Virginia Resner: Activist against Drug War Injustice

Virginia first became involved in drug policy reform in 1991. Unbeknownst to her, her companion Steven Faulkner had engaged in a plan to sell drugs. Coming home to find federal agents in her San Francisco residence on a warrantless search for evidence to use against him became her wake-up call. Through Faulkner’s arrest, prosecution, and 5-year mandatory minimum sentence as a first-time non-violent, drug offender, she quickly learned about the excesses of the Drug War.

Virginia found her way to the national organization Families Against Mandatory Minimums and volunteered as their California representative from 1992 to 2002. In this capacity, she provided information and support to prisoners and their families in similar situations, and advocated to public officials and the media for an end to mandatory minimum sentencing. She initiated a Women’s Project that collected stories and photos of women serving long sentences for low-level, non-violent drug offenses and conspiracy charges, to bring attention to the growing number of women in prison. She was instrumental in the effort to attain Presidential Clemency from Bill Clinton in 2000 for Amy Pofahl, who had already served nine years of a 24-year drug conspiracy sentence.

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