Drug Offenders Research Articles

Social inequality in alternative sanctions: A register data study on all adolescent drug offenders in Norway 2005–2015

The penal repertoire for young offenders in Europe encompasses an increasing variety of alternative sanctions. Research indicates that the availability and implementation of these sanctions vary within jurisdictions, raising issues of unequal treatment for equal offences. Among possible factors associated with intra-jurisdictional disparities in alternative sentencing outcomes is the socioeconomic status of young offenders. This study investigates the social profile of diverted youth, thereby addressing social inequalities in alternative sanctioning. Register data on all 15- to 17-year olds charged with minor drug offences in Norway between 2005 and 2015 ( N = 3209) were compared to a randomly drawn sample of non-offenders ( N = 69,201). Offenders who were diverted from a fine to a conditional waiver of prosecution, either with or without rehabilitative measures, were classified with an alternative sanction. Socioeconomic status was measured by an indicator combining register data on household income and parental education. Probit regressions with sample selection were used to identify social gradients in alternative sanctioning. By extensive register linkages, we were able to control for a range of well-known confounders such as gender, immigrant status, family composition, parental crime, and geographical centrality. We found that the probability of receiving a conditional waiver of prosecution was around 5% points higher for youth from a medium-high socioeconomic status background and 8% points higher for youth from a high socioeconomic status background compared with their low socioeconomic status counterparts. The positive social gradient pertained to sanctioning with rehabilitative elements and not to minimal interventions. Social inequality in desistance-oriented sanctions, which may consolidate pre-existing inequalities in criminal charges, is likely influenced by the resources parents have at their disposal to get involved in their children’s legal processes.

KEBIJAKAN HUKUMAN MATI TERHADAP TERPIDANA NARKOTIKA DI INDONESIA DITINJAU DARI HAK ASASI MANUSIA

Indonesia is one of the countries that still imposes a death penalty for certain crimes that fall into the type of extra ordinary crimes. Drugs trafficking crimes is one that falls into the extra ordinary crime types. Over of time, this crime has grown not only from the increasing number of users and dealers but also from the types of drugs themselves so that the Indonesiangovernment requires a strict punishment in overcoming these crimes. On the other hand, the implementation of imprisonment is considered ineffective,in fact, in some cases the convictshave the opportunity to become recidivists and control the crime even more. Therefore, the death penalty policy for drugs convicts is an effort that is expected to eradicate drugs trafficking crimes in Indonesia. The problems wichis studied in this paper is how is the regulation of the death penalty for drugs convicts according to the law in Indonesia, how the effectiveness of the death penalty for drugs convicts and how the death penalty policy for drugs convicts is reviewed by a human rights perspectivity. This research was conducted in a normative juridical manner and is expected to provide a comprehensive explanation of matters relating to the death penalty policy for drugs convicts by a human rights perspectivity. Based on the results of this research paper, the death penalty has been regulated in law number 35 of 2009 does not have a deterrent effect on drug offenders. In addition, the death penalty policy for drugs convicts if it viewed from human rights is contradictory because the right to life is the most important right for humans and is contained in the 1945 constitution as the written basic law for the Indonesian nations.

Police‐driven diversion program in Wisconsin lowers rearrest rate

Completion of a six‐month diversion program for drug offenders in Madison, Wisconsin, led to a substantial reduction in the odds of rearrest compared with individuals not participating in the program, reports a newly published study. The results point to the importance of ongoing engagement of participants, in that mere assignment to the program without successful completion was not associated with reduced recidivism.

Understanding the Desistance Journey of Female Drug Offenders in Singapore Through Their Lived Experiences: The Impact of Family Relationships

The goal of this study was to examine the lived experiences and perceptions of female drug offenders in a community programme, with an emphasis on the role of the family in their desistance. Female drug offenders (N = 11) undergoing a community sentence were tasked with capturing photographs representative of their recovery. Participants were interviewed on the meanings of these photographs, with symbolic themes subsequently elicited from these interviews. Findings illustrated that participants were more likely to rely on their families for support as compared to other factors. Implications of the findings in relation to desistance and social relationships are discussed.

