Correction: In the following article originally appearing in Vol. 23 Issue 11 of Nota Bene on March 18, 2009, the author stated that Eric Sterling worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee. He actually worked for the House Judiciary Committee. He helped draft the statute creating the mandatory minimum sentences in the Anti-Abuse Act of 1986, not the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. During the talk, Mr. Sterling stated that white high students are four times more likely to use cocaine than black high school students, not ten times more likely, which was previously quoted.

Last Tuesday, the George Washington chapter of the National Lawyer's Guild invited Professor Eric Sterling to speak at a forum on national drug policy.  Professor Sterling is, among other things, a professor of criminology and sociology here at George Washington University, President of The Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, and a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).  Sterling has a unique perspective on the issue of America's war on drugs as he worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee and helped write the nation's current Sentencing Guidelines.

Sterling spoke to approximately 30-40 students for nearly two hours in LL102, including a half an hour of questions and discussion.  Described by NLG co-President Michael Ansell as an "active, lively speaker," Sterling began the evening by introducing himself and describing his experience in drafting the Sentencing Guidelines.  He explained how the guidelines were quickly thrown together following the drug-related deaths of two famous athletes when the nation's drug policy was the politically "hot issue."  He then discussed the problems posed by the war on drugs, including bad economics and striking racial discrepancies.  Finally, Sterling described the benefits of ending the war, most notably economic incentives and an increased amount of control over its use and distribution.

First Year student and NLG member Dylan Williams proposed the idea of inviting Sterling after having heard another LEAP speaker while an undergraduate student at the University of Hawaii.  According to Williams, several of Sterling's points struck a chord, especially those about racial disparities.  Williams stated that Sterling "had some really interesting points that I was not aware of, such as the fact that Caucasians are more likely to use drugs, but African Americans are more likely to be put in jail for drug use," and that "white high school students are ten times more likely to use cocaine."  Ansell added that although "one-third of the people charged with drug crimes are African American, they make up two-thirds of the people in prison."  According to Ansell, Sterling used this point to elucidate the fact that the racial discrepancies do not end at the courthouse doors.

Williams was also interested in Sterling's comparison of the current war on drugs to the prohibition era, explaining that "another big part of his argument was that right now there's no regulation over who's distributing the drugs, whereas if it was legalized it could be regulated."  Ansell, on the other hand, was especially stirred by the economic arguments, stating that "in this time the economic arguments are pretty powerful: billions and billions in added revenue and decreased costs for DEA salaries, prisons, etc."

Like Williams and Ansell, many of those who attended the forum found themselves agreeing with Sterling's contentions, making the question and answer period less divisive than it might have been.  However, both make clear that Sterling's argument was not about whether or not drugs are a good thing, only about how they should be regulated.  As Williams states, "it's not a question of whether drugs are good or bad, it's just about how to regulate them."  "Yes," Ansell adds, "it's about what's effective policy for the objectives - which is the health and safety of the public."

According to Ansell, the NLG has long been recognized as one of the nation's most progressive national bar associations.  It not only sponsors forums and panels such as the one last Tuesday, the group also helps train and defend protestors, and takes part in national conferences such as the RebLaw conference hosted by Yale University every Spring.

The GW chapter has approximately 50 members, and plays an active role in the national organization's endeavors.  For example, Ansell and other members often attend protests, such as the anti-war protest last September, to observe how police handle the situation and inform protestors of their legal rights.  According to Ansell, because "you are supposed to be right there while the arrests are happening," during the anti-war protest he found himself on the front lines, getting tear gassed while "crunched up against the Capital steps."

On March 17, the group will be hosting a panel on the unreliability of forensic evidence, such as fingerprints and DNA, based on a report of the National Academy of Science that was recently delivered to Congress.  A member of the committee that wrote the report will be present, along with a member of the Innocence Project.  Ansell notes that the group "is always open to new ideas - you can come to us with your own issues, with your own ideas, and we will help you to further them."

If you wish to learn more about what the GW chapter of the NLG does or become a member, you can go to NLG.org, or visit the groups TWEN or Facebook page.