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Posts tagged as ““war on drugs””

Antoine Fuqua Attached to Direct Mexican Cartel Book "Wolf Boys" for TriStar

By goodblacknews on January 24, 2016
Antoine Fuqua to Direct Cartel Book
Antoine Fuqua (REX SHUTTERSTOCK)

Following a competitive auction, TriStar Pictures has won the rights to the Mexican cartel book “Wolf Boys” with Antoine Fuqua attached to direct and produce.
Written by Dan Slater, the book follows two American teens recruited as killers for a Mexican cartel, and their pursuit by a Mexican-American detective who realizes the War on Drugs is unwinnable.
Insiders have described the book as “Goodfellas” in the Mexican cartel landscape. Given the sudden interest in cartels following the arrest of drug kingpin El Chapo, the book was in high demand after coming on the market last week.
Fuqua’s deal is still be worked out but the choice seems spot-on since his credits include “Training Day” and “The Equalizer.”  The book will be released by Simon & Schuster later this year.
Fuqua is in post-production on “The Magnificent Seven” starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt.
article by Justin Kroll via Variety.com

President Obama Set To Commute Sentences For Dozens Of Non-Violent Drug Offenders

By goodblacknews on July 7, 2015

President Obama Speaks at Georgia Tech
Following his plan to rectify the “war on drugs” that jailed thousands and destroyed communities, President Obama is expected to commute the sentences of dozens of non-violent drug offenders this summer, the New York Times reports.
The president, who has long discussed the effort to correct the tough and unfair sentencing that disproportionately affects minority men, will issue orders to free a number of federal prisoners; a move that will “commute more sentences at one time than any president has in nearly half a century,” the Times writes.
In a rare Washington D.C. twist, sentencing reform seems to be a bipartisan issue, garnering support from Democrats, Republicans, and those in between.
Via the Times:

In the next weeks, the total number of commutations for Mr. Obama’s presidency may surpass 80, but more than 30,000 federal inmates have come forward in response to his administration’s call for clemency applications. A cumbersome review process has advanced only a small fraction of them. And just a small fraction of those have reached the president’s desk for a signature.

[…]

Overhauling the criminal justice system has become a bipartisan venture. Like Mr. Obama, Republicans running for his job are calling for systemic changes. Lawmakers from both parties are collaborating on legislation. And the United States Sentencing Commission has revised guidelines for drug offenders, so far retroactively reducing sentences for more than 9,500 inmates, nearly three-quarters of them black or Hispanic.

The drive to recalibrate the system has brought together groups from across the political spectrum. The Center for American Progress, a liberal advocacy organization with close ties to the White House and Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, has teamed up with Koch Industries, the conglomerate owned by the conservative brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, who finance Republican candidates, to press for reducing prison populations and overhauling sentencing.

According to PBS Newshour, inmates should have spent at least 10 years incarcerated and received what could be considered an unfair sentence based on current sentencing laws to be considered for commutations.

So far, President Obama has granted 33 commutations in the fiscal year 2015.

article by Christina Coleman via newsone.com