23. Reauthorizing the USA Patriot Act: Ensuring Liberty: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts of the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, 111th Cong. (2009) (statement of Russell D. Feingold, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin), http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111shrg55610/html/CHRG-111shrg55610.htm.
24. David Nutt, Estimating Drug Harms: A Risky Business? (London: Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, October 2009), http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/estimatingdrugharms.html.
25. Ruxandra Guidi, “Hiring Boom Connected to Rise in Corruption at Border Agency,” KPBS, July 14, 2011.
26. An excellent firsthand account of evidence planting is Justin Hopson, Breaking the Blue Walclass="underline" One Man’s War against Police Corruption (Bloomington, IN: Westbow Press, 2011).
27. Shalia Dewan and Brenda Goodman, “Prosecutors Say Corruption in Atlanta Police Dept. Is Widespread,” New York Times, April 27, 2007.
28. Ibid.
29. Jim Dwyer, “Those Drugs? They Came From the Police,” New York Times, October 13, 2011.
30. Ibid.
31. Omer Gillham, “Inmate Asks for Review of Life Sentence,” Tulsa World, October 31, 2010.
32. Kim Brown, “Recently Released Prisoner Gets New Look, Outlook on Life,” Tulsa World, September 27, 2011.
33. Gillham, “Inmate Asks for Review of Life Sentence.”
34. Ibid.
35. Singh’s story is retold based on letters from and telephone conversations with Singh; his wife, Linda Singh; and convicts incarcerated with him throughout 2011 and ending in early 2012.
36. Ayala’s story is based on letters from and telephone conversations with Ayala and convicts incarcerated with him, but most of the material is from a letter he wrote to me dated August 3, 2011.
37. ACLU–New Mexico, “ACLU Sues Border Patrol for Retaliating against Agent for Political Beliefs,” news release, January 20, 2011, http://www.aclu-nm.org/tag/free-speech/page/2/. Also see Jordan Smith, “The War on Talking about the Drug War,” Austin Chronicle, February 4, 2011.
38. ACLU–New Mexico, “ACLU Sues Border Patrol.”
39. Ibid.
40. Lucia Graves, “Border Patrol Agent Fired for Views on Drug Legalization Files Lawsuit,” Huffington Post, May 25, 2011, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/26/border-patrol-fired-drug-legalization_n_813999.html.
41. Patricia Allard, “Life Sentences: Denying Welfare Benefits to Women Convicted Of Drug Offenses,” The Sentencing Project, February 2002, http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/women_lifesentences.pdf.
42. Rutgers University is one of many schools of higher learning that quotes the statute as it explains student aid to prospective students. See Rutgers Office of Financial Aid, “Loss of Student Eligibility for Federal Aid Due to Drug Conviction,” accessed May 15, 2011, http://studentaid.rutgers.edu/drug.aspxhttp://studentaid.rutgers.edu/drug.aspx.
43. See Craig Reinarman and Harry G. Levine, eds., Crack in America: Demon Drugs and Social Justice (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997).
44. Gary Fields, “New Terms in Crack Debate,” Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303745304576359151139005180.html.
45. See ibid. for a good summation of these responses.
46. Richard A. Serrano, David G. Savage, and Carol J. Williams, “Early Release Proposed for Crack Cocaine Offenders,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2001.
47. FAMM, “DeJarion Echols,” Faces of FAMM: Federal Profiles, accessed December 24, 2001, http://www.famm.org/facesofFAMM/FederalProfiles/DeJarionEchols.aspx.
48. Ibid.
49. Stephannie Behrens, “How Many People Are Incarcerated for Drug Related Offenses?” Open Salon, May 17, 2010, http://open.salon.com/blog/stephannie/2010/05/16/how_many_people_are_incarcerated_for_drug_related_offenses.
50. Wilson’s case has been reported extensively by a long list of news media outlets, particularly the Times of Trenton, which refuses to let it die.
51. “18 Legal Medical Marijuana States and DC: Laws, Fees, and Possession Limits,” ProCon.org, February 22, 2013, http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000881.
52. All quotations by Ms. Shein are from interviews with the author during November and December 2011.
5. THE DEATH OF RACHEL HOFFMAN
1. Attorney Nathan Miller, a friend of the Hoffman family, alerted me to Rachel Hoffman’s case before it was well-known, and he knew many details. Eventually, it received coverage in a variety of news media. For a detailed look at the case, see Sarah Stillman, “The Throwaways,” New Yorker, September 3, 2012.
2. John Frank, “Man Found Guilty in Rachel Hoffman’s Murder,” Tampa Bay Times, December 17, 2009, http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/man-found-guilty-in-rachel-hoffmans-murder/1059484.
3. John Poltilove, “Rachel’s Law on Confidential Informants Takes Effect Wednesday,” Tampa Tribune, June 30, 2009.
4. In 2012 Tallahassee commissioners approved a $2.6 million settlement with Rachel’s parents for her wrongful death. “Tallahassee Settles Rachel Hoffman Death Suit for $2.6 Million,” Orlando Post, January 7, 2012.
6. THREE STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT
1. Jack Leonard, “L.A. Judge Begins Reducing Sentences of Three-Strikes Inmates,” Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2013.
2. Ibid.
3. Many articles on Gregory Taylor can be found in the Los Angeles Times, and his case is thoroughly explored in Joe Domanick, Cruel Justice: Three Strikes and the Politics of Crime in America’s Golden State (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005).
4. Victoria Kim, “Three-Ttrikes Inmate Welcomes His Freedom,” Los Angeles Times, August 20, 2010.
5. Ibid.
6. Bruce Golding, “NY 3-Time Loser Law Upheld by Fed Court,” New York Post, October 19, 2010.
7. “Editoriaclass="underline" Time to Reform State’s ‘Three Strikes’ Law,” Seattle Times, January 23, 2013. An excellent history of the origins and development of three-strikes legislation can be found in Domanick, Cruel Justice.
8. Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Profile of Nonviolent Offenders Exiting State Prisons,” fact sheet, October 2004.