alabama must be a very nasty place two reports in a months time.

CWSIV

From: state@mpp.org

Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 16:59:21 -0500 
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Please distribute this memo widely. Forward to family and friends in Alabama, or ask them to visit http://www.mpp.org/AL
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TO:      Alabama residents*

FROM:    Karen O'Keefe, MPP legislative analyst

DATE:    Tuesday, March 30, 2004

SUBJECT: It's time for sentencing reform

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It's hard to think of a more wasteful way to spend tax dollars than locking up marijuana users. But, in the midst of a budget crisis, this
is exactly what Alabama is doing.

Your legislators could change that -- Alabama is already taking a serious look at its sentencing practices -- but they need some
encouragement. So please, ask them to get their priorities straight and to support sentencing reform. Please urge legislators to introduce
legislation to stop wasting money and ruining lives by incarcerating people for possessing marijuana.

Please visit http://www.mpp.org/AL/action.html . After you choose your favorite pre-written letter and type in your address, our site will automatically e-mail your letter to your legislators ... all with the click of a few buttons. The whole process takes less than two minutes, but it makes a world of difference. Also, you can print the letters and send them to your legislators through regular mail.

There is also an opportunity coming up for marijuana policy reform activists to come together with other advocates and family members of inmates to discuss sentencing reform and other pressing issues. From April 16 until April 17, Family Members of Inmates (FMI) will host a convention culminating in a march and a rally.

The FMI Convention will address both personal issues facing inmates and their loved ones and policy issues, such as reforming the Habitual Offender Act, which now includes marijuana offenses. The convention's workshops include the Habitual Offender Act, Prison Reform, Re-entry Programs, Stop Prison Rape, Rehabilitation, Transition, Kids and How They Cope, and a roundtable question-and-answer session. 

FMI asks that individuals register well in advance to help defray the costs. The registration fee is $30.00 for individuals and $50.00 for
organizations. A registration form is available online at http://www.mpp.org/pdf/AL_FMI_form.pdf . The completed forms and registration fee should be mailed to Family Members of Inmates, c/o Roberta Franklin, 2243 Ajax St., Montgomery, AL 36108.

For more information on the Second Annual FMI Convention, please call Roberta Franklin -- Chairperson of FMI -- at 334-220-4670.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please pass this information on so that even more voices for reform can be heard.