Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen has a
diary here at Daily Kos. He has been an
outspoken critic of our country's "War on Drugs." On Tuesday Mr. Cohen was questioning Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke about drugs and their effects on inner-city communities, during a police reform hearing.
Congressman Cohen: You mentioned in your testimony that much of the population in state and local federal prisons was for violent crime and that's probably that's (sic) true but in the federal system it's mostly for drug crime. There's not so much violent crime there and that's where the drug situation really fills up the federal prisons. And you mentioned, you said that illegal drug use is the scourge of the black community and it is a problem and leads to a great deal of violent crime. Would you agree that marijuana possession is not the scourge of the black community and does not lead to violent crime the same way that meth, crack, cocaine and heroin do?
Sheriff David Clarke: No, I wouldn't agree with that at all.
Cohen: Well, that's interesting, and I wish I had more time to talk with you.
It's at this moment that Cohen can't contain how ludicrous Officer Clarke's statement is. Smiling and trying to not to laugh:
Cohen: The defense attorney is not supposed to ask a question they don't know the(sic)—but it's such an obvious answer I just never thought I'd get that answer.
Watch the short but enlightening interaction below the fold.