Drug Decriminalization in Maryland Through an African Centered Research Paradigm- Analysis and Recommendations

More documents

Info

Our study of media portrayals of race and opioids points to the critical role of racialized imagery and narratives in generating public support for disparate policy responses in drug control. The extent of unmarked, naturalized discourses of white deservedness and humanity in the face of opioid addiction indicates the degree to which racially disparate drug laws require extensive cultural work to justify and maintain against political challenges. The flurry of media activity around white prescription opioid use represents a considerable investment of public relations effort. It may also indicate the vulnerability of racialized constructs of race, addiction and criminality to social analysis and organized alternative readings of drug policy. Media analysis is a political act, one piece of a multipronged effort that will be necessary to challenge drug war punishment and as racial violence in contemporary form.” (Netherland and Hassan, 2016) The notion that “policy assessments could go a long way in heightening public awareness of the ways that racism is institutionally reinforced” is noteworthy and requires further interpretation in terms of what an African-centered research paradigm might see as desirable framings of policy issues and how these might differ from much of the current literature on drug decriminalization. It may be useful to expound upon where an African-centered research paradigm might recommend caution. As previously stated, narratives of the “inno[cent] victims” of the War on Drugs are fraught with danger, as they presuppose a search for a “perfect victim” who is “rational” and “respectable” and thus worthy of sympathy. In addition to potentially working against the larger mission of legitimizing and containing addiction, recreational illicit drug use, and the drug selling that often accompanies addiction, these frames of innocence and respectability are deeply racialized. However, in line with the “diunital” thinking previously introduced, that does not mean this argument need play no role in making an emancipatory case for drug decriminalization. The HRW “Every 25 Seconds” report introduces the concept of “false positives” from police drug tests done in the field. They write: “Like Isaac’s conviction for drug possession, dozens more in Harris County in 2015 were ultimately vacated and the charges dismissed, but only because authorities took the time to have the drugs tested, after the case dispositions. The exonerations required laboratory testing, defense and prosecution filings for habeas corpus relief, trial court recommendations, and eventual dismissal by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.283 In the meantime, defendants had to endure pretrial detention, probation, sometimes a jail sentence, and the prospect of a felony conviction for action that was lawful. 4151 Park Heights Avenue, Suite 207, Baltimore, MD 21215 • www.lbsbaltimore.com • (410) 374-7683
As the exonerations in Harris County demonstrate, people plead guilty to drug possession even when they are innocent, because the system makes them feel they have no choice. These cases also show that field tests often produce false positives and yet are sometimes the only evidence of drug possession. Fortunately for the defendants, Harris County invested the time and resources to test drugs after conviction. Harris County Public Defender Alex Bunin told us that if other jurisdictions undertook the same effort, he expected we would see that around the country indigent defendants plead guilty to drug possession when they are innocent.” (Human Rights Watch, 2016). This is interesting not merely from the perspective of promoting the “innocence” narrative, but specifically because it impugns the ability for cops to be perceived as competent and effective adjudicators of guilt and innocence under drug prohibition. As such, a research project that focuses on limiting policing to be able to test for drugs accurately, with an explicit focus on the police’s ability to “game” the test or the fundamental issues of field tests essentially taking the place of jury trials in establishing guilt and innocence, would help delegitimize the very notion that drug possession can be adjudicated in a criminal manner and thus help foster a drug decriminalization narrative. Additionally, funding for a project, as was done in Texas, that attempts to exonerate those convicted of drug possession based on false positive field tests could be a productive research inquiry. This would also meet the objective of “heuristic” or applied research in that it would have real-world results towards furthering the goal of the material liberation of oppressed people. It would help individuals craft appeals that could lead to their exoneration and freedom. While this would feed the myth of “innocence,” the real world material contribution to liberating people from prison makes this effort a fruitful research effort. Again, these efforts must explicitly be defined by researchers as delegitimizing the very notion that police should have the authority to police drug possession, lest these efforts be recast by police “reformers” as a means to give them more researchers for better and “more professional” testing. Researchers must be cognizant of deeply embedded pro-police assumptive logic embedded in American society which can make even efforts designed to challenge police authority into reasons to give them even more money and support in the name of “reform”. Moreover, researchers should be cautious when confronting the notion of empathy and emphasizing the illegitimate suffering of the victims of the War on Drugs. While it is the assumption that this sort of humanization creates identification with victims which is politically productive, it assumes the experiences of those who are victimized are knowable to the audiences. A reality which is dangerous as it creates the assumption that white audiences are able to understand and identify with the suffering of African peoples on the terms of African peoples. Where what more often happens is the deep suffering of people of African descent gets transposed into political and moral narratives that are familiar to white audiences (Hartman, 2010). Columbia University professor and MacArthur Genius award recipient Sidiya Hartman presents this analysis 4151 Park Heights Avenue, Suite 207, Baltimore, MD 21215 • www.lbsbaltimore.com • (410) 374-7683
Page 1 and 2:
Drug Decriminalization in Maryland
Page 3 and 4:
“In the face of this wave of over
Page 5 and 6: 2. Understand that paradigmatic ana
Page 7 and 8: While it is seductive to chalk thes
Page 9 and 10: paradigms and tools created by the
Page 11 and 12: is both an attempt to account for t
Page 13 and 14: Just as the dominant mode of scient
Page 15 and 16: concepts and find the truth embedde
Page 17 and 18: next section will seek to apply the
Page 19 and 20: decide how to use them for themselv
Page 21 and 22: from the outside, Baudrillard shows
Page 23 and 24: geographic boundaries between Black
Page 25 and 26: a former UN Secretary General, and
Page 27 and 28: health imperative seems to justify
Page 29 and 30: discipline themselves in conformity
Page 31 and 32: of critiquing power, the African Ce
Page 33 and 34: dependency occur objectively outsid
Page 35 and 36: from military dictatorship to democ
Page 37 and 38: young and their are for more cannab
Page 39 and 40: litureates seems to advocate for, t
Page 41 and 42: influences” from your past as a p
Page 43 and 44: significant number of them were hom
Page 45 and 46: The conversation around decriminali
Page 47 and 48: In the first, an alleged rape, the
Page 49 and 50: to arrest or citation in those beat
Page 51 and 52: is important, it is also important
Page 53 and 54: “As this example illustrates, the
Page 55: Recommendations We have created thi
Page 59 and 60: conducive to aggressive, heavy-hand
Page 61 and 62: legalization of adult use cannabis
Page 63 and 64: 3. Respect for and active perpetuat
Page 65 and 66: This concept of promoting socio-eco
Page 67 and 68: against the victims ofWhite racist
Page 69 and 70: tioners, these human service profes
Page 71 and 72: Notably, the trial and appellate co
Page 73 and 74: Chapman, Chris, and A. J. Withers.
Page 75 and 76: INCITE! Women of Color Against Viol
Page 77 and 78: Moynihan , Daniel Patrick. “(1965
Page 79 and 80: Schiele, Jerome H. Human Services a
show all

Drug Decriminalization in Maryland Through an African Centered Research Paradigm- Analysis and Recommendations

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?