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Read these 2 Articles with the required pages, and answer the 2 questions down below.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, “Remarks on Efforts to Combat Violent Crime and Restore Public Safety Before Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement,” pp. 1-4

Jeremy Berke, “Jeff Sessions ‘Appears Intent on Taking Us Back to the 1908s’ and the ‘War on Drugs,’” pp. 1-4

Question 1. The following questions relate to the Sessions' remarks. In each response, use signal phrases and correct MLA citations. Be sure to keep your notes for all of the readings handy on your computer or on paper copies.

  1. According to Sessions, what are TWO appropriate responses to drugs and violent crime in the US? Explain each, citing from the text.
  2. Identify one point Sessions makes you find compelling, persuasive, or that you would concede to from these remarks and explain why.
  3. Identify one point you find unconvincing, less convincing, or problematic from these remarks and explain why.

Question 2. The following questions relate to the Berke article regarding Sessions' remarks. In each response, use signal phrases and correct MLA citations. Be sure to keep your notes for all of the readings handy on your computer or on paper copies.

  1. What is the major takeaway or primary point of Berke's article? Explain in your own words and cite from the text.
  2. What points relate to this key idea?
  3. Based on this article alone, what is your impression of Sessions' position? (Do you find Sessions position convincing or not, based only on Berke's reporting?)
  4. Having read Sessions' remarks directly, you think that Berke fairly represented Sessions' position? Why or why not?

