|
Comment on this article |
Email this Article
|
|
Never submitted beyond preview stage |
|
Announcement :: Civil & Human Rights : Crime & Police : Drugs : Kansas City : Prisons : Racism |
|
A Prosecuting Attorney's Indictment of the War on Drugs |
Current rating: 0 |
by KCBill
Email: willyboy (nospam) myway.com (unverified!) |
29 Nov 2005
|
|
Listen to a local Prosecuting Attorney's views on the failure of drug prohibition. |
Former Wyandotte County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Leininger will be a guest on the Walt Bodine Show on KCUR radio 89.3 FM on Monday, December 5 at 10:00 AM and will present “A Prosecuting Attorney’s Indictment of America’s War on Drugs” to members of the Community of Reason (COR) discussion group on December 11 at 1:00 PM. Brian will be discussing his experiences as a prosecuting attorney and some of the problems created by the failure of drug prohibition.
As a young Assistant District Attorney in inner-city Kansas City, KS, Brian quickly learned that writing search warrants and accompanying the police as they took a ram to someone’s door was a lot more exciting than prosecuting forgery, auto burglary, and traffic cases. The narcotics officers he worked with were the thrill-seeking type who delighted in looking like Serpico and doing battle with their rival gang, the dope dealers. Brian was a 25-year-old blue-collar kid and had never been involved in anything so thrilling.
After watching officers kicking down doors and ripping apart families, Brian moved on to become General Legal Counsel to the Kansas Highway Patrol. He rode along with troopers as they combed the highways trying to determine which passing cars contained the mother lode. When they found one (after shaking down scores of innocent people), they posed with it as if it were a record-breaking fish.
After his experiences with the KHP, Brian entered the private practice of law and, to supplement his income, took a job as the part-time City Prosecutor for Wyandotte County, KS. He did the job he was assigned to do, but he quickly realized that his heart was not in it. He discovered that the police spent an inordinate amount of time working on drug cases and executing search warrants to discover a few grams of marijuana and a couple of roach clips. Brian saw this as a huge misallocation of resources and that time could be better spent finding car jackers, rapists, murderers and other violent criminals. Now, Brian’s only association with the “War on Drugs” is to oppose it. It is crystal clear to Brian, and thousands of other current and former law enforcement officials, that the so-called “war on drugs” creates much more misery that it prevents.
Brian is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the NORML Legal Committee and a Speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. The vast majority of his practice is devoted to the defense of DUI and drug cases. Bring a friend and come listen to Brian for an eye opening discussion of America’s failed drug policies and how these policies impact your safety and civil rights every day of the year.
Walt Bodine Show on KCUR radio 89.3 FM on Monday, December 5 at 10:00 AM.
The COR discussion group meets each Sunday on the UMKC campus, Haag Hall, Room 307. 1:00 PM. Parking is available on the fourth level of the parking garage on 52nd street. Use the cross walk north to Haag Hall, turn right, go to the end of the hall to room 307 in the corner. |
See also:
http://www.LEAP.cc
|
This work is in the public domain |
