Law Enforcement & Crime

How Can Obama Fulfill His Pledges for Sweeping Criminal Justice Reform and Redeem His Policy Legacy? July 29, 2015. Eric Sterling writes in Huffington Post about the strategies Obama needs to follow to enact the criminal justice policy reforms he is calling for.

How can Congress be persuaded to fix the crack cocaine-powder cocaine sentencing disparity? Eric E. Sterling has argued that getting tough on powder cocaine traffickers could be the argument. He outlined an approach in his paper, “Getting Justice Off its ‘Junk Food’ Diet” in July 2006.

The War on Drugs: Fighting Crime or Wasting Time? A debate between U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) and Eric E. Sterling, Fall 2001: published by the American Criminal Law Review, Georgetown University Law Center.

Connect the Dots: You Don't Have to be an FBI Analyst to See the Picture. June 4, 2002. Using a common motif after 9-11, Eric Sterling pointed to many facts about the drug problem and drug enforcement to illustrate that drug prohibition is an ineffective policy and needs to be ended.

Fighting Terrorism: Where should the law enforcement focus be? May 31, 2002. Eric Sterling and Nicholas Pastore compare the "War on Terror" with the "War on Drugs" and urge policy makers not to replace community oriented policing with anti-terrorism "super squads". 

A Major Risk of Hasty Anti -Terrorism is Ineffectiveness. Statement by Eric E. Sterling at the Sep. 20, 2001 press conference releasing a joint statement, "In Defense of Freedom," after the "9-11" terror attack on New York in 2001.

Legalize Drugs or Expect More Mass Graves Los Angeles Times, December 6, 1999. In this op-ed, Sterling argues that our current drug policy fuels violence because it is the only means that drug traffickers have to resolve business conflicts. The op-ed also appeared in the Houston Chronicle on December 8 and about a dozen other newspapers across the country. 

Testimony to the Subcommittee of Crime on D.E.A Oversight  Statement by Eric E. Sterling on behalf of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, July 29, 1999.

The Untold Drug Bust  The Washington Times, September 3, 1999, p. A17. This op-ed observes that reporting on an airline drug bust in Miami was reminiscent of Vietnam-style "body count" journalism, and observes that such reports come at the expense of reporting on effective policies of drug prevention and treatment. A similar op-ed was published in the Salt Lake Tribune on September 5, p. A5, and a shorter version was published as a letter to the editor in USA Today on September 13, p. 26A.

Statement of Eric E. Sterling to the Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Services and General Government of the Committee of Appropriations regarding National Drug Control Strategy,  U.S. House of Representatives, March 23, 2000. Eric E. Sterling challenged the contention of the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy ("Drug Czar"), Gen. Barry McCaffrey, that the U.S. is winning the drug war, and urged a more effective approach to drug abuse.