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6/19/2017 Jeff Sessions vows to ramp up drug enforcement and prevention - Business Insider Jeff Sessions 'appears intent on taking us back to the 1980s' and the 'War on Drugs' JEREMY BERKE MAR. 16, 2017, 4:20 PM Sessions wants to crack down on drug offenders Says violent crime is rising nationwide Experts say Sessions wants to take us back to '80s and '90s style punishments His comments about marijuana may be the most impactful Attorney General Jeff Sessions vowed on Wednesday to ramp up enforcement of drug crimes to combat what he says is a nationwide increase in violent crime, a move some experts say channels the "drug war" era of the 1980s. Sessions delivered a speech to law enforcement officers in Richmond, Virginia, where he touted the effectiveness of Project Exile, a two-decade old program that enforced mandatory minimum sentences on felons caught carrying firearms. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Associated Press/Susan Walsh "All of us who work in law enforcement want to keep people safe," Sessions said, according to prepared remarks. "That is the heart of our jobs; it is what drives us every day. So we are all disturbed to learn that violent crime is on the rise in America, especially in our cities." While Sessions admitted that crime rates in the US were at "historic" lows, he pointed out that, according to the FBI, incidents of violent crime rose by more than 3% between 2014 and 2015. Sessions tied this increase in violence to the "unprecedented epidemic" of heroin and opioid abuse. "My fear is that this surge in violent crime is not a 'blip,' but the start of a dangerous new trend," Sessions said. "I worry that we risk losing the hard-won gains that have made America a safer and more prosperous place." Sessions outlined three main ways to fight the "scourge" of drugs: criminal enforcement, treatment, and prevention. He highlighted prevention campaigns — including Nancy Reagan's "Just say No" efforts — as effective tools for bringing down rates of drug use. The results of "Just Say No," and similar abstinence-oriented prevention campaigns like D.A.R.E, are mixed. A 2007 study from the University of Missouri, St. Louis found that the programs are mostly over-funded and ineffective. http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-sessions-vows-to-ramp-up-drug-enforcement-and-prevention-2017-3 1/5 6/19/2017 Jeff Sessions vows to ramp up drug enforcement and prevention - Business Insider However, a 2011 study, cited by Scientific American, from the University of Texas School of Public Health found that certain abstinence programs can be effective, provided they reinforce the lessons over a multi-year time period. Taking it back to the '80's A Drug Enforcement Administration officer patrols outside of a medical clinic in Little Rock, Ark., Wednesday, May 20, 2015. AP Photo/Danny Johnston Criminal justice and drug policy experts say that Sessions' focus on cracking down on drug offenders is an unwise strategy borne out of the "War on Drugs" era of the '80s and '90s. Michael Collins, the deputy director of the Drug Policy Alliance, called Sessions' emphasis on sentencing and enforcement as a response to the opioid epidemic "deeply disconcerting." "He appears intent on taking us back to the 1980's with his drug war rhetoric," Collins told Business Insider. "Locking up more people exacerbates the problem." Marc Schindler, the executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, criticized Sessions support of Project Exile, which he called "political will" to remove black and brown people from communities. The program heavily penalizes gun offenders, according to Schindler, but does nothing to stem the flow of guns into cities and neighborhoods. http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-sessions-vows-to-ramp-up-drug-enforcement-and-prevention-2017-3 2/5 6/19/2017 Jeff Sessions vows to ramp up drug enforcement and prevention - Business Insider "The approach to addressing violence in our communities being put forth by AG Sessions is not based on research, and lacks the context that should be considered to inform sound policy decisions," Schindler told Business Insider in an email. The research on Project Exile is far from clear. FiveThirtyEight has the rundown: A 2003 study found that in Richmond, Virginia — where Sessions gave his speech — the city would have experienced a similar reduction in homicide rates with or without Exile. But, a 2009 study found evidence supporting Exile's efficacy. Among the sample group, cities with high levels of federal prosecution for federal gun crimes experienced a 13% decrease in violent crimes, compared to an 8% increase in cities that didn't, even when controlling for other factors like incarceration rates and poverty. However, "none of this stuff is as neat as even the peer-reviewed publications put it," John Klofas, a professor of criminal justice at the Rochester Institute of Technology told FiveThirtyEight. John Pfaff, a law professor at Fordham University in New York who recently published a book on the causes of mass incarceration, told Business Insider in an email that Sessions is probably not trying to specifically revive the "War on Drugs," but rather looking to justify "harsh punitive responses to crime more broadly." Incarceration would be an easy sell politically for Sessions and the Trump Administration, even if its an inefficient way of controlling crime, he added. "Sessions' insistence that the recent uptick in violent crime is not just a blip but the start of a longer trend (which, to be fair, could be the case — but also may not be so at all) seems to be part of a rhetorical push to make nonprison reforms riskier to adopt," Pfaff said. A variety of medicinal marijuana buds in jars are pictured at Los Angeles Patients & Caregivers Group dispensary in West Hollywood. Thomson Reuters Sessions vs. marijuana http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-sessions-vows-to-ramp-up-drug-enforcement-and-prevention-2017-3 3/5 6/19/2017 Jeff Sessions vows to ramp up drug enforcement and prevention - Business Insider Sessions honed in on his opposition to legalizing marijuana on Wednesday, saying that he "realizes this may be unfashionable in a time of growing tolerance of drug use." Pfaff suggested that Session's comment on marijuana may have "the biggest short-run impact." Sessions railed against medical marijuana, and the notion that increasing access to the drug can be a tool to help counter opioid and heroin addiction. Research has shown that in states that have legalized medical marijuana, addiction and opioid overdose rates have dropped, reports Business Insider Kevin Loria. Though he's opposed to marijuana legalization, Sessions did tell reporters after his remarks that he may keep the Obama-era Cole Memo — which directs the Justice