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It has been a very busy legislative session on the civil liberties front. As of the 50th day of the session (when bills must make it out of their chamber of origin) ACLU of WV can announce that a few good bills are still alive while other bad pieces of legislation have perished. We will have a more conclusive update on the whole legislature at a later date.
However, what is un-arguably one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation I have ever seen during my tenure is still breathing and the progressive community must help to defeat it.
House Bill 4188, also known as the "Anti-Criminal Street Gang Act" will undoubtedly increase an already serious racial profiling problem we know exists in West Virginia. And let's be clear, when I say "we know racial profiling exists," it is because a study of over 300,000 traffic stops conducted over 18 months showed that minority drivers were one-and-a-half more times likely to be stopped on West Virginia roads and, once stopped, two-and-a-half times more likely to have their vehicles searched. The real kicker is ultimately, minority drivers were less likely to have any illegal contraband on them then their white counterparts.
And that is just the statewide average. On a local level, depending on which departments you isolate, the problem gets much worse and that is why this bill must be stopped. The legislation gives very broad powers to law enforcement to stop or question individuals hanging out in groups of three or more for nothing more that the clothes they are wearing or anything else law enforcement deems to be "gang related."
This is the legislative equivalent of throwing gasoline on a brush fire.
What you can do:
First, call Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler at 304.357.7880 and urge him NOT to run HB 4188. You can be specific by asking that he "Keep it off of the agenda."
Second, because I know this blog has a substantial Eastern Panhandle readership, call Senator Herb Snyder (D-Jefferson) and politely request he NOT support HB 4188.His Capitol Phone # is 304.357.7957
Certain public officials in Pendleton County, West Virginia are lobbying for a detention center to be built in the area. The center would be used as a housing facility for "non-violent" undocumented immigrants.
The story is still pretty fresh right now, but one thing sticks out as problematic right from the get-go. I have spent the last half an hour trying to find out more information about "GSI Professional Corrections." The tenor of the initial press indicates that they are a major player in what is going on here. In some of the press they are listed as having approached local officials with the idea of building this facility in the first place.
The fact that I cannot find any information on them concerns me a little.
If anyone can find out more specific information about who "GSI Professional Corrections" is and what it is they do, please post said information in the comments section as we want to shed some more light on this situation.
Suffice to say I respectfully disagree with any member who insists that this decision was made because "the other side" (a.k.a. ACLU) had more money. No, it was not money, but the rule of law, enshrined in our Bill of Rights that won this one.
Congrats to everyone involved. Special recognition goes to Adam Wolf from national ACLU's Drug Law Reform Project, ACLU of WV legal director Terri Baur, and WVU law professor Bob Bastress.
Here's to being vigilant in the defense of freedom.
This goes straight to the heart of why allowing a ballot referendum on the definition of marriage is unconstitutional. The rights of minorities are not a function of popular opinion.
If these tough economic times have put a crimp in your family's summer vacation budget, don't worry. Instead of Myrtle Beach or the Great Smoky Mountains, come on down to South Charleston to celebrate the anniversary of what is definitely one of West Virginia's most embarrassing moments.
That's right, the factions that felt so compelled over the removal of overtly religious references in public school textbooks that they started blowing things up are coming back for a twenty five 35 year reunion.
Actually, this will be good. Those who forget history are bound to repeat it. Likewise, those who ban books are also bound to repeat history because they can no longer read about it.
Yesterday, a report "Commissioned by the Governor" was released outlining 14 actions the state should take to address West Virginia's exploding prison population. Months ago, I blogged about this issue and what seemed to be a very powerful push to build yet another prison in West Virginia.
The Rev. Dennis Sparks, Executive Director, WV Council of Churches:
"The tough on crime methodology of the last 20 years has failed," Sparks said. "We're locking up people and they're coming out as better criminals. We have to move into preventive and treatment mode."
Sparks isn't sold on the commission's recommendation for a new prison. He said he was in the minority when members discussed the issue.
"If we start building a new prison today, that'll be $200 or $300 million, not counting the costs to run it," Sparks said. "That's more money not used for innovative treatment programs."
Sparks contends a vast number of inmates are low-risk offenders while he acknowledges the need for dangerous criminals to remain locked up.
He also said he was concerned the public would pay more attention to the recommendation for a new prison rather than the other ideas.
I would agree with Rev. Sparks that people are more likely to pay attention to the new prison aspect as opposed to anything else in the report.