\u201cWe're actually more of a likely ally than an unlikely ally\u201d: relationships between syringe services programs and law enforcement

BackgroundSyringe services programs provide sterile injection supplies and a range of health services (e.g., HIV and HEP-C testing, overdose prevention education, provision of naloxone) to a hard-to-reach population, including people who use drugs, aiming to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases.MethodsWe performed a qualitative needs assessment of existing syringe services programs in the state of Colorado in 2018–2019 to describe—their activities, needs, and barriers. Using a phenomenological approach, we performed semi-structured interviews with key program staff of syringe services programs (n = 11). All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and validated. A data-driven iterative approach was used by researchers to develop a coding scheme to organize the data into major themes found across interviews. Memos were written to synthesize main themes.ResultsNearly all the syringe program staff discussed their relationships with law enforcement at length. All syringe program staff viewed having a positive relationship with law enforcement as critical to the success of their program. Main factors that influence the quality of relationships between syringe services programs and law enforcement included: (1) alignment in agency culture, (2) support from law enforcement leadership, (3) police officers’ participation and compliance with the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, which provides intensive case management for low-level drug offenders, and (4) implementation of the “Needle-Stick Prevention Law” and Drug Paraphernalia Law Exemption. All syringe program staff expressed a strong desire to have positive relationships with law enforcement and described how a collaborative working relationship was critical to the success of their programs.ConclusionsOur findings reveal effective strategies to foster relationships between syringe services programs and law enforcement as well as key barriers to address. The need exists for both syringe services programs and law enforcement to devote time and resources to build a strong, positive partnership. Having such positive relationships with law enforcement has positive implications for syringe services program clients, including law enforcement being less likely to ticket persons for having used syringes, and encourage people who use drugs to seek services from syringe services programs, which can then lead them to other resources, such as housing, wound care, and substance use treatment programs.

Courts with Expanded Local Jurisdiction as a Mechanism for Fighting Serious Crimes

The idea of creating courts with expanded local jurisdiction is an effective way in fighting and diminishing crimes that have huge risks on the economy and nation’s safety.
 This conforms with law 04-14 modifying the criminal procedure code, which is the extension of local jurisdictions of some mentioned courts, through regulations, and charging with special types of crimes, including but not limited to: drug offences, transnational organized crime, data automation systems crimes, money laundering, terrorism and infringements related to the legislation of exchanges for effective and positive results in this field.
 The legislator had submitted those courts to regulations and procedures to work, which are different from classic criminal courts, as he reinforced it with investigative ways that make fighting against the above-mentioned crimes more effective.
 That is why, we shed the light on the different regulations related to the competences of courts with expanded local jurisdiction, their procedural rules, and the most important problems that arise in thought analytical descriptive approach

Key Finding: Result of a Qualitative Study of Judicial Perspectives on the Sentencing of Minor Drug Offenders in Indonesia: Structural Inequality

Key Finding: Result of a Qualitative Study of Judicial Perspectives on the Sentencing of Minor Drug Offenders in Indonesia: Structural Inequality

Reprint of: Why Vietnam continues to impose the death penalty for drug offences: A narrative commentary

In several nations in Southeast Asia, illegally importing, exporting, trading, or possessing drugs is a capital offence. Like China, another communist state in Asia, Vietnam imposes its harshest legal punishments for drug-related crimes, though many international opponents have continued to call for the abolishment of these inhumane sentences. Using grey literature, reports by international observers, and informal interviews with colleagues, the present article explores the policies and provisions of Vietnam's Party-State in regulating capital punishment for drug offences, situating Vietnam's sentencing practices in the context of legislative reviews, international obligations, and humanitarian perspectives. Assessing the arguments put forward by abolitionists, retentionists, and supporters of de facto abolition allows for a more comprehensive understanding of Vietnam's stance toward the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is aimed at abolishing the death penalty in the future. The article concludes with a call for further action, outlining some basic recommendations on how the Vietnamese can keep their promises to reduce, and ultimately abolish, impositions of the death penalty for drug-related crimes.

