Louisville Courier Journal Editorial: "A Failed War". I Say: A Misguided War.
A failed war
It has long been clear that the operational and fiscal crisis enveloping Kentucky's corrections system is due largely to the flood of nonviolent and small-time drug offenders who swamp the state's penal institutions under harsh sentences mandated by an ineffective “war on drugs.”
Nonetheless, University of Kentucky law professor Robert Lawson has performed a valuable public service with a new report that outlines the mess caused by packing the state's prisons with offenders who pose little risk to anyone except themselves. Legislators facing a $1.4 billion shortfall in the state's 2010-12 biennial budget should take careful note and respond.
Mr. Lawson's 60-page study makes a strong case that severe sentences mandated by the state's 35-year campaign against drugs have “failed miserably” in distinguishing between minor offenders and major traffickers. In the process, Mr. Lawson exposes the myth-shattering reality behind some of the most cherished assumptions of “tough-on-crime” politicians.
Consider, for example, the measure that adds an additional sentence of one to five years in prison for anyone convicted of trafficking within 1,000 yards of a school, even if the defendant was in his home or a bar. In the process of reviewing every felony drug case prosecuted in Fayette County in 2003, Mr. Lawson found that not one — not even one — of the 42 defendants charged with trafficking near a school was found to be selling to students or on school grounds.
That's not the only staple of Kentucky's drug enforcement that sounds more reasonable than it is. For instance, provisions that enhance sentences of repeat offenders — as well as of felons with previous convictions on other types of crimes — are popular with many legislators and prosecutors but can produce bizarre and costly results. The report cited a Fayette County man arrested with 1 gram of cocaine, but because of past convictions for possession of drugs, bail jumping and being a felon in possession of a handgun, his five-year sentence for the new drug charge became 20 years under the persistent felon law.
Kentucky has taken some smart steps on drugs, such as Drug Courts in selected counties that offer small-time nonviolent drug offenders treatment and education instead of imprisonment.
But the lock-'em-up-and-throw-away-the-key approach is a failure. It wastes about $100 million a year, it has failed to prevent Kentucky from having the fastest growing inmate population in the country and it doesn't focus on big-scale dealers.
The political crowd likely will be reluctant to act on Mr. Lawson's recommendations, for fear of appearing “soft on crime.” But any system that serves the politicians, instead of the public or justice, needs rethinking.
It has long been clear that the operational and fiscal crisis enveloping Kentucky's corrections system is due largely to the flood of nonviolent and small-time drug offenders who swamp the state's penal institutions under harsh sentences mandated by an ineffective “war on drugs.”
Nonetheless, University of Kentucky law professor Robert Lawson has performed a valuable public service with a new report that outlines the mess caused by packing the state's prisons with offenders who pose little risk to anyone except themselves. Legislators facing a $1.4 billion shortfall in the state's 2010-12 biennial budget should take careful note and respond.
Mr. Lawson's 60-page study makes a strong case that severe sentences mandated by the state's 35-year campaign against drugs have “failed miserably” in distinguishing between minor offenders and major traffickers. In the process, Mr. Lawson exposes the myth-shattering reality behind some of the most cherished assumptions of “tough-on-crime” politicians.
Consider, for example, the measure that adds an additional sentence of one to five years in prison for anyone convicted of trafficking within 1,000 yards of a school, even if the defendant was in his home or a bar. In the process of reviewing every felony drug case prosecuted in Fayette County in 2003, Mr. Lawson found that not one — not even one — of the 42 defendants charged with trafficking near a school was found to be selling to students or on school grounds.
That's not the only staple of Kentucky's drug enforcement that sounds more reasonable than it is. For instance, provisions that enhance sentences of repeat offenders — as well as of felons with previous convictions on other types of crimes — are popular with many legislators and prosecutors but can produce bizarre and costly results. The report cited a Fayette County man arrested with 1 gram of cocaine, but because of past convictions for possession of drugs, bail jumping and being a felon in possession of a handgun, his five-year sentence for the new drug charge became 20 years under the persistent felon law.
Kentucky has taken some smart steps on drugs, such as Drug Courts in selected counties that offer small-time nonviolent drug offenders treatment and education instead of imprisonment.
But the lock-'em-up-and-throw-away-the-key approach is a failure. It wastes about $100 million a year, it has failed to prevent Kentucky from having the fastest growing inmate population in the country and it doesn't focus on big-scale dealers.
The political crowd likely will be reluctant to act on Mr. Lawson's recommendations, for fear of appearing “soft on crime.” But any system that serves the politicians, instead of the public or justice, needs rethinking.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 9:39 AM
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