Pubdate: Sun, 03 Oct 2004
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2004 The Boston Herald, Inc
Contact:  http://news.bostonherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

CHICAGO MAYOR SAYS IT MAY BE TIME TO CHANGE MARIJUANA LAWS

Chicago - Mayor Richard Daley, a former prosecutor, runs the nation's
third-largest city with a pragmatic, law-and-order style. He wears his
hair  short, and you'll never catch him in a Grateful Dead T-shirt. So
when he  starts complaining about the colossal waste of time and money
involved in  prosecuting small-time marijuana cases, people take
notice. "This is  absolutely a big deal," said Andy Ko, director of
the Drug Policy Reform  Project for the American Civil Liberties Union
in Washington state. "You've got  a mayor in a major American city
. coming out in favor of a smart and fair and  just drug policy."
What Daley  did was to say late last month that a police sergeant was
on to something when  he suggested that it might be better to impose
fines between $250 and $1,000 for  possession of small amounts of
marijuana rather than prosecute the cases.

Sgt.  Thomas Donegan determined that nearly 7,000 cases involving 2.5 grams
of pot or  less were filed last year in Chicago. About 94 percent were
dismissed.
Daley  wondered if ticketing offenders might be smarter. "If 99 percent of
the cases  are thrown out and we have police officers going (to court to
testify in the  cases), why?" the mayor said. "It costs a lot of money for 
police
officers to  go to court."
The way  Daley's thoughts became public was also unusual: There was no public
pressure  for the mayor to speak out. He was asked by reporters who had
gotten wind of  Donegan's findings and simply answered their questions.
Police  officers are used to spending hours making arrests, writing reports
and waiting  around in court, only to see the charges dropped or a guilty plea
that leads to  nothing more than probation or drug-education classes.
"While  officers are doing everything to keep the streets safe, the offender
gets  arrested and is walking the street in just a few hours," Donegan wrote
in his  report. "To me, this is a slap in the face to the officers."
Both  police and defendants know it's rare for anyone arrested for a small
amount of  marijuana to get the maximum penalty in Illinois: 30 days in 
jail and
a $1,500  fine. Pat Camden, a Chicago police spokesman and a former officer,
said he  couldn't remember a single case.

Leonardo  Nevarez, 23, wasn't worried when an officer found what he
said was half a joint  in his pocket in August. He pretty much knew he
would be ordered to attend a  drug-education class.

About the  only question he had last week when he went to court was
whether the arresting  officer would show up. If he didn't, the case
would be dismissed. "Yeah, I  was hoping he wouldn't be there,"
Nevarez said. "He was there." Nevarez  said he could have sought a
delay in the case, as some defendants do, in the  hopes that the next
time the arresting officer would be absent. But after  talking briefly
to a public defender, he entered a plea, the judge ordered the  class,
and Nevarez went home.

The case  had taken up the time of police officers, court clerks, a
judge and an attorney.

Chicago  wouldn't be the first city to reduce the penalty for
possessing a small amount  of marijuana.

In  Seattle, voters passed an initiative requiring law-enforcement
officials to make  personal-use marijuana cases their lowest priority.
In California and Oregon,  possession of a small amount of marijuana
is a misdemeanor punishable by a $100  to $500 fine. In Colorado, it
doesn't even rise to the level of misdemeanor;  it's a petty offense
with a fine of no more than $100. Some  observers say Daley's
statements have added weight because of the mayor's  background.

"As a  former prosecutor, nobody is going to say he's soft on
crime," said Dick  Simpson, a political science professor at the
University of Illinois at Chicago  and a former city alderman.

Chicago  officials are a long way from making permanent changes.
Police spokesman David  Bayless said the department has yet to
determine the accuracy of Donegan's  report, which concludes the city
could have collected more than $5 million in  fines last year.

Still,  Daley's comments alone could have a wide impact. "This  will
make it easier for other officials to say the same thing," Simpson
said.  "I can imagine mayors in other cities coming out agreeing that
this shouldn't  be treated as a high crime."
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MAP posted-by: Derek