Department to place a low priority on prosecuting legal marijuana businesses that comply with state laws — though with some modifications, reports MassRoots' Tom Angell. Sessions indicated that the federal government may not have the ability to enforce federal marijuana laws in states that have legalized. Mason Tvert, the communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, told Business Insider in an email that Sessions' comments do not seem like a "call to shut down" licensed and regulated marijuana businesses. "It sounds more like a call to go after unregulated marijuana producers and dealers who are operating in the illicit market," Tvert said. http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-sessions-vows-to-ramp-up-drug-enforcement-and-prevention-2017-3 4/5 JUSTICE NEWS Attorney General Jeff Sessions Delivers Remarks on Efforts to Combat Violent Crime and Restore Public Safety Before Federal, State and Local Law Enforcement Richmond, VA ~ Wednesday, March 15, 2017 Remarks as Prepared for Delivery Good morning, everyone. I want to begin by thanking Dana [Boente] for coming down to Richmond and introducing me today. Dana is currently wearing two hats, serving as acting Deputy Attorney General while also continuing to serve as your U.S. Attorney here in the Eastern District of Virginia. I’m grateful for his outstanding service in both roles. I also want to welcome the many federal, state and local law enforcement leaders who have joined us. Thank you for everything you and your people do. I look forward to meeting with you this morning. All of us who work in law enforcement want to keep people safe. That is the heart of our jobs; it is what drives us every day. So we are all disturbed to learn that violent crime is on the rise in America, especially in our cities. And that is what I want to talk about with you today. First, we should keep in mind some context. Overall, crime rates in our country remain near historic lows. Murder rates are half of what they were in 1980. The rate of violent crime has fallen by almost half from its peak. The people of Richmond have seen this progress firsthand. Since 1995, murder and violent crime rates in Richmond have fallen by two-thirds. You have watched neighborhoods that were once in the grip of gangs and drugs transformed into places where kids can play and parents can take walks after sunset without fear. In the past four decades, we have won great victories against crime in America. This happened under leadership from both political parties, and thanks above all to the work of prosecutors and good police using data-driven methods and professional training. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are alive today as a result. But in the last two years, we’ve seen warning signs that this progress is now at risk. The latest FBI data tell us that from 2014 to 2015, the violent crime rate in the U.S. increased by more than 3 percent – the largest one-year increase since 1991. The murder rate increased 10 percent – the largest increase since 1968. And all of this is taking place amid an unprecedented epidemic of heroin and opioid abuse. If this was just a one-year spike in violent crime, we might not worry too much. But the preliminary data for the first half of 2016 confirmed these trends. The number of violent crimes in the first half of last year was more than 5 percent higher than the same period in 2015. The number of murders was also up 5 percent, and aggravated assaults rose as well. Since 2014, the murder rate has gone up in 27 of our country’s 35 largest cities. Homicide rates in Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Memphis have returned to levels not seen in two decades. Here in Richmond, the preliminary murder total for 2016 was 44 percent higher than the year before. These numbers should trouble all of us. Behind all the data are real people whose safety and lives are at stake – people like the good folks whose stories I will hear later this morning. Each victim of this recent spike in violent crime is someone’s parent, or child, or friend. And every loss of a young life to guns or drugs is a tragedy we must work to prevent. My fear is that this surge in violent crime is not a “blip,” but the start of a dangerous new trend. I worry that we risk 1 losing the hard-won gains that have made America a safer and more prosperous place. While we can hope for the best, we can’t afford to be complacent. When crime rates move in the wrong direction, they can move quickly. We know this, because those of us above a certain age have lived it. In the early 1960s, crime began to rise in our country. By 1973, crime rates in almost every category had doubled over their levels just a decade before. As the ’70s went on, levels of crime and violence that we once deemed unacceptably high became the “new normal” in America. I lived through that dark time in our history. I dealt with its consequences every day as a prosecutor. And I can assure you: We do not want to go back to those days. We must act decisively at all levels – federal, state and local – to reverse this rise in violent crime and keep our people safe. Last month the President gave us clear direction, issuing three executive orders that direct the federal government to reduce crime and restore public safety. This task will be a top priority of the Department of Justice during my time as Attorney General. I’d like to talk briefly about how we’re tackling this challenge. First, we’re making sure the federal government focuses our resources and efforts on this surge in violent crime. Two weeks ago, I announced the formation of a Department of Justice Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety. It includes crime reduction experts from throughout the Department of Justice, including the heads of the FBI, the ATF, the DEA and the U.S. Marshals Service. The task force will evaluate everything we are doing at the federal level. Second: We need to use every lawful tool we have to get the most violent offenders off our streets. In recent years, we have seen a significant shift in the priority given to prosecuting firearms offenders at the federal level. This trend will end. This Department of Justice will systematically prosecute criminals who use guns in committing crimes. Last week, I sent a memo to all our federal prosecutors, urging them to work closely with their federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to target the most violent offenders in their districts. Working together, we will determine which venue – federal or state – would best take these criminals off our streets immediately, and ensure they are properly punished for their crimes. Here in Richmond, you have given us an excellent model for how we can lock up violent criminals and reduce crime. During the spike in violent crime in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Richmond