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Juan González Retires from New York Daily News, Praised for His "Relentless Assault on Injustice"
Democracy Now! co-host and New York Daily News columnist Juan González has announced he is leaving the Daily News after 29 years. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, "Will miss hearing [Juan González]’s loud voice for the workers." Former Village Voice reporter Tom Robbins described Juan as "the best voice in the Daily News these past 29 years." In a message to the Daily News staff, the paper’s editor described Juan as a "legend who set his powerful, intelligent, compassionate voice on a 29-year course at the Daily News, standing up to every bully that came his way in his relentless assault on injustice."
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: And Democracy Now! co-host and New York Daily News columnist Juan González is leaving the New York Daily News after 29 years. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, quote, "Will miss hearing [Juan González]’s loud voice for the workers in the @NYDailyNews. We hope to keep hearing it elsewhere!" Former Village Voice reporter Tom Robbins tweeted, quote, "The Great Juan Gonzalez, the best voice in the Daily News these past 29 years, headed out the door."
And those are some of the headlines. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I’m Juan González. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers around the country and around the world.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I’m just thankful, Juan, you’re not headed out this door. But I have to say, your career of 29 years at the New York Daily News—I would like to read the letter that your editor-in-chief wrote about you that he’s released to the staff.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Oh, yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: And you can’t interrupt.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: OK, all right, yeah. He released that on deadline yesterday afternoon while I was in the middle of writing a column, but—
AMY GOODMAN: Well, this is the letter from New York Daily News editor-in-chief Jim Rich. He writes, "Juan Gonzalez has been an inspiration to each of us at some point in our careers. Some of us grew up in the NYC area and were compelled to become journalists after reading his unsparing investigative work. Some of us have stood shoulder to shoulder with him as he covered with unmatched grace and integrity, many of the most important or harrowing stories in the city’s history. All of us have witnessed his unflinching devotion to fact-based journalism as an agent of social good.
"Juan’s accomplishments are too long to list here, but a few must be noted:" says the head of the New York Daily News.
He writes, "He won his first George Polk Award for commentary in 1998.
“In the wake of 9/11, as the country rallied around the rescue and recovery efforts, Juan was the first and lone voice calling out the cover up of the health hazards at Ground Zero. His courage to stand in the face of both local and national political power was unmatched. And his reporting, as history has shown, was dead-on.
“His investigation into the 2006 shooting of Sean Bell helped disrupt the NYPD’s narrative of the incident and led to a more complete telling of the facts while shedding light on institutional misdeeds in the police department that still resonates.
"In 2010, he exposed corruption surrounding the CityTime project, a computerized payroll system boondoggle. His reporting led to four federal fraud indictments. He won his second Polk Award for these columns."
And then he goes on to say, "Just one of these stories is enough to cement a journalist’s career. Having them all—and countless others—makes you a legend. And that’s what Juan Gonzalez is: a legend who set his powerful, intelligent, compassionate voice on a 29-year course at the Daily News, standing up to every bully that came his way in his relentless assault on [injustice]. ...
“A man of untiring energy, Juan and a co-author also published a seminal book, 'News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media.'
“The magnitude of Juan’s work and importance to this newspaper and this city cannot be overstated. Which is why it is difficult for me to tell you that he has decided to take a half step into 'retirement' and will be leaving us as a [full-time] columnist at the end of April.
“I place quotes around the word 'retirement' because Juan will still write for us from time to time as he embarks on his new job as a journalism professor at Rutgers University. He will also be completing an upcoming book, while embarking on other similar projects as they arise.
“Not bad for a one-time Young Lord.
"Please join me in letting Juan know how much we appreciate him, and more importantly, how much we will miss him. There will never be another like him, and it has been an honor to share the same newsroom with him."
Again, those are the words of the Daily News editor-in-chief Jim Rich about Juan González, who is leaving the New York Daily News after 29 years. Juan, congratulations for an astounding career.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, thanks, Amy. But you know it’s time to leave when the people who are your bosses are telling you they were inspired to get involved in the profession because of you. So, you know, I’m one of these people that has always believed in term limits for politicians, and I think there should be term limits for columnists, and I’m way over the time limit—
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Juan—
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: —for such limits. But I will still be here on Democracy Now!
AMY GOODMAN: Yes, while you are leaving the Daily News, I’m very happy that you’re staying with us at your other DN, at Democracy Now!
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: My other DN, yes. ... Read More →
Family of Mexican Man "Tortured & Killed" by U.S. Border Agents Seeks Justice at Int'l Tribunal
The family of a Mexican immigrant killed by Border Patrol agents in 2010 is launching an unprecedented effort to hold the United States responsible. Six years ago, in May 2010, Anastasio Hernández Rojas tried to cross the border to return to San Diego, where he had lived for 25 years and fathered five children. Hernández Rojas was stopped by Border Patrol agents. He would never see his children again. The agents initially said Hernández Rojas became hostile and resisted arrest, but eyewitness video shows the agents beat and tasered him. The San Diego Coroner’s Office classified Anastasio Hernández Rojas’s death as a homicide, concluding he suffered a heart attack as well as "bruising to his chest, stomach, hips, knees, back, lips, head and eyelids; five broken ribs; and a damaged spine." Despite these findings, the Department of Justice announced last year there was insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights or other federal charges against the agents. Just after our broadcast today, the family of Anastasio Hernández Rojas is filing a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C. We speak to Anastasio’s brother, Bernardo Hernández Rojas, and Roxanna Altholz, associate director at the International Human Rights Law Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We turn now to an unprecedented effort to hold the United States responsible for violence committed by its Customs and Border Protection agents. Six years ago, in May 2010, a Mexican immigrant named Anastasio Hernández Rojas tried to cross the border to return to San Diego, where he had lived for 25 years and had fathered five children. He was then stopped by Border Patrol agents. He would never see his children again. The agents initially said Hernández Rojas had become hostile and resisted arrest, but eyewitness video showed the agents had beaten and tasered him. Footage of Hernández Rojas’s death was obtained by reporter John Carlos Frey and aired in a 2012 PBS report by correspondent John Larson.
