1.Higher Education Act Reform Campaign: Visit FEHDP in the law school lobby 11/14/00.
2. Conference
about Plan Colombia at Columbia! November 17-18
**See also #7 NY Times Article Below**
3. Marijuana Law Symposium at NYU Law School November 20
4. Plea for help from Coalition
for Jubilee Clemency-Celebrate Jesus Christ's 2000th birthday by encouraging
the president to release
prisoners of the drug war.
5. Ballot Initiatives, NY's Rockefeller Drug Laws & Other News from the FEHDP Website
6. Drug War Prisoners: Lost Votes for Gore?
7. NY Times: Coca Conflict in Colombia Snares the Innocent
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1. Youthful
Indiscretion could cost you a college education...
(Well, maybe not you. But 7000 students this year weren't so
lucky.)
FEHDP will be tabling in the lobby of Jerome Green Hall TUESDAY 11/14
from 10-2. A 1998 amendement to the Higher Education Act denies or
delays federal financial aid to students convicted of a state or federal
drug offense. If it sounds suspicious to you, come learn more
& sign a letter
sharing your opinion with your elected officials. To learn more
on the web, visit:
http://www.raiseyourvoice.com/heainfo.html
Oh yeah, we have doughnuts too.
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2. Counter
Insurgency and the Drug War: The Impact of Plan Colombia
Fall Conference 2000
The Clinton Administration's $1.3 billion aid package for Colombia,
which was introduced in January and became law in July, has raised concerns
in human rights circles because of its overwhelming emphasis on Colombia's
security forces - 75 percent, or $2 million per day, will go to
Colombia's military and police. A year after the Plan's launch, however,
it appears as if the international community will not offer even a fraction
of
the grant support that the Plan Colombia's designers had expected.
In fact, the plan is looking increasingly like a bilateral U.S.-Colombian
initiative.
Critics of the "Plan Colombia" have long charged that the initiative
is little more than a ploy to make a U.S. military aid package look more
benign and multilateral. Early next year, the United States will begin
considering how to aid Colombia in the year 2002.
As the situation in Colombia enters a critical phase, the need for a
thorough examination of the U.S. role in the internal war has never been
more
urgent. The COLOMBIA MEDIA PROJECT with its mission of providing information
and critical analysis about the war in Colombia, has brought
together leading academics, journalists and activists, including indigenous
representatives from the southern Province of Putumayo, the focus of Plan
Colombia, for this two day conference to examine the impact of the
escalating U.S. presence in Colombia's internal war.
Here! At Columbia Law School
Friday, November 17, 6:30 to 9:30 PM
Saturday, November 18, 11:30 to 6:00 PM
Suggested Donation: $10 (but no one will be turned out)
Endorsed by: North American Congress of Latin America, Our Americas,
Human Rights Institute, Law School, Columbia University
Funded by The North Star Fund, The Funding Exchange and The Peace Development
Fund
***Program & a list of Panelists is at the bottom of this message**
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3. Marijuana
Law Symposium at NYU Law School November 20
Cannabis Criminalization is the Crime, the National
Lawyers Guild, and the Review of Law and Social Change invite you to attend
a provocative
panel discussion of Marijuana prohibition to be held in Tishman Auditorium
at New York University School of Law on Monday, November 20th at
7:30 PM. The Marijuana Symposium features speakers from organizations
pursuing different strategies in the effort to bring ameliorative change
to
existing public policy regarding Marijuana. Featured participants
in the Symposium include Graham Boyd, Joseph White, and Robert Kampia.
For more information, email ch357@is.nyu.edu
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4. Plea
for help from Coalition for Jubilee Clemency-Celebrate the Jesus Christ's
2000th birthday by encouraging the president to release
prisoners of the drug war.
If you haven't helped the Coalition for Jubilee Clemency (CJC) in their
campaign to free drug war prisoners by the end of the year, please read
below to find out what you can do to help?The sign-on letter from faith
leaders to President Clinton asking him to grant clemency to low-level,
nonviolent federal drug offenders will be submitted to Clinton around
November 15th, so time is of the essence. Over 150 faith leaders from a
variety of faiths have already endorsed the statement, but more are
needed. A list of faith leaders who have already signed the letter is online
at
www.cjpf.org/clemency/signers.html.
Background on the campaign, as well as reasons why faith leaders should
endorse it, can be found at
http://www.cjpf.org/clemency/appealletter.html.
Make sure, however, to use your own words as much as possible in any letters
or phone calls to
religious organizations. When writing the USCC, or any other Catholic
organization, feel free to use the following July 2000 statement from
the Pope:"The Holy Year must be used as a chance to right injustices
committed, to mitigate excesses, and to recover what might otherwise
be lost. . . . I turn with confidence to State authorities to ask for a
gesture of
clemency towards all those in prison: a reduction, even a modest one,
of the term of punishment would be for prisoners a clear sign of sensitivity
to
their condition."
CJC can be contacted at:
Coalition for Jubilee Clemency
Chad Thevenot, Coordinator
1225 Eye Street, NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 312-2015, Fax: (202) 842-2620
clemency@cjpf.org
www.cjpf.org/clemency
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5. Articles on recent ballot initiatives, NY's
Rockefeller Drug Laws & more, visit
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/fehdp/articles.html
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6. Drug War Prisoners = Lost Votes for Gore?
ARO: Black Ex-Felons Could Have Made The Difference For Al Gore
Al Gore has studiously avoided talking about the consequences of the
drug war over which his administration has presided. In a stroke
of divine
justice, it turns out he might have easily won Florida had it not been
for the felony disenfranchisement laws that disproportionately strip the
vote
from African-American men. Let's hope he ponders this long and
hard while he waits for the recount.
http://www.blackelectorate.com/archives/110800.asp
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7. Coca Conflict in Colombia Snares the Innocent
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/world/09COLO.html
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2. Colombia Conference Program:
Friday, November 17
6:30 PM Registration
7:00 a 9:30 PM No One Left to Tell the Story: Persecution Against Journalists
Panelists: Ignacio Gómez, Exiled journalist, El Espectador newspaper
Hans Sarmiento, Exiled journalist, RCN Television
Richard Vélez, Exiled reporter, Colombia 12:30 PM TV News
Moderator: Mario A. Murillo, Producer of Our Americas , Assistant Professor,
School Of Communications, Hofstra University
Saturday, November 18
11:30 AM Registration
12:00 - 2:30 PM The War on the Poor: The Crisis of Forced Displacement
Panelists: Luis Gilberto Murillo, Former governor of the Chocó
province
Hober Antonio Pérez, President, Association of Displaced Persons
for Peaceful Coexistence, Adescop
Jorge Rojas, Director, Human Rights and Displacement Consultancy, CODHES
Moderator: Hiram Ruiz, U.S. Committee for Refugees
2:30 - 3:30 Lunch break
3:30 - 6:00 PM Views from the War Zone: The Implementation of Plan Colombia
Panelists: Martha Ascuntar, South West Initiatives Network, Cali
Nancy Sánchez, Coordinator of Programa de Convivencia, Putumayo
Ricardo Vargas, Drug Policy Expert, Acción Andina
Moderator: Arturo Carrillo, Henkin Senior Fellow and Lecturer in Law,Human
Rights Institute, Law School, Columbia University
6:00 - 7:30 PM Recepción
--
FEHDP on the Web!
www.columbia.edu/cu/fehdp