Crowley Hosts Local Black History Month Event with Guest of Honor U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder

Nearly 1,000 7^th Congressional District Residents Join in Event to Honor Local African-AmericanLeaders for Their Service to Their Community

2011 Honorees Include State Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry and State Committeewoman Barbara Brown

Special Guest of Honor U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. and Congressman Crowley

On Thursday, February 17^th, Congressman Joe Crowley (D-Queens, the Bronx) hosted a Black History Month event with special guest The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr., U.S. Attorney General. Nearly 1,000 7^th Congressional District residents gathered at the Dreiser Loop Auditorium in Co-op City to hear Attorney General Holder speak and to honor two local community leaders, State Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry and State Committeewoman Barbara Brown.

Holder, who was raised in Queens and is the first African-American to serve as the U.S. Attorney General, spoke to his vision for a more equitable future based on the lessons of our shared history.

“Black History Month is a time to pay tribute to the rich history of African-Americans and to look ahead to ways we can all work together to build stronger communities and a stronger nation,” said Congressman Crowley. “As a son of New York, a product of our city’s schools and community, and a history maker in his own right, Attorney General Holder is truly an inspiration to us all and I am honored to welcome him to New York’s 7^th Congressional District for this very special and meaningful event.”

left to right, event honoree State Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, Attorney General Holder, event honoree State Committeewoman Barbara Brown, and Congressman Crowley

During the event, Crowley recognized two outstanding community leaders as this year’s honorees: State Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry and State Committeewoman Barbara Brown. Crowley acknowledged Assemblyman Aubry’s tireless efforts to improve the way we treat drug addiction and his 18 years of service to the people of Queens as a member of the State Assembly. Highlighting her lifelong dedication to her community, Crowley recognized Committeewoman Brown for her role as a social activist and community advocate, and for her commitment to serving residents and families of the Bronx.

“What makes our country great is the strength of our communities and the values of civility and virtue that all of this year’s honorees have dedicated their lives to,” said Crowley. “Assemblyman Aubry, Committeewoman Brown, and our guest of honor, Attorney General Holder, have each made a lifelong commitment to improving their communities and to promoting compassion and understanding in their neighbors,” said Crowley. “Their efforts serve as a guiding light as we work together to build a better future for all.”

Attendees at the event were treated to performances by local talent including the Tillers Liturgical Dance Ministry and the Combined Choir, both of the Antioch Baptist Church of Corona. The invocation was led by Rev. Dr. Robert A. Smith Jr., Church of the Savior, and the benediction by Rev. Sheldon E. Williams, Co-op City Baptist Church.

Crowley has hosted an annual Black History Month event every year since 2000. To read Congressman Crowley’s remarks from this year’s Black History Month event, please click here.

Congressman Crowley is the seven-term representative from the 7^th Congressional District of New York, which includes sections of Queens and the Bronx. He is a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and serves as a Chief Deputy Whip in the House of Representatives.

Cops to California Voters: Legalize It! by Charles Davis - Criminal Justice | Change.org

Read original...

Listening to the critics, you'd think the only people calling for an end to marijuana prohibition in California were a bunch of deadbeat, dirty stoners -- which, if true, might be cause for concern, as polls show most residents of the state support legalizing the much-maligned weed. But contrary to stereotype, a broad coalition supports Proposition 19, the initiative on the November ballot that would legalize marijuana, from labor unions to law enforcement, with dozens of retired cops and judges lending their support to the argument that it is prohibition -- not pot smoking -- that poses the real threat to society.

"I was basically a drug warrior until I saw what was happening in my own courtroom," James Gray, a retired Orange County Superior Court judge, told reporters on a press call Monday. "And then I started learning, seeing, watching, that the tougher we get with regard to non-violent drug offenses, literally the softer we get with regard to the prosecution of everything else, like robbery, rape and murder. Why? Because we only have so many resources in the criminal justice system."

Gray spoke to mark the release of a letter signed by more than 30 retired law enforcement officials in California voicing support for Proposition 19. Put together by the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, the letter blasts the status quo as a boon to organized crime and calls "for new laws that will effectively control and tax cannabis," an effort signers say will dry up one of the leading sources of funding for the increasingly violent Mexican drug cartels.

Indeed, whatever one's views about the drug itself, the war on pot is "not working and it hasn’t reduced the use of marijuana," retired San Jose police chief Joseph McNamara argued on the call. Its illegality, meanwhile, "produces enormous funding for drug cartels and drug gangs and violence," he noted. "The violence is not because people are getting stoned on marijuana. It’s caused by the whole gangster syndrome that exists when you establish criminal prohibition and drive the profits and prices up."

That message -- that pot legalization is less about condoning its use and more about making our communities safer -- is echoed in the letter, addressed to the "Voters of California" and signed by former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper, among other notables.

"As criminal justice professionals, we have seen with our own eyes that keeping cannabis illegal damages public safety -- for cannabis consumers and non-consumers alike," the letter says. "If California's voters make the sensible decision to effectively control and tax cannabis this November, it will eliminate illegal marijuana distribution networks, just as ending alcohol prohibition put a stop to violent and corrupting gangsters' control of beer, wine and liquor sales."

The letter's release comes after all nine former heads of the Drug Enforcement Agency -- that is, the former heads of a bureaucracy with a vested interested in maintaining costly drug prohibition, regardless of its failure -- wrote Attorney General Eric Holder last month expressing "grave concern" about Proposition 19 and asking him to suppress the will of California voters should they embrace legalization. (See Firedoglake founder Jane Hamsher's response).

"The California proposition is not a close call; it will be a clear conflict with established federal law and in fact will also violate our government's treaty obligations ratified by Congress," the former DEA officials wrote, urging Holder to consider suing the state of California just as the Obama administration has sued Arizona over its controversial immigration law. "We would expect the Department of Justice to act just as swiftly and for the same reason."

Photo Credit: Dauvit Alexander

Senator Gillibrand Wants BP Held Criminally Responsible for Oil Spill by Mark Scott - WBFO

Read original...

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is one of a number of US Senators who want BP Oil to be held criminally responsible for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Senator Gillibrand was among a handful of senators who signed a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing concerns "about the truthfulness and accuracy of statements submitted by BP." Late Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder says federal authorities have opened criminal and civil investigations. He's not saying which companies or individuals might be the targets of the probe. Holder says federal clean air and pollution laws give him the power to open the investigations.

But during an appearance in Buffalo late last week, Gillibrand said BP needs to be held accountable.

"BP needs to pay for the entire clean-up," Gillibrand said. "There is no reason why the taxpayer should be soaked by this bill."

Going forward, Gillibrand says better protections are needed to hold oil companies doing such drilling far more accountable. She fears the damage will last generations.

Gillibrand said President Obama is doing the best he can in response to the disaster.