ANASTASIO HERNÁNDEZ ROJAS: [translated] Please! Señores, help me!
JOHN LARSON: What U.S. border agents did not realize is that eyewitness videos of the incident caught the sounds of Hernández Rojas screaming and pleading for his life.
ANASTASIO HERNÁNDEZ ROJAS: [translated] No! Help!
JOHN LARSON: And now, a never-before-seen eyewitness video of the incident raises new disturbing questions. The dark video reveals more than a dozen U.S. border agents standing over Hernández Rojas. It shows the firing of the Taser. Was Hernández Rojas, as the police press release suggested, combative when he was killed? Or was he on the ground, handcuffed?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Video from the PBS program Need to Know. The San Diego Coroner’s Office classified Anastasio Hernández Rojas’s death as a homicide, concluding he suffered a heart attack as well as, quote, "bruising to his chest, stomach, hips, knees, back, lips, head and eyelids; five broken ribs; and a damaged spine." Despite these findings, the Department of Justice announced last year there was insufficient evidence to pursue federal, criminal, civil rights or other federal charges against the agents.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, today, the family of Anastasio Hernández Rojas is taking another step in their quest for justice. Just after this broadcast, the family is filing a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C.
We’re joined by two guests. Bernardo Hernández Rojas is the brother of Anastasio. And Roxanna Altholz is an associate director at UC Berkeley’s International Human Rights Law Clinic. She is an international human rights lawyer and scholar.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Roxanna, let’s start with you. What exactly are you filing today, and what do you hope will come of it?
ROXANNA ALTHOLZ: Good morning. Thank you for having us here today.
We are representing—I’m representing Anastasio’s family in a suit against the United States before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. We’re suing the United States for torturing and killing this unarmed father of five. The suit also exposes the problems with the criminal investigation, a criminal investigation that lacked impartiality, that lacked independence. As you mentioned, last year the Department of Justice closed the criminal investigation and found that the Border Patrol had used reasonable force against Anastasio—this despite eyewitness testimony, video and audio that showed that Anastasio was handcuffed in a fetal position on the floor, pleading for his life, surrounded by 15 to 25 border agents, being beaten and tased.
The DOJ’s decision to close the case, in one sense, isn’t surprising, because that criminal investigation was doomed from the beginning. Criminal investigators, police investigators didn’t arrive to the scene until the day after the killing. They allowed Customs [and Border] Protection to have control of the crime scene in the hours—in the crucial hours—after the beating. And the agents dispersed witnesses without recording any of the information. There were over 30 eyewitnesses. They dispersed the witnesses. They seized their cameras, their cellphones, and destroyed images of the beating. And then, when the police investigators finally arrived to the scene, they focused on documenting law enforcement’s version of the events. They did not intend—they did not seek the truth. They did not try to disrupt that narrative, but just document it. So, in the entire police investigation of the more than 30 eyewitnesses, only about three civilians were interviewed and provided statements to the police.
So we are submitting this suit to prevent the U.S. government from sweeping this horrific crime under the rug and to ensure that the United States is held accountable for violence and impunity at the border.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, I’d like to ask Bernardo Hernández if you could tell us a little bit about your brother and the impact that his death and this failure of the government to act has had on your family.
BERNARDO HERNÁNDEZ ROJAS: [translated] Good morning. My name is Bernardo Hernández Rojas. I am Anastasio’s brother. Anastasio was murdered, he was tortured, on the 28th of May, 2010. Five years have elapsed, and we’ve not found justice. During these five years, we have been fighting for justice, and they have not paid attention to us. That has not been looked into. And this time, we’re here to file with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights this petition. So it’s to follow up on Anastasio’s case, because this cannot be just left like this—it is an injustice—for, during these five years, we have also met other people who have gone through the same thing, and many very similar things continue to happen at the border. We want this to stop. We want them to stop these injustices. And we want a response from the government as to what’s happening with my brother’s case and why have they not responded with good news.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Roxanna Altholz, I’d like to ask you: How unprecedented is this action that you’re taking of raising human rights violations with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights about violations occurring within the United States?
ROXANNA ALTHOLZ: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is the only international human rights body with jurisdiction, with the authority to hear an individual complaint against the United States for human rights violations. Victims and advocates have used this, this opportunity, to sue the United States on issues related to the death penalty, on issues related to immigration in the past and on other issues.
We are bringing this suit to draw the international community’s attention to the much-needed—the need for reform, for reform of law enforcement in the United States. I think the Inter-American Commission, in terms of—this is really the bread and butter of the Inter-American Commission. Since the commission was founded decades ago, they have decided dozens and dozens of cases dealing with extrajudicial killings. By filing this suit, we’re creating an opportunity for the Inter-American Commission to bring that expertise, to bring that experience, and join the chorus of voices that have called for law enforcement reform in the United States.
