Interesting reflections on Obama appointees from drug policy reformers

The Drug War Chronicle has this interesting new feature piece titled "Obama's Appointees Raise Questions in the Drug Reform Community."  Here are snippets from the start and end of the piece:

Like other interest groups, the drug reform movement has the Obama transition under a microscope, searching for clues on the new administration's intentions as it scrutinizes those appointments for positions that are going to be key to advancing the cause. Some of the Obama transition team's early moves have some drug reformers sounding alarm bells, but other reformers -- not so much....

The reform community should not be freaking out, agreed Eric Sterling, who served as counsel to the House Judiciary Committee in the 1980s and now heads the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.  Instead, it should be trying to flex its muscles. "I think the reform community is way overreacting and, more importantly, not taking the initiative," he said "Reform leaders ought to be asking themselves what letters they've written to President-elect Obama, what letters to the editor they've penned, what op-eds they've submitted. Is the movement doing anything other than passively reacting?" he asked....

"We have to build the movement. We keep seeing the same 300 people at the conferences, maybe 1,000 if you're talking about the harm reduction conferences. No one is going door to door in the black community talking about how the drug war is undermining public safety and its relationship with the police. No one is talking to the unions. We've done well on the education part of our issue, but we haven't done well in developing a political power base, and until we do that, we won't get reform."

Some recent related posts on the Obama transition and criminal justice issues:

• Lots of buzzing around Eric Holder as the next US Attorney General
• Any early federal sentencing thoughts on Eric Holder, the next U.S. Attorney General?
• Three late afternoon thoughts on the Holder pick: race, tough and tech
• Looking at control of federal prosecutors as we look toward a new administration
• How a new administration is likely to impact federal sentencing practice
• Why federal sentencing reformers must focus on the USSC and lower courts
• Are we on the verge of a new changed era concerning federal sentencing law and policy?
• "Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Next Administration and Congress"
• A criminal justice blueprint for the new Prez that I hope gets followed