cycle of drug use, crime, and incarceration.
8) Complying with the letter and spirit of ICERD requires the United States to untangle the twisted
dynamics of race, poverty, drugs and law enforcement.
9) The emphasis on harsh penal sanctions cannot be divorced from the widespread and deeply rooted
public association of racial minorities with crime and drugs.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) This Bill will set rules and guidelines on how to go about the incarceration of Drug Abusers. The
Bill will help stop the harsh punishments, the horde of jail population, and stop aggressive law
enforcement on colored communities. Defenders of anti-drug efforts want to protect poor minority
neighborhoods from addiction and violence.
B) The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination or ICERP is
the most complete expression of the international community's commitment to the principle of racial
equality and the right to be free of racial discrimination.
C) The ICERD recommended that the United States ensure that it prohibits racial discrimination in all
its forms, including practices and legislation that may not be discriminatory in purpose, but in effect.
Countless race-neutral laws or practices may adversely affect one racial group more than another.
Under ICERD, an unfavorable racially differing impact becomes vetoed discrimination when the
impact is unjustifiable.