I think it’s a really important opportunity to talk about the kind of structural and legal reform that we need, especially at the border. Since Anastasio’s death, nearly 40—50 more people have been killed. Not a single agent in all of U.S. Border Patrol history has ever been held accountable for one of these killings, has ever been disciplined for one of these killings. As far as we know, all the agents responsible for Anastasio’s death are still on active duty. They have never been disciplined, much less held criminally accountable for the killing.
AMY GOODMAN: There were many videos made of what happened to Anastasio. Ashley Young was another witness who shared the video she recorded on her cellphone of border police. This was shown on the PBS broadcast Need to Know.
ASHLEY YOUNG: He was just screaming, "Help me! Help me! Help me!" in Spanish. His hands were restrained behind his back.
JOHN LARSON: You could tell that his arms were somehow tied together.
ASHLEY YOUNG: Right.
JOHN LARSON: And Young says she only saw him resist once, when officers tried to put him back into the car.
Did he lash out at the officers in any way?
ASHLEY YOUNG: He didn’t. He just kind of forced his feet against the frame of the car, so that he wouldn’t go into the car.
JOHN LARSON: Minutes later, more officers arrive.
ASHLEY YOUNG: Another officer arrived and pulled out a Taser and said, you know, "Stop resisting."
JOHN LARSON: Was he resisting?
ASHLEY YOUNG: No. The first tase, it was a shock, and people were like, "Why would they do this?" And after the first tase, when he got tased several more times, that’s when people erupted.
JOHN LARSON: That’s when, standing on this overpass with other bystanders, she shoots this.
BYSTANDER: Hey! No!
JOHN LARSON: You can see Hernández Rojas on the ground, surrounded by more than a dozen officers. Need to Know has brightened the video to make it easier to see.
BORDER PATROL OFFICER: Quit resisting.
ASHLEY YOUNG: Oh, my god.
JOHN LARSON: One agent, at the top of the screen, pulls off Hernández Rojas’s pants and walks away with them. But it’s not until a few seconds later, when things appear to calm down, when an officer turns on his light, that we see an agent’s bare leg as he kneels on what appears to be Hernández Rojas’s neck.
ASHLEY YOUNG: The next thing that happened is he stopped moving, and he stopped—I mean, he was convulsing during the tase. And then, after the tase stopped, he just kind of lied there. I think I witnessed someone being murdered.
AMY GOODMAN: In 2012, Democracy Now! spoke to Humberto Navarrete, another eyewitness to U.S. Border Patrol forces beating Anastasio Hernández Rojas on the California side of the U.S.-Mexico border. Navarrete explained how he ended up taking his video of the beating and the tasering of Hernández Rojas.
HUMBERTO NAVARRETE: I was on my way heading to Tijuana. And that’s when I—the first thing that I heard was Anastasio screaming at his top of his lungs, asking for help. And when I got to a more closer area, I saw what just John described: Anastasio face down in handcuffs and two officers in uniform. And there were five officers in the near area right there when I started recording, two uniformed officers. One of them had one of his knees on Anastasio’s neck. The other officer had one—the other knee on Anastasio’s lower back. I started noticing all these details, and the most important thing was that Anastasio was not resisting. And that’s when I decided to pull out my cellphone and start recording what you—what you can see on the first videos. And that’s when I started recording.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Humberto Navarrete. Can you tell us, Bernardo—you’re in Washington; this is a major step in your brother Anastasio’s—in the case of his killing by the U.S. Border Patrol—what you want to come out of this?
BERNARDO HERNÁNDEZ ROJAS: [translated] What I would like to come out of this is that penalties be imposed on the officers, that they stop doing this, that everybody know. Well, it’s already known what happened. But a great many injustices are happening at the border. One of these is my brother’s case, and they have not resolved anything. Something is happening here. The agents don’t want to show their face. It’s not been possible to punish them. They, too, need to uphold the law, like any human being. They need to confront the justice system. If I commit a crime, I need to confront the justice system, and it should be that way for everyone across the board.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: I wanted to ask Roxanna, in this harrowing video, where we actually see what is, in essence, a mob killing—only a mob in uniform—of Mr. Hernández, in light of all of the debate that we’re hearing in this presidential race about—especially from the Republicans, about tightening border security and also all of the cases that we’ve seen of African Americans killed around the country by law enforcement, your sense of why this issue of abuse of immigrants at the border gets almost no attention these days?
ROXANNA ALTHOLZ: Well, I think it’s part of the vulnerability of border communities and the political rhetoric around border security. You know, border security cannot mean open season on border communities. CBP’s current policies on use of force and accountability foster violence and impunity. A couple weeks ago, a panel of government experts—so the U.S. government recognizes, their own experts—said that the disciplinary system of CBP is so broken that it does nothing to deter abuse. The United States has exponentially increased the budget of CBP since 2001, since 9/11, but has not invested the needed resources to ensure that CBP agents are held accountable for misconduct and abuses. As Bernardo just said, no one should be above the law.
Anastasio also said this, as he pled for his life, as he pled for mercy. He said, "Stop treating me like an animal." We need to ensure reforms are enacted by CBP that ensure the dignity of all communities at the border, including undocumented migrants, who are some of the most vulnerable, who have real limitations, both practical and legal, to ensuring that they have access to justice. In a sense, these are the individuals, these are the communities that we have to be most careful about protecting, because they are the most vulnerable. And we hope that this suit helps bring these communities into the ongoing, important national dialogue about reform, law enforcement reform.
