| Biography | David Biklen is Executive Director of the Connecticut Law Revision Commission, an advisory legal group to the Connecticut legislature. The Commission conducts an on-going review of Connecticut law, recommending reforms and improvements to the legislature. The Governor and legislative leaders appoint the commission's members, which includes attorneys, legislators, judges, and law professors.Mr. Biklen is the reporter for the Commission's 1997 report on Connecticut drug policies. The report, the result of a two-year study commissioned by the legislature's Judiciary Committee, analyzed Connecticut's existing policies and presented alternative models for legislative consideration. The report presented an extensive set of legislative strategies to begin the state on a considered, deliberate re-balancing of its drug policy efforts from an emphasis on criminal enforcement to a public health perspective. The legislative strategies were the first in America to refocus a state's drug policy, in a comprehensive, coordinated manner, to reduce the harmful effects of drug's and current policy. The New York Times called the Connecticut strategies "a more sensible approach" to the War on Drugs. Topics covered were methadone treatment and other drug treatment programs, criminal justice and prisons, needle programs, prevention and intervention programs, and the medical community's role in drug policy. The legislature adopted a number of bills in 1997 and 1998 that reflect the Commission's strategy options.Mr. Biklen is a Connecticut attorney graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law (1968). He is a Commissioner from Connecticut to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and is chairman of the Connecticut delegation to the Conference. |
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