Showing posts with label Katie Zezima. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Katie Zezima. Show all posts

Monday, March 9, 2015

If Necessary --Are you prepared to LIVE there, too, Mr. Holder?

March 09, 2015 Attorney General Eric Holder , DOJ 0 Comments
Holder Says He's 'Prepared' To Dismantle Ferguson Police Department

By Katie Zezima, Mar. 6, 2015, WashingtonPost.com

Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday the Department of Justice is ready to take any and all steps that are needed to reform the Ferguson, Mo., police department, including the potential dismantling of the force.

Speaking to reporters at Andrews Air Force Base after a trip to South Carolina with President Obama, Holder said he was stunned by what the investigation uncovered, and will go to all necessary lengths to address racial bias and other systemic issues within the force. A Department of Justice report released Wednesday showed the police department demonstrated a pattern of racial bias and committed constitutional violations.

"We are prepared to use all the powers that we have, all the power that we have, to ensure that the situation changes there. That means everything from working with them to coming up with an entirely new structure," Holder said. When asked if that included dismantling the department, he said, "If that's what's necessary, we're prepared to do that."

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Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Important perspective

Important perspective

August 26, 2014 Katie Zezima , Michael Botticelli 0 Comments
Drug Czar Approaches Challenge From A Different Angle: As A Recovering Alcoholic

By Katie Zezima, Aug. 26, 2014, Washingtonpost.com



LYNN, Mass. — America’s top drug control official had a confession.

Michael Botticelli was seated on a tattered purple couch in an old Victorian here, just outside of Boston. Above his head was a photo of Al Pacino as a drug kingpin in “Scarface,” and gathered around was a group of addicts who live together in the house for help and support. On one door hangs a black mailbox labeled “urine,” where residents must drop samples for drug tests. Botticelli is listening to their stories of addiction and then offered this:

“I have my own criminal record,” he said.

“Woo-hoo!” one man yelled after Botticelli’s declaration. The crowd burst into applause.

The nation’s acting drug czar has a substance abuse problem.

Botticelli, 56, is an alcoholic who has been sober for a quarter century. He quit drinking after a series of events including a drunken-driving accident, waking up handcuffed to a hospital bed and a financial collapse that left him facing eviction.

Decades later, Botticelli is tasked with spearheading the Obama administration’s drug policy, which is largely predicated around the idea of shifting people with addiction into treatment and support programs and away from the criminal justice system.

Botticelli’s life story is the embodiment of the policy choice and one that he credits with saving his own life.

The approach at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has been, Botticelli said, a “very clear pivot to, kind of, really dealing with this as a public health-related issue of looking at prevention and treatment.” He now heads an office that has shifted away from a “war on drugs” footing to expanding treatment to those already addicted and preventing drug use through education.

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