Key Finding: Result of a Qualitative Study of Judicial Perspectives on the Sentencing of Minor Drug Offenders in Indonesia: Structural Inequality

Although there have been a number of recent developments in criminal justice research on the topic of structural inequality sentencing, much work is needed to explore the judicial perspective. Researchers use this paper illustrates how a recent study used qualitative semi-structure interviews to study current judicial perspectives on sentencing of minor drug offenders in Indonesia. This paper reports a recent study of judicial perspectives when sentencing minor drug offenders in Indonesia. Firstly, it reviews existing sentencing option and recent development that motivated me to explore the issues of justice among Indonesian Judges. Secondly, it reports the procedures and method used in the recent study. Thirdly, it reports the appropriateness of the methodology chosen, and how it may influence the finding of the study. Finally, it reports the judicial perception on structural inequality.

‘Alternative facts’: Public opinion surveys on the death penalty for drug offences in selected Asian countries

Backgroundin recent years, many Asian countries have witnessed an intensification in populist discourses identifying the death penalty as a central tool of drug control, with public opinion surveys referred to as invaluable evidence of public support for the death penalty. This paper will address the claim that the public supports capital punishment, and the role of surveys in shaping this discourse. Methodsreview of thirty-nine public opinion surveys on the death penalty carried out in five Asian countries which retain the death penalty for drugs or are considering re-introducing it. The review was conducted by analysing and comparing design, methodology, findings, and the relationship between these elements. Resultsall but two surveys recorded a majoritarian support for the death penalty, driven by beliefs in (a) deterrent effect of the death penalty, and (b) perfect justice – both disproven. Complex surveys found a low intensity of support, and a limited interest and knowledge by the public in capital punishment. Support for capital punishment is lower for drug offences specifically, and it decreases significantly when expressed with reference to real-life cases.Limited data suggest that the public in the focus countries has reservations on the effectiveness of the death penalty to reduce drug offences, and prefers a discretionary system of punishment. The analysis also revealed correlations between the framing of survey questions and their findings. ConclusionPublic opinion surveys conducted in China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand suggest that the public knows little and has little interest in the death penalty. Although majoritarian, its support is based on a faulty understanding of key facts related to capital punishment, and an increase in knowledge is correlated to a decrease in support. More rigorous polling exercises demonstrate that public support for capital punishment – both in general and for drug offences specifically – is instinctive, abstract, elastic, and contextual.

State sanctioned killing in the name of drugs: Laws, practice and conflicting trends in Asia

The last decade has seen a significant amount of progress in the struggle to abolish the death penalty for drug offences, a practice that is both illegal under international law and proven to be ineffective. Political, legal and policy developments at the international, regional and national level have led to a progressive shift away from capital punishment as a tool for drug control, resulting in a relatively sharp decrease in global executions. Yet a small number of countries, primarily in Asia, continue to aggressively pursue the policy, executing hundreds of disadvantaged individuals every year, often following trials that do not meet international standards of fairness. At the same time, populist rhetoric advocating for the death penalty for drugs is on the rise in the region, reinvigorating aggressive drug wars and threatening to undermine the framework of existing international legal obligations and unravel decades of progress.

