On January 3, 1973 Governor Nelson R. Rockefeller first proposed to create new drug laws that would help fight the current war on drugs that was taking over New York City. Rockefeller proposed to sentence anyone who committed a level A-1 felony, which is the highest level, would be sentence to minimum 15 years to life in prison. There was much controversy on these laws. Some were happy that a stand was finally being made; they wanted the streets to be cleaned of drugs. Others saw it as a racism tactic, to put all African Americans and Hispanics behind bars. In the end these new drug laws went into effect on May 8 1973 and were named after Rockefeller himself, Rockefeller drug laws. In the beginning of Life on The Outside, readers are introduced to Elaine Bartlett. She is a 26 year old woman, who lives in the projects and working …show more content…
off the books at a local hair salon to support herself and her four children. But the money is just not enough, Thanksgiving is right around the corner and she does not have enough money to have their traditional family feast. This all changes when Elaine’s friend Charlie (readers find out this is actually George Deets a police informant) tells her he has a job for her that can pay $2,500, all she has to do is travel to Upstate New York with 4oz of cocaine. While Elaine had never done this before, she needed the money and believed that one time would not hurt. On November 8, 1983, Elaine made her way to Grand Central Station, despite her boyfriend Nathan’s protest, to meet with one of Charlie’s friend Tracy who supplies Elaine the cocaine to travel with Upstate. Elaine goes to the restroom and stuffs the four packages of cocaine down the front of her pants and then proceeds to the ticket booth where she finds Nathan waiting for her. Nathan, nervous about Elaine making the drop as well as making this trip alone, decides to go with her. Two and a half hours later they pulled into the Albany-Rensselaer station. Elaine then calls Charlie and soon after, the three of them are leaving the station together. Finding themselves 10 minutes away at a low budget motel, where Elaine and Nathan would wait for their return train back to New York. However, Elaine and Nathan would never make their train back to the city because Charlie sets them up and the both of them take the fall for selling cocaine to an undercover cop. After waking up to find strange people in Charlie’s room, a man and a woman. The man was putting the cocaine on a scale, and then continued to examine it in a vile, to test its purity. The female then went out and came back with a stack of money, moments later there was a knock on the door, the knock that changed everything. In moments the room was filled with cops, Elaine, Nathan, Charlie, and the others were forced to the ground, handcuffed and arrested. But when Elaine and Nathan were finally booked it was only the two of them, all the others were no where to be found, not even Charlie, the one who set up the entire sale. Since the court house was not opened after being photographed and fingerprinted Elaine and Nathan were brought to the judge’s home to be arraigned then driven back to the county jail where both Elaine and Nathan spend the next 64 nights, her bail set at $250,000,000. On January 11, 1984 Elaine and Nathan stood trial in front of Judge John J. Clyne, both had turned down the plea deal thinking that no judge would sentence them to 15 to life, everyone would see that they were set up. This was not the case George Deets (Charlie) and his partner Richard both took the stand and preceded to tell their story on how Elaine and Nathan sought them out to sell drugs upstate. Elaine could not believe this and was hoping that the jury would see through the lies, in the end the jury believed every piece of evidence that was shared, finding both Elaine and Nathan guilty of a level A-1 felony. Going by the Rockefeller drug laws Judge Clyne sentenced Elaine to 20 to life and Nathan 25 to life, which shocked every one of Elaine and Nathan’s family. Elaine could not believe she was about to spend the next 20 years of her life in jail when she had never committed a crime before, never had sold drugs, or even moved drugs before. Now she was about to spent off to Bedford Hills. In the beginning Elaine had a difficult time adjusting and accepting her sentence, she met a number of women in jail who had committed worse crimes than her and their sentences were not as long as hers. Having her children visit her in prison was another difficulty she was dealing with. She did not want her children to see how bad she was actually doing so she put on a brave face. Her children ranged in ages of 12 (Apache), 8 (Jamel), 5 (Satara), and 3 (Danae), and in the beginning would visit her every weekend but after some time Elaine’s mother could not bring them so often. Traveling with all four kids was expensive and tiring and it began to take a toll on her. While in prison Elaine tried to better herself and began to take different courses, she completed high school, got her associates, and other qualify certificates that would eventually help her obtain a job if and when she was released from prison. Throughout her 16 years Elaine continued taking different programs which is where she met Lora Tucker. Lora Tucker began teaching a course at Bedford Hills, after a few classes lora and Elaine began to become friends. Lora was the one who convinced Elaine to try applying for clemency for a second time. In 1996 after 13 years in Elaine had tried to get clemency because her mother was becoming too ill to take care of Elaine children, two of her brother’s had died during this time, her youngest son was getting into trouble with the law and she wanted to be able to be there for her family. But after her meeting with the parole board right before Christmas she received the letting her know her request was denied. She would not be getting clemency, she would not be able to go home. So she promised herself not to ever got her family’s hopes up again, but Lora promised her that she could help her get her clemency. This was Lora’s mission, she sought out people who could help her get Elaine’s clemency approved. Randy Credico was one person that Lora met that listened to her story about Elaine, he also vowed to help because he himself was trying to get the Rockefeller laws overturned. During her 16th year at Bedford Hills Elaine was in the process of trying to get clemency and in 2006 was granted her release.