The Rev. Matthew Watts also makes a good point when talking about what was missing in the report:
Watts said he was disappointed that the report didn't include more measures to prevent juveniles from becoming caught up in the criminal justice system.
"I think we're failing to realize that all of these adult offenders were children, and [many] were adjudicated juvenile offenders," he said. "You can't fix the problem unless you fix the pipeline."
I'll second that. It seems as if the report itself may be a way to try and legitimize a bad idea (building a new prison.) There are a litany of reasons that building a new prison will have minimal if any impact in addressing overcrowding.
First of all, 200 million dollars spent on a building a new prison is 200 million that cannot be spent on crime prevention programs or community corrections programs or even drug treatment programs, all of which would significantly reduce the overcrowding problem.
Secondly, our overcrowding problems are now, not later. This prison will take four years to build. Who knows how badly the problem will have gotten by then. Those against prison construction as economic development had better gird themselves, because we officially have a fight on our hands.
ACLU of WV summer intern, Matthew Bova, has been working hard the last few weeks to help lay the groundwork for what we hope will be a campaign to successfully address the issue of racial profiling by West Virginia Law Enforcement.
Officials quoted for the story noted that the rate of positive tests (about 6%) was less than they expected.
Todd Alexander is the administrative assistant for secondary schools and helped come up with the idea of the drug testing. He says school officials are encouraged by the low numbers compared to anonymous survey results that made them think it would be higher. "It ended up being like a 5.9 percent positive rate which I think is pretty much the standard," Alexander said.
I hate to break it to officials with the Cabell County school system, but the reason your positive rate is lower than your anonymous survey results is because students involved in extracurricular activities are less likely to be involved in drugs than other students. In fact, Mr. Alexander more or less admits that later in the interview:
Alexander says there were 1,141 students in the pool that could have been tested, leaving 2,300 students between the two high schools that couldn’t be tested, because they didn’t meet the criteria. He says officials are concerned that they aren’t testing the right group. But because of a Supreme Court ruling in 2001, only students taking part in extracurricular activities, students who drive to school or who volunteer can be tested.
This is important for a variety of reasons. Those who argue against policies such as the one instituted by Cabell County make several arguments in building their case. One of those arguments is that it's an unconscionable misuse of public resources to spend money where very little or no problem exists.
Tax dollars for education are not an infinite resource. When spending money to address the very serious and palpable problem of drug use among kids, government officials must at all times put those resources where they will be most effective. Spending money where there isn't much of a problem and allowing the real problem to go unaddressed (which is what this policy is doing) is terrible.
To be sure, ACLU of WV is by no means advocating drug testing the other portion of the student body not involved in extracurricular activities. What we are saying is the results provided in the first round of Cabell County's drug testing bonanza have confirmed what others around the country have known for quite some time. Basically, by spending money on this program, Cabell County cannot spend money addressing the issue of drug use by students not engaged in extracurricular activities, which, it can be reasonably inferred, is where the problem is more prevalent.
Wouldn't it be a better use of resources to employee an extra counselor or two to work with at risk kids in the school system? What about the barriers the current program places between at risk kids and the extracurricular activities that could help straighten their lives out?
It seems pretty obvious that athletics, volunteerism, competitive school clubs, and other extracurricular activities provide a successful alternative to getting mixed up with illegal drugs. Why not devote County resources to finding ways that encourage more students to get involved in the extracurricular activities that would help keep them out of trouble?
I am willing to bet the prospect of being forced to surrender a sample of one's urine for inspection is keeping a lot of kids in Cabell County from even thinking about participating in the very extracurricular activities that would offer a successful alternative to experimental and otherwise harmful drug use.
One thing is for sure, a lot of kids in Cabell county are still involved in drugs. Instead of investing resources to address this issue responsibly, the local Board of Education has decided to try and claim a victory by more or less saying, "Look, the people not near as likely to be involved in drugs aren't testing positive that often. What a success!"
Not so fast! Everyone who cares about the privacy rights of students as well as policy that successfully tackle the issue of drug use among teenagers shoud take time to see these results for what they really are-proof that random drug testing of students involved in extracurricular activities is a failed policy that takes valuable public resources away from the real problem and therefore, makes it worse.
This blog has consistently been the authority on calling out right wing hypocrisy in West Virginia. I will point to the instance in which Heath Harrison's story detailing the self-styled WV Family Policy Council's not so subtle ties to Republican operatives from out of state.