consistently had one of the top ten percapita murder rates among American cities. In response, federal prosecutors worked with state and local law enforcement in 1997 to launch an innovative program called Project Exile. Its goal was to deter felons from carrying firearms, and to take off the streets those who were mostly likely to commit gun violence: criminals with guns. Over the decade that followed, murders and armed robberies in Richmond declined dramatically. A study published in the journal Criminology & Public Policy credited Project Exile with the reduction in gun homicides in Richmond. This Department of Justice will encourage more efforts like Project Exile in cities across America – coordinated strategies that bring together all levels of law enforcement to reduce gun crime and make our cities safer. Third: To turn back this rising tide of violent crime, we need to confront the heroin and opioid crisis in our nation – and dismantle the transnational cartels that bring drugs and violence into our neighborhoods. Our nation is in the throes of a heroin and opioid epidemic. Overdose deaths more than tripled between 2010 and 2014. According to the CDC, about 140 Americans on average now die from a drug overdose each day. That 2 means every three weeks, we are losing as many American lives to drug overdoses as we lost in the 9/11 attacks. Illegal drugs are flooding across our southern border and into cities across our country, bringing violence, addiction, and misery. We have also seen an increase in the trafficking of new, low-cost heroin by Mexican drug cartels working with local street gangs. As the market for this heroin expands, gangs fight for territory and new customers and neighborhoods are caught in the crossfire. There are three main ways to fight the scourge of drugs: criminal enforcement, treatment and prevention. Criminal enforcement is essential to stop both the transnational cartels that ship drugs into our country, and the thugs and gangs who use violence and extortion to move their product. One of the President’s executive orders directed the Justice Department to dismantle these organizations and gangs – and we will do just that. Treatment programs are also vital. But treatment often comes too late to save people from addiction or death. So we need to focus on the third way we can fight drug use: preventing people from ever taking drugs in the first place. I realize this may be an unfashionable belief in a time of growing tolerance of drug use. But too many lives are at stake to worry about being fashionable. I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store. And I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana – so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life. In the ’80s and ’90s, we saw how campaigns stressing prevention brought down drug use and addiction. We can do this again. Educating people and telling them the terrible truth about drugs and addiction will result in better choices. We can reduce the use of drugs, save lives and turn back the surge in crime that inevitably follows in the wake of increased drug abuse. Finally: The federal government alone cannot meet the challenge of violent crime and drugs – so we need to protect and support our brave men and women in law enforcement. About 85 percent of all law enforcement officers in our nation are not federal, but state and local. These are the men and women on the front lines – the ones doing most of the tough and often dangerous work that keeps our neighborhoods safe. Unfortunately, in recent years law enforcement as a whole has been unfairly maligned and blamed for the unacceptable deeds of a few bad actors. Too many of our officers, deputies, and troopers believed the political leadership of this country abandoned them. Amid this intense public scrutiny and criticism, their morale has gone down, while the number of police officers killed in the line of duty has gone up. Many of you who are law enforcement leaders have also told us that in this age of viral videos and targeted killings of police, something has changed in policing. Some law enforcement personnel are more reluctant to get out of their squad cars and do the proactive, up-close police work that builds trust and prevents violent crime. In some cities, arrests have fallen even as murder rates have surged. This is a terrible place to be, because we know that tough and professional law enforcement can make a real difference. It can reduce crime and save lives. We’ve seen it happen in our country over the past four decades. To turn back rising crime, we must rely heavily on all of you in state and local law enforcement to lead the way – and you must know that you have our steadfast support. The federal government should use its money, research, and expertise to help you figure out what is happening and determine the best ways to fight crime. We should strengthen partnerships between federal and state and local officers. And we should encourage the proactive policing that keeps our neighborhoods safe. This Department of Justice will do just that. The new challenge of violent crime in our nation is real – and the task that lies before us is clear. We need to resist 3 the temptation to ignore or downplay this crisis. Instead, we must tackle it head-on, to ensure justice and safety for all Americans. We will enforce our laws and put bad men behind bars. We will fight the scourge of drug abuse. And we will support the brave men and women of law enforcement, as they work day and night to protect us. Together, let us act to meet this challenge, so that our children will not look back and say that we let slip from our grasp all we had done to make America a safer place. Thank you for having me here in Richmond today. I look forward to talking with you all and learning from you. Speaker: Attorney General Jeff Sessions Topic(s): Opioids Violent Crime Component(s): Office of the Attorney General Updated December 11, 2017 4
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Article Analysis
Question 1: Sessions’ Remarks
According to the article, one of the strategies that Sessions suggest to be used in responses to
drug and violent crime is cracking down the drug offenders. The outlook is driven by Session’s
claim that the “scourge” of drugs can be solved through criminal enforcement (Berke). Thus, the
government should allocate more resources to the law enforcement units to enable them combat
drug peddlers in American streets effectively. The other approach, which Sessions believes is an
ideal way of dealing with the issue of drugs and violent crimes is prevention. The latter entails
aspects, such as Nancy Reagan’s initiative dubbed “Just Say No. Also, Session’s approach
implies that drug offende...


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Just what I needed…Fantastic!

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