The War on Drugs is Over (If You Want It): State Drug Courts as an Alternative to Criminal Courts for Low-Level Nonviolent Drug Offenders

Authors

Blake Courlang, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Abstract

Part I of this Note describes the social, political, and legal reasons behind the rise of mandatory minimum sentencing in the 1980s and their path towards becoming advisory in the 2000s, as held by the Supreme Court in United States v. Booker. Part II provides a description of drug courts and argues for the use of drug courts as an alternative to the criminal sanctions for all nonviolent, low-level drug offenders. As part of this discussion, this Note examines the use of mandatory minimum sentencing post-Booker and the procedural method of divesting federal jurisdiction of nonviolent, low-level drug offenses and placing these cases solely within the jurisdiction of state drug courts. Part III analyzes the legal, economic, and social benefits of adjudicating nonviolent, low-level drug offenses in state drug courts as opposed to federal and state criminal courts.

Disciplines

Courts | Criminal Law | Criminal Procedure | Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Jurisdiction | Law | Law and Society | Law Enforcement and Corrections

Recommended Citation

Blake Courlang, The War on Drugs is Over (If You Want It): State Drug Courts as an Alternative to Criminal Courts for Low-Level Nonviolent Drug Offenders, 16 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 265 (2014).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cjcr/vol16/iss1/11