AMY GOODMAN: Roxanna, we want to thank you for being with us. Roxanna Altholz is associate director at UC Berkeley International Human Rights Law Clinic. And thanks so much to Bernardo Hernández Rojas, the brother of Anastasio Hernández Rojas, who was killed in May of 2010 while trying to enter the United States from Mexico, beaten to death by U.S. Border Patrol agents.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, President Obama makes a major announcement on dealing with heroin and prescription drug abuse. We’ll have a discussion. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: "El Hielo/ICE," La Santa Cecilia, performing here at Democracy Now!'s studios. To see their full performance and interview with them, go to democracynow.org. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I'm Amy Goodman, with Juan González. ... Read More →
"2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back": Will Obama's New Opioid Proposal Continue the Failed War on Drugs?
President Obama has unveiled a series of steps aimed at addressing the epidemic of opioid addiction in the United States. In 2014, a record number of Americans died from drug overdoses, with the highest rates seen in West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio. Many states reported even higher death tolls in 2015. We speak with journalist Maia Szalavitz and Michael Collins of the Drug Policy Alliance about Obama’s proposal. "I think the best thing we can say about the proposal is it’s two steps forward and one step back," Collins says. "There is a lot of positives in the announcement—emphasis on harm reduction, treatment, overdose prevention—but at the same time the Obama administration is still beholden to the criminalization of drug users." Watch Part 2 of our interview here.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: In 2014, a record number of Americans died from drug overdoses, with the highest rates seen in West Virginia, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Ohio. Many states reported even higher death tolls in 2015. Well, on Tuesday, President Obama vowed to step up the fight against heroin and opioid addiction by treating addiction as a health issue, not a criminal problem. Obama made the comment at the National [Rx] Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta, where he met with addicts in recovery, family members, medical professionals and law enforcement officials.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: It’s important to recognize that today we are seeing more people killed because of opioid overdose than traffic accidents. Now, you think about that. A lot of people tragically die of car accidents, and we spend a lot of time and a lot of resources to reduce those fatalities. And the good news is, is that we’ve actually been very successful. ... The problem is, here, we’ve got the trajectory going in the opposite direction. So, 2014, which is the last year that we have accurate data for, you see an enormous, ongoing spike in the number of people who are using opioids in ways that are unhealthy, and you’re seeing a significant rise in the number of people who are being killed.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore City health commissioner, also spoke at the summit. Dr. Wen talked about a patient who was a competitive swimmer and, because of torn discs in her back, was prescribed pain pills and eventually became addicted to heroin. The patient repeatedly sought help in the ER, in the emergency room.
DR. LEANA WEN: It’s one of the most humbling things and worst feelings as a doctor to know that you can’t help them, that what this patient needed, what so many of our patients need, is treatment, addiction treatment, at the time that they’re requesting it. But we couldn’t give it. I mean, we would never say that to someone who has a heart attack. We would never say, "Go home, and if you haven’t died in three weeks, come back and get treated." So that’s what we faced. And I remember that I talked to her this one time about getting into treatment. She really wanted to do it. We set her up with an appointment. But it wasn’t until two weeks later. And she went home that day and overdosed, and came back to us in the ER. We tried to resuscitate her, but we couldn’t save her. And I think about her all the time, because she had come to us so many times requesting treatment—and yet, clearly, there is a difference between how we treat her and how we treat everybody else—because we need to recognize that addiction is a disease. If we treat addiction like a crime, then we’re doing something that’s not scientific, that’s inhumane, and it’s, frankly, ineffective.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Dr. Leana Wen, Baltimore City health commissioner.
We’re joined now by two guests. Maia Szalavitz is with us. She’s a journalist who’s covered addiction for almost 30 years. Her recent piece in The Guardian headlined "Curbing Pain Prescriptions Won’t Reduce Overdoses. More Drug Treatment Will." And she has a new book out; it’s called Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. Michael Collins is also with us, deputy director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance.
Michael, let’s begin with you. Your assessment of what President Obama is proposing right now?
MICHAEL COLLINS: I think the best thing we can say about the proposal is it’s two steps forward and one step back. I mean, there is a lot of positives in the announcement—emphasis on harm reduction, treatment, overdose prevention—but at the same time the Obama administration is still beholden to the criminalization of drug users. And we see that in the announcement: There is funding in there for law enforcement, for heroin task force. And we know that that is the epitome of the failed war on drugs. So, as I say, there are parts of the announcement that we like and we applaud, but there are also parts of the announcement that are very disappointing.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Michael, I’m wondering—I’ve been astounded the past few years now as this—as this new heroin epidemic has spread across the country, the amount of emphasis—even as you say not sufficiently—more on treatment than on incarceration, because I remember back in the '70s when heroin was spreading throughout the inner-city neighborhoods of the United States, and we got the Rockefeller Drug Laws, and we got all of this crackdown on the victims of the heroin epidemic. So you're seeing a whole new dialogue, at least, this time around. And how much of it has to do with the racial composition of who are the folks that are being affected the most at this point?
MICHAEL COLLINS: Well, Juan, I think you’re absolutely right. If anyone ever doubted that the drug war was a war on people of color and the drug war was racist, then, you know, they should look no further than the discussion that’s going on just now, where, as you point out, for years, decades even, communities of color have been affected by heroin, by overdoses and legal handcuffs, not hugs, and now we’re seeing this compassion around white people in rural communities. And, you know, it’s something that I think we have to recognize, that this is very symbolic of the fact that the war on drugs has been a war on people of color. And, you know, while it is positive that the Obama administration and even Republicans are talking about compassion towards drug users, we should bear in mind that there are communities of color who have suffered as a result of the war on drugs, and, you know, we shouldn’t try and escape that.
