News from the Atlanta front in "The War on Drugs"

[Universe Prince]

Headline: Prosecutors Say Corruption in Atlanta Police Dept. Is Widespread

After the fatal police shooting of an elderly woman in a botched drug raid, the United States attorney here said Thursday that prosecutors were investigating a “culture of misconduct” in the Atlanta Police Department. In court documents, prosecutors said Atlanta police officers regularly lied to obtain search warrants and fabricated documentation of drug purchases, as they had when they raided the home of the woman, Kathryn Johnston, in November, killing her in a hail of bullets. Narcotics officers have admitted to planting marijuana in Ms. Johnston’s home after her death and submitting as evidence cocaine they falsely claimed had been bought at her house, according to the court filings. Two of the three officers indicted in the shooting, Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith, pleaded guilty on Thursday to state charges including involuntary manslaughter and federal charges of conspiracy to violate Ms. Johnston’s civil rights. “Former officers Junnier and Smith will also help us continue our very active ongoing investigation into just how wide the culture of misconduct that led to this tragedy extends within the Atlanta Police Department,” said David Nahmias, the United States attorney.

Whole article at the other end of this link.

If you're not aware of this case, Kathryn Johnston was killed in a hail of bullets as police officers attempted to raid her home in search of cocaine. The officers lied to get not just a warrant but a no-knock warrant, which allows police to break down a door without first knocking and giving time for the occupant to respond. Johnston, an elderly woman who lived alone, was apparently frightened as the police began to break down her door, and she fired at the door a single shot from a .38 revolver. The police responded with a hail of bullets that killed Kathryn Johnston (and reportedly injured a few police officers as well). Upon finding no drugs and the dead woman, the police officers proceeded to handcuff the woman and plant cocaine and marijuana in the home. Not satisfied with that, they also attempted to force a police informant, otherwise unconnected to the situation, to falsely claim to have bought drugs at Johnston's home. Thankfully, the informant refused.

Also thankfully, the Atlanta police department seems to have finally been motivated to investigate the extent of the corruption, and to make some changes to the way they operate. That said, the blame for the situation that led to Kathryn Johnston's death lies with not just the three officers involved, but with the police department for allowing the no-knock assault entry to become standard procedure and not providing better oversight, and also with the judges who apparently routinely sign off on warrants in these instances without much scrutiny.

But I also blame the whole concept of a "war on drugs". We have elevated the enforcement of this version of Prohibition to a ridiculous level of violence. Even if drugs like marijuana and cocaine should be illegal (I do not believe they should) this sort of violently aggressive enforcement of anti-drug laws should not have a place in our society. This isn't an isolated case. This no-knock, SWAT team procedure is becoming, if it isn't already, commonplace, and there are many stories of them ruining the lives of otherwise innocent people. One good example is that of Cory Maye, a man who was wrongly convicted of murdering a police officer. Maye was, in actuality, trying to defend himself and his family from what he believed to be criminal intruders into his home. This has gone too far, and we should be calling for, no, demanding that police departments and the government reevaluate this escalation in the so-called "war on drugs". (I would argue for abandoning the "war" but I know that ain't soon to happen, regardless of how many innocent people get killed or otherwise have their lives ruined by it.)