Drug offence detection during the pandemic: An ARIMA analysis of rates and regional differences in Queensland, Australia

Public commentary has offered mixed opinion on the likely impact of COVID-19 restrictions on drug-related offending. On the one hand, it is argued that drug users – and the drug markets in which they interact – may have become the incidental targets of law enforcement as police seek to enforce social distancing regulations by focusing their efforts on street-level pedestrian activity or open-air gatherings. On the other, interstate border closures and restrictions on person and freight traffic are thought to have interrupted illicit drug supply chains, temporarily reducing or displacing market activity at the street level and thus reducing police detections of drug users. In this study, we extend current analyses of crime during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore how the rate of police detection for drug possession and other drug-related offences has changed. Using crime data from the Australian state of Queensland, we use Auto-Regressive Integrated and Moving Average time series modelling techniques to explore historical trends and their dynamic forecasts. We then compare actual offence rates for March through June to identify any statistically significant changes. We find that reported drug offences significantly vary across time and location highlighting that the impact of COVID-19 is not universal across Queensland. Thus, the significant heterogeneity in local drug market dynamics that has elsewhere been documented remains even in a major crisis with significant changes in policing activity and resource allocation. Our analysis has significant import for criminal justice practitioners in further understanding drug market dynamics and drug-related offending during COVID-19 restrictions.

Initial impacts of COVID-19 on youth offending: An exploration of differences across communities

A number of international studies have found that the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with reductions in crime, primarily due to changes in the routine activities of the population. However, to date there has been no targeted exploration of how COVID-19 may have influenced youth offending, which may be more heavily impacted by the changes heralded by COVID-19 containment measures. This study examines changes in youth offending in an Australia jurisdiction, Queensland, following the implementation of COVID-19 containment measures from the period April to June 2020. Additionally, differences in impacts across community types were explored. Findings from the panel regression indicated significant declines in youth property offending, offences against the person and public order offences in this period, but no significant changes in illicit drug offences. There were also significant differences across communities according to socio-economic status, per cent Indigenous population, and the extent of commercial or industrial land use. Findings are explored with reference to environmental crime theories and the potential impacts of social, economic and policing changes that occurred in this period.

The view of judicial activism and public legitimacy

The underlying legitimacy issue that underpin sentences related to issues of drug use remains unexplored. It is this relationship between legitimacy and Indonesian judges' accountability when sentencing that this article explores. Judicial activism, and the perceived public legitimacy when sentencing minor drug offenders is presented. To gain an insight into the judicial aim of sentencing minor drug offenders, 31 judges were qualitatively interviewed. Drawing together the findings of judicial activism and public legitimacy, the report concludes that judicial activism is influenced by Islamic culture. Moreover, it finds that Islamic culture is more sympathetic, in comparison with the central government, which is more punitive, with regards to the ways in which the Indonesian judge utilises Islamic culture to support the rehabilitative problem-solving sentences. This report discusses a direct accountability mechanism that is not dissimilar to political accountability in the Anglo-Saxon legal scheme.

Examining the Coevolution of Drug Use Variety and Different Types of Offending Frequency Among Justice-Involved Adolescents

Past research demonstrates a strong link between drug use and crime among justice-involved adolescents, yet little is known about the joint development between drug use variety and various types of criminal offending frequencies from adolescence to young adulthood. Using a sample of male adolescent offenders ( N = 842), this article examines the coevolution of drug use variety and three separate types of offending frequencies. First, four group-based trajectory models identify unique group developmental patterns for drug use variety, drug sales offending, property offending, and violent offending. Next, three dual-trajectory models examine the coevolution between drug use variety and each type of criminal offending. Findings reveal a general pattern of desistance for both drug use and offending, while also illustrating notable variability in group trajectory patterns for drug use variety and criminal behavior. This article concludes that adolescents with elevated drug use variety make up a large proportion of frequent offenders.

Relationship Between Coping Strategy and the High-Risk Relapse Situation Among Drug Offenders

Relationship Between Coping Strategy and the High-Risk Relapse Situation Among Drug Offenders

The Declining Significance of Race in Criminal Sentencing: Evidence from US Federal Courts

Abstract Racial inequality in sentencing has decreased substantially over the last decade. In 2009, the average sentencing difference between black and white defendants in federal court was nearly 3 yrs. By 2018, this difference was less than 6 mos. Among drug offenders over this same period, the black–white gap went from 47 mos. down to zero. Yet, despite the fact that racial inequality in the legal system remains at the fore of sociological discourse, these developments remain conspicuously under-evaluated and the underlying processes driving these changes remain unknown. This article fills this gap by applying longitudinal decomposition methods to US District Court data between 2009 and 2018. Three notable findings emerge. First, the declining racial gap was driven, in equal parts, by decreasing black sentences and increasing white sentences. Second, black and white sentences became more equal almost entirely due to changes in observable case characteristics and not due to changes in the treatment of offenders. Third, shifts in the prosecutorial use of mandatory minimums played a critical role in decreasing black–white sentencing inequality.