AMY GOODMAN: A recent article in Harper’s Magazine revisits the start of the war on drugs under President Nixon. The article cites a 1994 interview with John Ehrlichman, who served as President Richard Nixon’s domestic policy chief. He revealed why the war on drugs began. He said, quote, "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. ... We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did." That a quote from John Ehrlichman, President Richard Nixon’s domestic policy chief. Maia Szalavitz, can you respond?
MAIA SZALAVITZ: Absolutely. I mean, the racism in the drug war goes even further back than that. It starts in 1914 with the Harrison Narcotics Act. And at that time, there were literally headlines in The New York Times about "Negro cocaine fiends" who were causing problems in the South. And the idea was actually that that cocaine made them impervious to bullets. So, the drug war has always not been about fighting drugs, because if we actually wanted to deal with addiction problems, we would see it as a health issue, and we would not be trying to focus relentlessly on supply.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Maia, your new book, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, could you talk to us about what that revolutionary new way of understanding the problem, the long-running problem, over the decades, of addiction is?
MAIA SZALAVITZ: Sure. Well, addiction involves learning. And what I’m saying is that we’ve been looking at it all wrong throughout the course of our drug policy, largely because of race. You cannot become addicted without learning, because if you don’t know what fixes you, you can’t crave it and you can’t seek it compulsively. And by leaving out learning, we have misunderstood what goes wrong in addiction. What basically happens is you fall in love with a drug rather than a person or your child, and the relentless pursuit that people have to take care of their kids and be with their loved ones gets turned into that pursuit of drugs. And so, when you look at it that way, you realize that it’s a problem of something that was mislearned, not a problem like Alzheimer’s where this pathology is eating your brain. And that’s a much more hopeful message for recovery, and it’s actually much more accurate about what goes on in the brain during addiction.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about your own experience with addiction, Maia?
MAIA SZALAVITZ: Sure. I became addicted to cocaine and heroin in the '80s when I was at Columbia College. And I had been an incredibly geeky kid for most of my life and was—had a hard, hard time with socializing. And I would always sort of have these obsessive interests—I was really interested in opera or science fiction—and nobody wanted to hear me go on about that, but they did want to hear me go on about drugs, especially if I could provide them. And that made me feel like I had something to bring to the party and that I wasn't this horrible, isolated, bad person who couldn’t connect with people. And so, that was really dangerous for me. I got into coke in the ’80s, when 80—50 percent of all young adults tried cocaine during the ’80s, which is an astonishing figure. So it was very prevalent. And then I got suspended from school, and I thought my life was over. And I thought, "Well, I may as well do heroin now." And that turned out to be my drug of choice, because it actually finally gave me the feeling of safety and love and comfort that I had always been missing.
AMY GOODMAN: And so, then what happened?
MAIA SZALAVITZ: Then I wound up shooting up dozens of times a day. I was selling coke, so I always had it around, and then that always led to heroin. Eventually, I got busted and was facing 15 to life under the Rockefeller laws. And eventually, two years after I got arrested, I realized that I needed help and that, you know, I was going to die. And so I sought treatment and, fortunately, have been in recovery since 1988 now.
AMY GOODMAN: How did you end up not going to jail for 15 to life?
MAIA SZALAVITZ: That’s a little bit of a story, but what basically happened was the judge saw me a year after I voluntarily chose to go into treatment—I wasn’t mandated—and I looked very, very different. I had gone into treatment sort of 80 pounds, grey, covered with tracks, looking like I was dying of something, and I came out tan, fat and blonde. And, you know, she just saw. She said, "Well, OK, if you can manage to stay off drugs, I will try to keep you out of jail." And that was very difficult because the mandatory minimum. And so, there was just years and years of negotiation with the prosecutors, but finally she dismissed the case in the interest of justice, because the prosecutors continued to insist that I go to jail or prison, and she was like, "This woman has been in recovery for five years now. This really doesn’t make any sense." So, you know, I was extraordinarily lucky. And being white and female and middle-class had a lot to do with it. If we are really to deal with the heroin problem that we have now, we have to, you know, acknowledge the racism that drives our drug laws, and create drug laws that don’t criminalize people for having a medical problem.
AMY GOODMAN: And what do you think of President Obama’s announcement yesterday?
MAIA SZALAVITZ: It’s a good step forward. It doesn’t do some of the important things that I would like to see. For example, medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine or methadone are the only things that actually cut the overdose death rate by 50 percent. And we need people to stay on those medications indefinitely in order for that to happen. Yet we restrict methadone to these horrible clinics. And doctors formerly could only prescribe to a hundred patients for buprenorphine; Obama has just raised it to 200, which is great, but they can still prescribe to thousands of people if they’re treating pain, rather than addiction. So, it makes no sense to restrict the treatment.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Michael Collins, what progress does the Drug Policy Alliance see at the state level, examples of more foresighted—farsighted policy at the state level?
MICHAEL COLLINS: Well, one thing, I think that disappointed us about the Obama administration’s announcement is, if this is truly a crisis, which we believe it is, then all options should be on the table, and I think we didn’t see all options on the table yesterday from the Obama administration. And so, for example, there are a lot of interesting initiatives and proposals in places like Ithaca, New York, around safe injection facilities. Maryland has a proposal around a safe injection facility. There is interesting programs in places like Seattle and Santa Fe called Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion—much more of a harm reduction approach to drug use. And—
AMY GOODMAN: Can you explain, Michael, what you mean by safe injection sites?