That post played a part in creating lot more coverage of that group's real agenda All Journalists involved in exposing those facts should take some of the credit for defeating House Joint Resolution 5 (The Marriage Amendment) during the past regular session of the legislature. (Props also to Lawrence Messina for his coverage.)
In the spirit of continuing that narrative, I want to pass on an excellent piece from the Reader's Forum of today's Charleston Gazette. Mike Harman from St. Albans hits the nail on the head: (Author's note: I ordinarily would not post the entirety of an article. This one is just that good and must be posted all at once.)
Family Policy Council should refocus aims
Editor: Jeremiah Dys, a Republican political operative serving as the president of the Family Policy Council of West Virginia, wants to advance a conservative political agenda in West Virginia, even if it means fabricating false ideas about the Christian Bible in order to do it.
The organization called "The Family Policy Council" was known as the "West Virginia Values Coalition" in 2005. This organization, fully embedded with the national Republican Party throughout its existence, thrives on big-time Republican money but uses a so-called "Christian" religious front to advance its political agenda.
When you consider an authentic family-focused organization, such as the Family Advocates program based in Boise, Idaho, you see a non-political organization dedicated to keeping abused children out of danger and in safe homes, while partnering with parents to build strong families. They do this by raising money from a variety of businesses and individuals, and operating two programs, one of which is the Court-Appointed Special Advocates program (CASA) where a trained volunteer works with a child who has been placed in foster care due to suspected abuse or neglect. The other program is Families First, where parent educators work closely with parents to create an individual support plan, tailored to the needs of the parents. Together they work to help the parent feel more confident about parenting and prepare their children for success in school. All services to parents are free and voluntary and take place during home visits.
Jeremiah Dys and the Family Policy Council of West Virginia consistently ignore the extremely pressing needs of families in West Virginia who are desperate for trained and motivated volunteers and professionals, like the ones working for Family Advocates and for West Virginia Child Protective Services. These fine, dedicated folks are on the front lines every day working to prevent and lessen the trauma of child abuse and neglect.
Instead of being obsessed with withholding the legal status of marriage from gay couples, it would make more sense if the Family Policy Council addressed why so many children in traditional mother-father homes are victimized and abused by their "traditional" parents. But of course such a change of heart would not advance their political agenda.
Amen. To second Mr. Harman's comments, I would refer the Family Policy Council to a few members of the Senate Bill 238 Coalition.
It is easy to throw the words "family values," "in the heart of God," and other bombastic rhetoric around when you are pushing a partisan political agenda. It takes real courage to get into the trenches and heal people who have been broken down by abusive relationships, have issues with war time post traumatic stress syndrome, or have been left alone and need a legal advocate to represent them in front of the state.
For those who didn't see this gem in Yesterday's Charleston Gazette, the President of the Kanawha County Board of Ed. has decided that it's time to Cry Havoc and Let Loose the Dogs of War (pun absolutely intended!)
I want to believe that their intentions are the best, even if their proposed methods for addressing drug use amongst students are not very sound.
Focusing resources on drug use when people already have the drugs is not a very good policy and will not yeild productive results. When it comes to prescription drug abuse, more focus needs to be put into why this stuff seems so easy to get in massive quantities.
I think it is fair to say that a big part of the problem could be addressed if persons were limited to more reasonable prescriptions. What on earth are you going to do with 300 pills of oxycontin anyway?
It seems as if there is more and more energy being expended to remove the rights of students in this country, which concerns me for the future of privacy as a whole. If students grow up in an environment where they are constantly taught that their privacy doesn't matter, then by the time they are adults, they won't be likely to fight for their privacy rights. Think of it, we are watching as a generation of young Americans are conditioned to believe that their rights against unreasonable search and seizure aren't applicable to them. Today, drug sniffing dogs and random drug tests in the schools. Tomorrow, a generation of young adults who won't stand up for their privacy because they have been taught it doesn't matter.
You will remember a judge in Fayette County deciding that a foster family could not offer their home to a little girl without parents. His decision was based on the foster parents' sexual orientation.
More analysis of the decision itself at a later time, but for now, this is a big victory, and ACLU of WV was proud to submit a 'friend of the court' brief on behalf of the Foster family and equal rights for all.
Feature article on torture and accountability from Executive Director, Frank Crabtree
Profile of ACLU of WV member and otherwise tireless advocate Julie Archer of Citizen Action Group
We take a great deal of pride in producing our newsletters, and it comes out in the final product. Feel free to print as many copies as you like.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend, and please take a moment to honor those individuals who have fallen in the name of defending our Country and Constitution.
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