This was finally a step in the right direction but there was so much more Elaine would face and have to overcome. Not only would she have to be on parole for a minimum of three years, she’d have to find employment, and she’d have to find a way to fix her broken family. Coming out of prison proved to be more difficult then Elaine had first thought. She realized that just how she pretended her kids had also pretended, they were all falling apart living in a run down apartment, doing drugs, in jail, or on the brink of a breakdown. Elaine thought it was her job to fix her family, start fresh with her children. Even bigger Elaine wanted to continue on with Randy and change the laws that had caused her and her family such heartache. While looking for work and fighting for a way for her family to get better housing arrangements, she would attend protest, rallies, and anything else were her voice would be heard. Elaine would share her story so that others could understand how affected society was by these drastic
laws. Finding a job was difficult for Elaine she went on interview after interview, with the help of South Forty she was able to find employment at Project Renewal, but that was not her only problem. Because of the constant tension among her family Elaine some nights did not have a place to stay. She could not understand how she had fought so hard to come home for her family but they acted as if they did not care about her. Elaine believed she had already paid (she’d paid for 16 years) for her crime, she would no longer pay for her mistake but live her life for herself. Elaine now worked and continued to follow the protesting and Randy, more than anything she wanted these laws to change. After everything that she went through she wanted her story to stand for something. After getting out of prison Elaine continued to be faced with difficulties, she had to visit both her son and husband in prison, her daughter Danae refused to live with her and her daughter Satara was also living on her own with her daughter. Nothing was how Elaine planned, but she did not let it defeat her, she continued to fight through just as she had in prison, this story truly showed how the Rockefeller drug laws truly affected this woman’s life from one mistake.
Elaine reacts to this by (stage directions) hitting the coal-shed door, which demonstrates that she has never forgiven her father for what he did and still feels strongly about the issue. She is also in conflict with her father because he hit her mother and brother and buried their mother without even informing them of her death. Elaine: “ you didn’t even give her a proper funeral” Elaine: “ you never told anybody she was dead” This emphasises how she felt about her mother and how much hate she has for her father because of how he mistreated her mother.
of the book, Janie resents her grandmother for “living” her life for her and planning her future. To find out what will happen in a persons future, they need to live their life on their own an...
Mandatory minimums for controlled substances were first implemented in the 1980s as a countermeasure for the hysteria that surrounded drugs in the era (“A Brief History,” 2014). The common belief was that stiff penalties discouraged people from using drugs and enhanced public safety (“A Brief History,” 2014). That theory, however, was proven false and rather than less illegal drug activity, there are simply more people incarcerated. Studies show that over half of federal prisoners currently incarcerated are there on drug charges, a 116 percent percentage rise since 1970 (Miles, 2014). Mass incarceration is an ever growing issue in the United States and is the result of policies that support the large scale use of imprisonment on
If you get caught with narcotics, your sentencing depends on the amount you are caught with, for example, crack cocaine is five years, for five grams. Powder cocaine is five years for five hundred grams, heroin is five years for one hundred grams, methamphetamine is five years for ten grams, PCP is five years for ten grams, this is not what high level drug traffickers are involved in. most drug cases involve low level offenders. It all depends on the amount you have on you, while you get caught with the controlled substance. There was a mandatory minimum sentences were criticized by the U.S. sentencing commission as early as 1991. In the report they found that all defense lawyers, and nearly half of the prosecutors, they all seemed to have a problem with mandatory minimum sentences. They would try there hardest to get away from the mandatory minimum
“[The war on drugs] has created a multibillion-dollar black market, enriched organized crime groups and promoted the corruption of government officials throughout the world,” noted Eric Schlosser in his essay, “A People’s Democratic Platform”, which presents a case for decriminalizing controlled substances. Government policies regarding drugs are more focused towards illegalization rather than revitalization. Schlosser identifies a few of the crippling side effects of the current drug policy put in place by the Richard Nixon administration in the 1970s to prohibit drug use and the violence and destruction that ensue from it (Schlosser 3). Ironically, not only is drug use as prevalent as ever, drug-related crime has also become a staple of our society. In fact, the policy of the criminalization of drugs has fostered a steady increase in crime over the past several decades. This research will aim to critically analyze the impact of government statutes regarding drugs on the society as a whole.