MICHAEL COLLINS: Sure, yeah. A safe injection site is essentially a safe place where an injection drug user can go and use drugs. They are therefore not using drugs on the street. They’re not using drugs in a rush. They’re not using drugs in a situation where, you know, they could cause themselves harm. They’re doing it under medical supervision. And this is not something new, when you look at it globally. This is something that has existed in Canada for a number of years now. There’s strong evidence to show that safe injection facilities result in a reduction in overdose use, you know, principally because, as I say, you are engaging drug users in medical help. And, you know, the bottom line here is, I think we have to get to a place where we are treating drug users as human beings. And it’s not enough just to show them compassion. Drug users really should be at the table when we’re having these policy discussions. They should have a voice. And I think that’s the direction, certainly, the Drug Policy Alliance wants to go in.
AMY GOODMAN: And finally, how the racial disparity will be and should be dealt with in the policy announcement of President Obama yesterday, Michael Collins?
MICHAEL COLLINS: I mean, I think the president did acknowledge that, you know, the sort of changing face of heroin has resulted in more compassion. You know, the president has spoken out a lot on criminal justice reform and on the need for sentencing reform and reductions in mandatory minimum sentences. Unfortunately, now there is legislation being held up by Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. We’re awaiting a floor vote on a comprehensive criminal justice reform bill that would roll back mandatory minimums, but he will not allow the bill to come to the floor. So, as I say, we are making progress, but, you know, one thing that’s true about the U.S. is that it’s very easy for the U.S. to get involved in wars—and the war on drugs is a war—but it’s far more difficult to unwind these wars, and we’re seeing that right now. You know, it’s very challenging to move away from—
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to have to leave it there.
MICHAEL COLLINS: —law enforcement—
AMY GOODMAN: But, Michael Collins, I want to thank you for being with us, of the Drug Policy Alliance. And, Maia Szalavitz, please stay with us after the show. We’ll continue our conversation, and we’ll post it online at democracynow.org. Maia’s new book is called Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, we’re going to North Carolina to the "bathroom bill" that’s just been passed. Stay with us. ... Read More →
Plaintiff in HB 2 Suit: I Can't Believe NC Is Passing Laws Requiring Anti-Trans Discrimination
North Carolina is facing a growing backlash over a new law barring cities and towns from passing laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people in public accommodations. The law, known as House Bill 2, was introduced after the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed an ordinance seeking to protect the right of transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. On Tuesday night, North Carolina’s largest corporation, Bank of America, came out against the anti-transgender law. Earlier in the day, 80 chief executives from Facebook, Apple and other firms wrote an open letter to Governor Pat McCrory opposing it. Three North Carolina residents have already sued the state over the law. And North Carolina’s attorney general, Roy Cooper, who is running for governor against Pat McCrory, announced he would not defend the new law in court. We speak to one of the plaintiffs, 20-year-old trans student Payton McGarry, who attends UNC-Greensboro.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: North Carolina is facing a growing backlash over a new law barring cities and towns from passing laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people in public accommodations. The law, known as House Bill 2, was introduced after the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed an ordinance seeking to protect the right of transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity.
On Tuesday night, North Carolina’s largest corporation, Bank of America, came out against the anti-transgender law. Earlier in the day, 80 chief executives from Facebook, Apple and other firms wrote an open letter to Governor Pat McCrory opposing it. And North Carolina’s attorney general, Roy Cooper, who is running for governor against McCrory, announced he would not defend the new law in court.
AMY GOODMAN: On Tuesday, I spoke to one of the plaintiffs, 20-year-old trans student Payton McGarry, who attends UNC-Greensboro. I started by asking Payton to tell us his story and explain how he ended up being a lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.
PAYTON McGARRY: Yes, I am a 20-year-old student at UNCG in accounting and business. Give you a little bit of backstory, I grew up in a small town in North Carolina. At about the age of 15 or 16, I started feeling different. You know, something just felt a little bit off. I started coming out to my family, my friends, and seeing a therapist based on like gender and all that good stuff at 17 years old, and started hormone replacement therapy at 20—18 years old, sorry. And here we are. So, it means a lot to me that this lawsuit is taking place just because of my own experiences with opposition to my gender. And I’ve experienced a lot of just distressing discrimination in North Carolina. And I can’t believe that we’re passing laws now that actually not only enable it, but in some cases require it.
AMY GOODMAN: Payton, can you talk about how HB 2 will affect you directly?
PAYTON McGARRY: Well, first and foremost, I mean, everybody calls this the bathroom bill, so let’s go ahead and get that out of the way. It’s requiring me to use the female restroom, is essentially what’s happening. And this is distressing because I used the female restroom until it was not feasible for me to, until I was getting pushed, shoved, slapped, screamed at every time I went into a female bathroom. So, now, it’s putting me in a tough situation, because it’s putting me in a situation where I have to choose between going into this distressing situation where I know harm to my well-being could come—you know, I could be screamed at, I could be shoved, slapped, beaten to a pulp, essentially—or I can break the law. And that’s not who I am as a person. More so than that, though, by excluding LGBT from your discrimination ordinance, which is now the statewide discrimination ordinance, you’re allowing that kind of discrimination to take place, that already takes place in so many places. You know, my—I could be kicked out of my housing. I could be fired from a job. I’ve already been denied employment before this law passed. And now people know that it’s legal. So, what adverse effects will that have on my life, in the lives of so many other LGBTQ students or just people in general?
