The Stimulus and the Drug War

Via TalkLeft, here are the final criminal justice numbers in the stimulus:

* Southern border and high-intensity drug trafficking areas $30,000,000
* ATF Project Gunrunner $10,000,000
* Internet crimes against children initiatives $50,000,000
* Rural drug crime program $125,000,000
* Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants $1,000,000,000
* Justice Department salaries and expenses for administration of police grant programs $10,000,000
* Office of Justice Programs state and local law enforcement assistance (Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants) $2,000,000,000

* Violence against women prevention and prosecution programs $225,000,000
* Crime victim assistance $100,000,000
* State and local law enforcement assistance to Indian tribes $225,000,000
* State and local law enforcement assistance grants to improve criminal justice systems, assist crime victims and mentor youth $225,000,000

So the $800 million that the Senate version of the bill had marked for the federal Bureau of Prisons didn't make it to the final law. That's a good thing. Nearly a billion dollars of prison construction is not the kind of stimulus our country needs right now.

Instead, as Jeralyn points out at TalkLeft, we're using the stimulus to keep fighting a losing drug war. With $2 billion for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants and $125 million for rural drug fighting, we're throwing good money after bad. Byrne grants help set up regional drug task forces, and the infamous Tulia, Texas case I wrote about recently is a perfect example of the kind of threat-inflation (and fabrication) that goes on in police departments when they realize it can bring them federal cash. With $2 billion thrown at the problem, we'll be seeing small towns across the country launching anti-drug initiatives they don't need.

There are few worthwhile provisions above for crime victim services, youth mentoring and community oriented policing. But most of the stimulus spending is aimed at locking up as many people as possible. Just like another war we're trying to get out of, the Drug War lacks an exit strategy.