Weekend Panhandle Edition

I’m in Amarillo for a family reunion. It is my first trip to the Panhandle since I left Lubbock in 02′. I can report that it is still very brown here. The faint smell of feed lots still lingers in the air. I loved Lubbock, the weather was great and the people were wonderful.

What I’m Reading
The Victory Of Reason by Rodney Stark. VTR is a history/theology/economics book and I love it. I’m halfway through and I’ll post a review when I finish. Stark proposes that Christianity laid the foundation, intellectually and institutionally, for capitalism and liberty.

Local Judge Shows Amazing Lack Of Insight On Drug War
The Amarillo Globe has a series in which elected officials write editorials. It is a great idea that more papers should pick up on. Unfortunately, this weeks guest, Judge Ana Estevez of the 251st District Court, shows a typically misguided view of Prohibition.

Our community’s drug problems literally tear families apart. I have sent young mothers, fathers, sons and daughters to jail and prison for clearly and consciously breaking the law.
It is discouraging to see how many defendants who are given opportunities and second chances choose not to take advantage of them and repeatedly choose drugs over their own children and families

The community’s drug problem does not tear families apart, Prohibition does. Our fellow citizens want to use drugs. Some are addicted to drugs. However, they do not choose drugs over their family. It is inevitable that when you put addicts on probation many are going to fail. The choice to remove these defendants from their children and families is made by the State of Texas. If you put a cancer patient on probation and told them not to have any more cancer or they will go to jail, what will the result be?

I wonder how many families Judge Estevez will destroy through incarceration before she begins to realize that maybe the law is not working.

Grits on the Drug War
Great coverage by Mr. Henson on the effects of Prohibition in Mexico. 14,000 drug cartel arrest in Mexico. 4,000 killed in Drug Cartel feuds. The result- Drugs still flow into America.

By making Drugs illegal we have chosen Mexican Drug Cartels as our nation’s supplier of controlled substances. We can choose a new supplier at any time. Death, violence, and mass incarceration are inevitable externalities of Prohibition. When we know these tragedies are inevitable, why do we continue such a failed policy?