AMY GOODMAN: After HB 2 was passed, the North Carolina governor, Governor McCrory, said he signed the bill to, quote, "stop the breach of basic privacy and etiquette, ensure privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms." If you could speak to the governor directly, what would you tell him?
PAYTON McGARRY: I would tell him to go speak to the professionals in this field, go speak to people who study gender and sexuality, and study these types of things, and maybe have a little bit of empathy. Go talk to the community. Go talk to the people who suffer directly from this bill, which was based largely upon the idea that I, as a transgender person, can cause harm to somebody else in a bathroom just by simply being there, which is a—it’s a hurtful and unfounded statement based on bias and animosity towards the LGBT community in North Carolina. So I would tell him, "Learn a little bit about these issues. Learn a little bit about who we are as a people. And learn a little bit more about our background and the things that we go through."
AMY GOODMAN: Payton McGarry, 20-year-old trans student at University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Payton is a plaintiff in the federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU challenging a new North Carolina law banning local governments from passing laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people in public accommodations. And if you want to see the whole interview with Payton, go to democracynow.org. That does it for our show.
We begin our 20th anniversary 100-city tour around the country next week. I’ll be in Ithaca, New York, on April 6; Columbus, Ohio, on the 8th; St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri, and Kansas City on the 9th; and Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, California, on the 10th. Go to democracynow.org for the whole tour.
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Headlines:Supreme Court 4-4 Tie Deals Victory to Public Employee UnionsThe Supreme Court has deadlocked four to four in a key case that could have undermined the power of public employee unions, effectively dealing a major victory to the unions. Following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last month, the eight-member court split over whether public employee unions can continue to collect mandatory dues from workers who benefit from collective bargaining even though they decline to join the union. The split leaves in place a lower court ruling allowing unions to continue to collect the fees. It’s the clearest example to date of the impact Scalia’s death has had on the court; he had made it clear during questioning that he sided against the unions.
TOPICS:
Supreme Court
Unions
Labor
Supreme Court Seeks Alternatives to Avoid Tie in Birth Control Case
In a rare move that could be aimed at averting another 4-4 deadlock, the Supreme Court ordered attorneys in a key birth control case to file new information. The court heard arguments last week in a challenge brought by religiously affiliated nonprofits to a provision of Obama’s healthcare law that guarantees birth control coverage. The Obama administration says the nonprofits can simply provide written notice of their objection to providing employees with birth control coverage, at which point the government and insurers take over. But the groups say the mere act of expressing their objection violates their religious liberty. Tuesday’s order asks the parties to address if birth control coverage could be provided to employees without any involvement by the religiously affiliated nonprofits.
TOPICS:
Supreme Court
Birth Control
First GOP Senator Meets with Obama's Supreme Court Nominee
Meanwhile, Illinois Senator Mark Kirk became the first Republican to meet with Obama’s nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Kirk called on his fellow Republicans to stop refusing to meet with the nominee, Merrick Garland.
Sen. Mark Kirk: "I understand there are 15, 16 Republicans thinking about meeting with Judge Garland. And by leading by example, I’m showing what a rational, responsible guy would do, that really wants the constitutional process to go forward."
TOPICS:
Republican Party
Supreme Court
Trump Defends Campaign Manager Charged with Battery for Grabbing Reporter
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, has been charged with battery for allegedly grabbing a reporter and pulling her away from Trump earlier this month. Surveillance footage from Trump’s own golf club in Florida shows Lewandowski grabbing reporter Michelle Fields. The footage, released by the Jupiter Police Department in Florida, directly contradicts earlier claims by Lewandowski and Trump, who said Lewandowski didn’t touch Fields. Two days after the incident, Trump told CNN "perhaps she made the story up." But Fields posted photographs of bruises she said were caused by Lewandowski grabbing and yanking her arm. She and a number of her colleagues resigned from the right-wing site Breitbart News, saying editors failed to defend Fields, instead publishing an article casting doubt on her claims. On Tuesday, Lewandowski turned himself in at police headquarters. He has been ordered to appear in court May 4. The charge could carry up to a year in jail. But speaking on his private airplane, Trump continued to defend his campaign manager—and attack reporter Michelle Fields.
Donald Trump: "If you look at her, my book and according to a lot of people, she’s grabbing at me, and he’s acting as an intermediary and trying to block her from doing that. The news conference was over. It was done. It was finished. And she was running up and grabbing and asking questions, and she wasn’t supposed to be doing that. And I think he should—I told him, I said, 'You should never settle this case. You should go all the way.' I think they’ve really hurt a very good person."
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton criticized Trump, saying he bears responsibility for Lewandowski’s behavior.
Hillary Clinton: "I think there’s been a lot of rhetoric, as well as behavior, coming from Donald Trump’s campaign that is concerning to many people, including many women. And therefore, as people are making up their minds to vote here in Wisconsin and in the contests remaining, they ought to take a hard look at the example that candidates set, what words and actions they employ, and hold them responsible."
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
Hillary Clinton
2016 Election
Mexican Senators Hang Anti-Trump Banner Outside Senate
In Mexico, senators hung an anti-Trump banner outside the Senate in Mexico City to criticize Trump’s rhetoric calling Mexicans rapists and vowing to make Mexico pay for a border wall. The banner, which read "[Mexico] against Trump," was launched by Senate Leader Miguel Barbosa.