During her teen years, she was abused and lonely. She gave birth to her first child when she was only sixteen years old. She was in her first marriage when she was only nineteen years old. After three children, two marriages, and a breakdown, she realizes that there is a lot more to life than her current circumstances.
Prohibition was the creation of bootlegging and gang wars that would make up the roots of the 1920’s. One of the most known gangsters in American History, Al Capone, was the most powerful gang or mob leader in his era. Capone was the roots of organized crime in Chicago area from the mid 20’s to the early 30’s. Al grew up in the 20’s in Chicago. In his younger days, he joined the James Street Gang whose leader was Johnny Torrio. In the year 1920, Johnny asked Al Capone to join his uncle in Chicago who had control of the city’s largest prostitute and gambling circuit. Capone ended up being a big fan of that idea. In the later months of 1920 the Prohibition act was passed into effect and Al Capone decided his next money maker was bootlegging illegal
... in drugs, Vito, however, felt that he was exempt from that law. He began to create a huge international heroin smuggling operation. Gambino, along with Lansky, Frank Costello and Lucky Luciano, formulated a plan for Genovese to get nailed by the feds. They hired Puerto Rican hoodlum, Nelson Cantellops, to testify against as a witness against Genovese, who he had “seen” buying large amounts of heroin, paying him a $100,000 bribe. From there an anonymous tip was sent to the Narcotics Bureau and arrested Genovese and twenty-four of his men under violation of the Narcotics Control Act. Cantellops’s testimony was the nail in Genovese’s coffin at the trial, held in 1959, that sentenced Genovese to 15 years in prison, where he died after 10 years. With Anastasia dead, Genovese in prison, and all of those men’s loyal followers dead, the rule of Don Carlo was set in stone.
The United States enacted mandatory minimum sentences for drug convictions beginning in 1951 with the Boggs Act. The Boggs Act provided both mandatory minimum sentences for first-time drug convictions and it increased the length of sentences for subsequent convictions. In 1956, the Narcotics Control Act increased the minimum sentences spelled out in the Boggs Act. It also forbade judges from suspending sentences or imposing probation in cases where they felt a prison sentence was inappropriate. In 1970, the Nixon Administration and Congress negotiated a bill that sought to address drug addiction through rehabilitation; provide better tools for law enforcement in the fight against drug trafficking and manufacturing; and provide a more balanced scheme of penalties for drug crimes. The final product, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, repealed man...
Trace the development of the bullying. How convincing are the situation and Elaine's feelings portrayed? -How it changes and increases We are first introduced to Cordelia and prepared for the future conflict between the two girls when it is mentioned, "The third girl doesn't wave". This lack of warmth towards Elaine is a premonition of what is to come, and is at the same time believable- new girls are often wary of each other, uncertain of what the other will be like.
This law was to try to reduce the local distribution of drugs through the strict enforcement of drug legislation in 1968 there was growing scary public concern over the increase in recreational drug use that happened during 1960s and the many social problems that resulted from this drug use but it mainly targeted ghettos and
Prohibition in the United States was a measure designed to reduce drinking by eliminating the businesses that manufactured, distributed, and sold alcoholic beverages. The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution took away license to do business from the brewers, distillers, vintners, and the wholesale and retail sellers of alcoholic beverages. The leaders of the prohibition movement were alarmed at the drinking behavior of Americans, and they were concerned that there was a culture of drink among some sectors of the population that, with continuing immigration from Europe, was spreading (“Why Prohibition” 2). Between 1860 and 1880 America's urban population grew from 6 million to more than 14 million people. The mass of this huge increase found itself toiling in factories and sweatshops and living in horrible social conditions; getting drunk was there only highlight in life.
The effect of the act was lower rates of use of cocaine and opiates. These facts lead to a demand for stricter laws, and in order to drum up support, newspapers published articles of addiction related crimes. Sadly, this act also marked the beginning of criminal addicts as well as a black market for
For first eight years of her life, Elaine Risley lived a nomadic lifestyle with her parents. When her father, and entomologist, accepts a job to work as a professor at a university, the family moves to Toronto. Everything is new to Elaine: school, sitting at a desk, straws, and especially real girls. Since her brother does not want to be teased for having a younger sister, Elaine is on her own. At first it is difficult
Drug use and abuse is as old as mankind itself. Human beings have always had a desire to eat or drink substances that make them feel relaxed, stimulated, or euphoric. Humans have used drugs of one sort or another for thousands of years. Wine was used at least from the time of the early Egyptians; narcotics from 4000 B.C.; and medicinal use of marijuana has been dated to 2737 BC in China.