Pubdate: Fri, 07 Sep 2001
Source: Bergen Record (NJ)
Copyright: 2001 Bergen Record Corp.
Contact:  http://www.bergen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/44
Author: Randy Diamond, Trenton Bureau

SOME NON-VIOLENT DRUG OFFENDERS GETTING A BREAK

Rakeem Brown stood in a Paterson courtroom recently, thanking the judge for 
sentencing him to rehabilitation instead of prison for possessing cocaine 
with the intent to distribute it in a school zone.

The 18-year-old got a chance to avoid hard time because he was arrested in 
Passaic County, one of five counties where the state has been experimenting 
with "drug courts" since 1997.

If Brown had been arrested across the Passaic River in Bergen County, he 
would have been subject to up to three years in prison, and he'd have to 
serve at least one year before being eligible for parole.

On Thursday, acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco signed legislation that 
would give non-violent drug offenders such as Brown the same chance at 
rehabilitation in Bergen and five other counties by April.

Tough state drug laws, including the 1986 statute that mandates prison 
sentences for selling drugs in a school zone, have long blocked trial 
judges from using any discretion in sentencing. In drug courts, judges have 
the option of sending offenders to a five-month, in-patient treatment 
program and then continued outpatient treatment. Offenders are then subject 
to court supervision for as long as five years.

Offenders who violate the conditions of their parole, which includes 
remaining drug-free, can be sent back to prison.

The state judiciary hopes to expand drug courts to all 21 counties by 2003, 
but that will require further legislation.

The drug court expansion comes as the state is under increasing attack 
because of the large number of minorities in prison, many because of drug 
crimes.

Since the state began enacting tougher drug laws in 1986, those sentenced 
to prison have been 64 percent African-American and 18 percent Hispanic. 
Thirty-two percent of state prisoners are charged with drug offenses.

The large minority representation in prison in New Jersey and nationwide 
has been an issue for civil rights groups for years. The issue coincides 
with a growing consensus among officials nationwide that America's war on 
drugs placed too much emphasis on law enforcement and not enough on 
treatment for addicts.

Two moths ago, a new law took effect in California, sending all non-violent 
first and second-time drug offenders to treatment instead of jail.

At a legislative hearing in April, Judge Richard Williams, the 
administrative director of the New Jersey judiciary, blamed tough 
sentencing laws when asked if the large number of minority prisoners meant 
New Jersey courts practiced "racial profiling."

Williams told lawmakers that mandatory drug sentencing not only helped put 
a disproportionate number of minorities behind bars, but had caused a more 
than 400 percent increase in the prison population in the Eighties and 
Nineties.

Williams cited the 1986 drug-free school zone law, which imposes a 
mandatory prison for possessing drugs with intent to distribute within 
1,000 feet of a school, as an example of why the disparate treatment occurs.

"You can't go into some urban areas and find a place that is not within the 
school zone," Williams said.

Williams offered an expansion of drug courts as an answer to the problem. 
Williams said in the five pilot drug court counties, 85 percent of the 
offenders diverted from prison were minorities.

He said a statewide drug court system would divert about 1,875 offenders a 
year, 70 percent of whom would otherwise be headed to state prison.

Brown, the drug defendant, told Passaic County Drug Court Judge Joseph Riva 
that he does not plan to mess up his chance at treatment.

In a letter to the judge, Brown revealed that juvenile arrests kept him 
locked up during much of his teenage years.

"I was unable to enjoy my teenage life," he said. "I will not blow the 
chance that is given to me. My biological mother is addicted to drugs and I 
do not want to follow in her footsteps."

In the letter, Brown said he knows what he has to do.

"My main goal is to get off the street and be a man," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom