SPY VS. SPY

Neighbors spying on neighbors? Mothers forced to turn in their sons or
daughters? These are images straight out of George Orwell's 1984, or a
remote totalitarian state. We don't associate them with the land of the
free and the home of the brave, but that doesn't mean they couldn't happen
here. A senior congressman, James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), is working
quietly but efficiently to turn the entire United States population into
informants--by force.

Sensenbrenner, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman, has introduced
legislation that would essentially draft every American into the war on
drugs. H.R. 1528, cynically named "Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child
Protection Act," would compel people to spy on their family members and
neighbors, and even go undercover and wear a wire if needed. If a person
resisted, he or she would face mandatory incarceration.

Here's how the "spy" section of the legislation works: If you "witness"
certain drug offenses taking place or "learn" about them, you must report
the offenses to law enforcement within 24 hours and provide "full
assistance in the investigation, apprehension and prosecution" of the
people involved. Failure to do so would be a crime punishable by a
mandatory minimum two-year prison sentence, and a maximum sentence of 10 years.

Here are some examples of offenses you would have to report to police
within 24 hours:

* You find out that your brother, who has children, recently bought a small
amount of marijuana to share with his wife;

* You discover that your son gave his college roommate a marijuana joint;

* You learn that your daughter asked her boyfriend to find her some drugs,
even though they're both in treatment.

In each of these cases you would have to report the relative to the police
within 24 hours. Taking time to talk to your relative about treatment
instead of calling the police immediately could land you in jail.

In addition to turning family member against family member, the legislation
could also put many Americans in danger by forcing them to go undercover to
gain evidence against strangers.

Even if the language that forces every American to become a de facto law
enforcement agent is taken out, the bill would still impose draconian
sentences on college students, mothers, people in drug treatment and others
with substance abuse problems. If enacted, this bill will destroy lives,
break up families, and waste millions of taxpayer dollars.

Despite growing opposition to mandatory minimum sentences from civil rights
groups to U.S. Supreme Court Justices, the bill eliminates federal judges'
ability to give sentences below the minimum recommended by federal
sentencing guidelines. This creates a mandatory minimum sentence for all
federal offenses, drug-related or not.

H.R. 1528 also establishes new draconian penalties for a variety of
non-violent drug offenses, including:

* Five years for anyone who passes a marijuana joint at a party to someone
who, at some point in his or her life, has been in drug treatment;

* Ten years for mothers with substance abuse problems who commit certain
drug offenses at home (even if their children are not at home at the time);

* Five years for any person with substance abuse problems who begs a friend
in drug treatment to find them some drugs.

These sentences would put non-violent drug offenders behind bars for as
long as rapists, and they include none of the drug treatment touted in the
bill's name.

At a time when everyone from the conservative American Enterprise Institute
to the liberal Sentencing Project is slamming the war on drugs as an abject
failure, Sensenbrenner is trying to escalate it, and to force all Americans
to become its foot soldiers. Instead of enacting new mandatory minimums,
federal policymakers should look toward the states. A growing number have
reformed their drug sentencing laws, including Arizona, California, Kansas,
Louisiana, Maryland, New Mexico, New York and Texas, and they have proved
it is possible to both save money and improve public safety.

Simply put, there is no way H.R. 1528 can be fixed. The only policy
proposal in recent years that comes close to being as totalitarian as this
bill is Operations TIPS, the Ashcroft initiative that would have encouraged
- -- but not required -- citizens to spy on one another. Congress rightfully
rejected that initiative and they should do the same with H.R. 1528. Big
Brother has no business here in America.