Sen. Miguel Barbosa: "A call from Mexico, from any part of the world, to the society, to the American people, to reject that strategy and reject the initiative of Donald Trump to become, first, the candidate of a political party and, then, president of the most powerful country in the world and, with that, put at risk the stability of peace on our planet."
TOPICS:
Donald Trump
Mexico
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Backs Cruz 1 Week Before Primary
Donald Trump’s closest rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, won an endorsement Tuesday from Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, just one week before the Wisconsin primary. Walker, known for his attacks on public sector unions in Wisconsin, dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination in September and called for unity against Trump.
TOPICS:
Wisconsin
2016 Election
Republican Party
Pakistan Detains More Than 5,000 After Bombings in Lahore
In Pakistan, authorities said they have detained more than 5,000 people and released most of them following Sunday’s bombings at a park in Lahore. The attack killed 72 people, many of them children. Rana Sanaullah, a state minister for Punjab province, where the bombings took place, said more than 200 people remain in custody.
Rana Sanaullah: "During these raids, 5,221 suspects were rounded up; 5,005 of them were released after verification of their particulars. Two hundred sixteen suspects are in custody pending further investigation. After further investigation, we will know more about them. If someone is innocent, they are innocent. If someone is found to be guilty, they will be charged."
TOPICS:
Pakistan
EgyptAir Hijacker Had Fake Explosives, Wanted to See Ex-Wife
In Cyprus, a court has ordered an eight-day detention for an Egyptian man who hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight and diverted it to Cyprus by threatening to detonate what turned out to be a fake explosives belt. All 72 passengers and crew were ultimately released safely from the plane, and Seif Eldin Mustafa was arrested. Officials said Mustafa told police, "What’s someone supposed to do when he hasn’t seen his wife and children in 24 years and the Egyptian government won’t let him?" Authorities described the alleged hijacker as psychologically unstable.
TOPICS:
Egypt
Cyprus
Brazil's Largest Political Party Exits Coalition in Blow to President Rousseff
In Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff has suffered a major setback amid the country’s worst political crisis in more than two decades. Rousseff’s opponents are attempting to impeach her on corruption charges, but Rousseff has said the attempts are an undemocratic bid by her right-wing opposition to oust her from power. On Tuesday, Brazil’s largest political party said it was leaving Rousseff’s governing coalition. The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party has several ministers in Rousseff’s Cabinet and 68 members in the lower house of Congress. The vote paves the way for more party members to side with attempts to impeach Rousseff next month.
TOPICS:
Brazil
NBC Passes $1 Billion in Ad Sales for Rio de Janeiro Olympics
The turmoil in Brazil comes just months before the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The television network NBC said Tuesday it has already surpassed $1 billion in advertising sales for the Rio Olympics, putting it on track to set a record for the most national advertising ever sold for a single event.
TOPICS:
Olympics
Brazil
Amid Widening Protest, North Carolina Attorney General Says He Won't Defend Anti-Transgender Law
North Carolina is facing a growing backlash over a new law barring cities and towns from passing laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people in public accommodations. The law, known as House Bill 2, was introduced after the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed an ordinance seeking to protect the right of transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. On Tuesday night, North Carolina’s largest corporation, Bank of America, came out against the anti-transgender law. Earlier in the day, 80 chief executives from Facebook, Apple and other firms wrote an open letter to Governor Pat McCrory opposing it. And North Carolina’s attorney general, Roy Cooper, who is running for governor against Pat McCrory, announced he would not defend the new law in court. We’ll have more on the story later in the broadcast with a transgender student who is a plaintiff in the ACLU suit against the law.
TOPICS:
North Carolina
LGBT
Judge Allows Defamation Suit Against Bill Cosby to Move Forward
A judge has allowed former supermodel Janice Dickinson to proceed with a defamation case against comedian Bill Cosby. Dickinson accused Cosby of drugging and raping her in 1982. She sued him and his former attorney in May after they publicly denied her account. The judge’s decision clears the way for a trial in the case. More than 50 women have come forward to accuse Cosby of sexual assaults dating back decades. In many cases the statute of limitations has expired, preventing Cosby from being prosecuted.
More Attorneys General Back ExxonMobil Climate Change Probe
A coalition of attorneys general have announced a historic effort to investigate corporations that may have misled the public about climate change. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, flanked by former Vice President Al Gore and multiple other attorneys general, said her office would join efforts by attorneys general in New York and California to investigate ExxonMobil.
Attorney General Maura Healey: "It appears, certainly, that certain companies, certain industries may not have told the whole story, leading many to doubt whether climate change is real and to misunderstand and misapprehend the catastrophic nature of its impacts. Fossil fuel companies that deceived investors and consumers about the dangers of climate change should be, must be held accountable. That’s why I, too, have joined in investigating the practices of ExxonMobil. We can all see today the troubling disconnect between what Exxon knew, what industry folks knew and what the company and industry chose to share with investors and with the American public."
TOPICS:
Climate Change
Natural Gas & Oil Drilling
Democracy Now! Co-host Juan González to Leave Columnist Post at New York Daily News
And Democracy Now! co-host and New York Daily News columnist Juan González is leaving the Daily News after 29 years. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted, "Will miss hearing [Juan González]’s loud voice for the workers in the @NYDailyNews. We hope to keep hearing it elsewhere!" Former Village Voice reporter Tom Robbins tweeted, "The Great Juan Gonzalez, the best voice in the Daily News these past 29 years, headed out the door."
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