Drug overdose death rates and criminal sentencing of federal drug offenders in the United States

The rate of drug overdose deaths has increased substantially in the United States in the past two decades. However, limited research has examined how the criminal justice system is responding to this growing epidemic. Using data on criminal sentences in federal district courts, the current study assesses the relationship between drug overdose death rates and criminal sentences in the United States. Results from multilevel regression models demonstrate that sentences for federal drug offenders were shorter in areas that experienced higher overdose rates and increased growth in overdose rates over time. Findings also demonstrated substantial heterogeneity by drug type, such that substances most closely associated with the overdose crisis (i.e., pharmaceutical opioids and methamphetamines) were sentenced less harshly in areas with higher drug overdose rates. Analyses assessing the change in overdose rates over time, demonstrated that several substances (crack-cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine) were sentenced more harshly in areas with greater growth in the overdose rate, whereas cocaine and pharmaceutical opioids were not impacted by changes in drug overdose rate. These findings are interpreted through the lens of theoretical perspectives and contemporary research pertaining to ways levels of crime and social problems influence punishment decisions.

Deadly serious: The United Nations, drugs, and capital punishment in the 1980s

BackgroundResearch into capital punishment has focussed on the length of time it will take to abolish. It will take decades or centuries. A key moment in the movement to abolish the death penalty was the 1980s when the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR was developed. This was also the decade that the last significant changes were made to the United Nations drug conventions. At the time, awareness of the issue of capital punishment for drug offences was increasing around the world as more people were getting executed. This article looks at how western countries and the United Nations responded to Malaysia which introduced the mandatory death penalty for drug offences in 1982. MethodsOver 30,000 pages of documents have been accessed through the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. These have been photographed, scanned and converted to OCR. The most relevant folders have then been analysed through NVivo 12 to look for relevant mentions of the research question: capital punishment and Malaysia. All probative data is then presented in the article. ResultsThe data from National Archives suggests that the UN, Australia, and other western countries were happy to continue supporting Malaysia's drug policy and to elect it to high positions at UN meetings despite their public proclamations that they were opposed to the death penalty. ConclusionApplying a critical juncture approach, the article concludes that the 1980s was a critical juncture in the movement to abolish the death penalty but abolitionist countries allowed capital punishment to continue for drug offences. This may have set back the abolition movement by decades.

Qualitative Method Used in Researching the Judiciary: Quality Assurance Steps to Enhance the Validity and Reliability of the Findings

In this paper, I present a qualitative method used in researching the judiciary. This article highlights the importance of employing a number of quality assurance steps and procedures to enhance the validity and reliability of the findings. I argue that to increase safety and reduce risk, procedural risk-assessment of the study project can be useful to deal with the real time practical difficulties that emerged from the fieldwork. To develop an understanding of what judges are trying to achieve when sentencing minor drug offenders, a total of thirty-one Indonesian judges were semi-structurally interviewed. The findings highlight that my methodology evolved by working in the field. When it was clear that not all participants were willing to be recorded, I decided to take notes. Also, I decided to conduct a kind of focus group by having two judges in the room concurrently. In this regard, I captured the participant's experience without being too intrusive. This paper contributes to the study of the method. The way in which I employed a number of quality assurance steps and procedures to enhance the validity and reliability of the findings. This fastidiousness and vigilance enhance confidence that this study's findings reflect closely the reality of drug sentencing in the courts studied over the period of fieldwork.