Sergio Olivas RWS 1301 11:30 AM

Annotated Bibliography Based on the Question:

How Can Drug-Related Imprisonments Be Improved?

Addiction Help Center RSS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2015, from
http://www.addictionhelpcenter.com/
Addiction Help Center is a website that serves as a resource for those individuals who
suffer from one form of addiction or another such as substance abuse or abnormal social
behaviors. The Addiction Help Center evaluates the clinical needs available including those who
have a limited insurance coverage. The website also provides articles that may apply to specific
individuals in terms of addiction facts, rehabilitation, or other information that may clarify and
broaden the general populations understanding to treatment approaches and their importance. I
can use this website to show the social consequences addiction and substance abuse has on an
individual, a family, and a society. This website is also useful to provide an elaboration of
different treatment options.

Holder, E. (2013, August 12). Department Policy on Charging Mandatory Minimum Sentences
and Recidivist Enhancements in Certain Drug Cases. The Office of the Attorney General.
Retrieved October 17, 2015, from
http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/oip/legacy/2014/07/23/ag-memo-departmentpolicypon-charging-mandatory-minimum-sentences-recidivist-enhancements-in-certaindrugcases.pdf
In a Memorandum from the U.S. Attorney General, Erik Holder discusses a recent
Supreme Court opinion in which states that all federal prosecutors must have a level of discretion

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before automatically going for a mandatory minimum sentence. Holder gives a set of
qualifications prosecutors are encouraged to follow to avoid a mandatory minimum sentence and
a set of qualifications prosecutors are encouraged to follow to apply a mandatory minimum
sentence. This memorandum is defined by the goal to reduce the punishments of low leveloffenders while keeping high-level offenders in prison. I can use this memorandum to provide
examples of what prosecutors in the Department of Justice are taking into consideration when
exercising discretion. This memo is also helpful to highlight the importance of discretion in
which mandatory minimums have limited.

Leukefeld, C., Tims, F., & Farabee, D. (2002). Treatment of drug offenders: Policies and issues.
New York: Springer Pub.
In the book written by Leukefeld, Tims, and Farabee, it discusses the aspects of a
treatment approach to drug abuse by comparing to current government policies its methodology,
effectiveness, and efficiency. The book also goes in depth into the ideology of the current prison
system as well at its short-comings by acknowledging the areas in which the current system
presence a weakness. The book also presents different approaches in treatment depending the
substance abused and the severity of the abuse. This book is helpful because it is written by
doctors in the fields of psychology and psychiatry that can provide an expert opinion of a
treatment based approach to drug abuse. This book is also helpful to highlight the complexity of
the solution to drug offenders that cannot be solved solely with sentencing laws.

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Office of National Drug Control Policy. (1999). Consequences of Illegal Drug Use. Retrieved
October 17, 2015, from https://www.ncjrs.gov/ondcppubs/publications/policy/99ndcs/iib.html
The article published by the Office of National Drug Control Policy gives statistics that
relate to drug usage. The article reports the numbers of those who have been admitted to the
emergency rooms of hospitals, those who have died as a result of drug usage, the costs involved
from purchase to treatment, as well as worker productivity affected by drug usage. This article
was able to inform tax-payers by separating the information into categories and by providing
charts for a visual demonstration on some of the numbers. I can use this article to provide
statistical trends when it comes to those who consume drugs. This article is also useful to
examine the effects of drug usage without the judicial intervention.

Oliver, J. (2015). Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Mandatory Minimums (HBO). Retrieved
October 17, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDVmldTurqk
Social commentator John Oliver discusses the harm that mandatory minimum sentences
have produced and argues that this method has yielded more problems to solving the War on
Drugs, contradicting the original intent of law makers in the 80s and 90s. He provides specific
examples of the families who have been affected by mandatory minimums and the statistics
relevant to the population incarcerated due to this policy. John also argues that in the wake of
state legislatures sentencing reductions, there are still individuals in prison for the same crime
but committed the act earlier when policies were harsher. This video is useful because John
elaborates on the need to reform the current sentencing system due to their failure to reduce drug
usage and their unintended consequences. Also, I can use this video show how monitories and

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non-violent offenders have been affected more than terrorists, rapists and other violators of the
law.

The Young Turks (2015). Largest Prisoner Release Program In US History Underway. Retreived
October 17, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIP8FM135xg
A news report convers on a current federal program that will release thousands of federal
inmates, making it the largest release program in the United States. The program by the U.S.
Sentencing Commission aims to reduce the sentences of those who convicted of non-violent
offense during the 80s and 90s when the sentencing policies were harsher. However, this video
elaborates that even though this is a step in the right direction, this program is not applicable to
many instances like those involving a gun, nor can the program reduce sentences below
mandatory minimums. I can use this video to demonstrate the current developments that the
federal government is doing to reduce the number of individuals in jail. This video is also useful
to show the variety of individuals incarcerated in the United States which includes nondocumented individuals.

Zuckerman, M. (2014, May 9). Get a Little Less Tough on Crime. Retrieved September 28,
2015, from http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/05/09/its-time-for-prisonreform-and-an-end-to-mandatory-minimum-sentences
The article Get a Little Less Tough on Crime argues that the current criminal
imprisonment system is a problem itself because of the non-discriminatory policy when it comes
to sentencing. The article reflects on the massive population that are incarcerated and how this is
an ineffective use of tax-dollars. The article reasons that there are more effective and efficient

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ways of sentencing those who have committed non-violent offenses by looking at the successes
states have had because of their different approaches towards handling drug-offenses. This article
is useful because it highlights the importance of the need to fix the presentment system when it
comes to non-violent drug offenses. This article is also useful to argue that there are better
solutions to handling non-violent drug offenses rather than the traditional incarceration method.