|
|
| Rehabing Sentencing Laws |
|
Posted by FoM on June 22, 2001 at 15:33:59 PT By Jamie Pietras Source: Columbus Live 
As the legal strategists behind California’s landmark Proposition 36 set their sights on the Midwest, Ohio could prove to be a decisive battleground for national drug policy reform. The Campaign for New Drug Policies—a coalition of reformers supported by the Lindesmith Center Drug Policy Foundation and financed by millionaire philanthropists George Soros, Progressive Insurance Chairman Peter Lewis and University of Phoenix founder John Spurling—is considering financing an Ohio ballot initiative for 2002 that, if approved by voters, would divert non-violent drug offenders away from state prisons and county jails and into treatment programs. Dealing with drug addiction as a disease and not a crime is a progressive measure the campaign hopes to implement nationally. “Our agenda is certainly to affect the dialogue about national drug policy, not simply to change laws in a few states,” explained Bill Zimmerman, the Santa Monica-based executive director of the campaign. Should the initiative pass, Ohio would, over time, see a dramatic reduction in the number of people occupying state prisons and county jails. According to Zimmerman’s best estimates, about 4,000 people annually would be impacted by the state legislation. This number doesn’t include parolees, who would also be eligible for treatment should they break terms of their parole. The most recent data available from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, a 1998 intake study, indicates that 20 percent, or 613 of the 3,010 new inmates entering the Ohio prison system that year, were locked up for drug abuse or possession. Since this was their most serious offense, these are considered to be non-violent offenders. Crack cocaine was overwhelmingly the most popular drug involved in drug-related offenses, according to prison data. Marijuana came in second. Non-violent drug abusers in county jails—those serving time for misdemeanor offenses—would account for the rest of the 4,000 reductions Zimmerman anticipates. Non-violent drug users would be eligible for treatment at a state-certified facility, under the proposed reform. Those involved in an act of theft or violence, or those with a violent criminal background, would not be eligible for treatment, according to Zimmerman. The Campaign for New Drug Policies has sponsored 13 initiatives, most of them dealing with medical marijuana. Most of the initiatives have been in Western states, in part because most of the 24 states where ballot initiatives are allowed are west of the Mississippi. So far, the campaign is nearly undefeated, the only loss coming in Massachusetts where a ballot initiative combining asset forfeiture reform with treatment for users and low-level addicted dealers was rejected by a 52 percent margin. “We would have easily won in Massachusetts if we hadn’t [included] the dealers,” said Zimmerman. “There’s a perception in Washington that drug reform is a Western phenomenon,” he said. “So we have selected the three largest initiative states east of the Mississippi. We are most interested in Florida and Ohio, because they are Republican states.” Michigan is also being considered. Paul H. Coleman, president of Maryhaven, said the Columbus drug treatment facility has been in touch with the initiative’s organizers, but hasn’t yet taken an official stance. “I will tell you now what I’m going to look for,” Coleman said. “I think if the proponents of this initiative are going to the public with the message that incarceration doesn’t work and treatment does work, then in the crafting of the language of this initiative they need to make it very clear to the people of Ohio that opportunities for treatment will truly be made available to individuals who are diverted.” Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Reginald A. Wilkinson said he did not yet have an official position on the legislation, though he supported sentencing options implemented under the 1996 Senate Bill Two, which give judges discretion to sentence low-level fourth- and fifth-degree felony drug offenders to treatment rather than incarceration. Of course, a judge can also use his or her discretion to send the person to jail. The initiative proposed by the reform campaign would mandate treatment. Both Coleman and Wilkinson agreed that funding will be critical for the legislation to work. Treatment, while it’s the preferred way to deal with drug addiction, isn’t cheap. “There needs to be a lot of new money appropriated to deal with this,” Wilkinson said. In California, the initiative appropriated $120 million annually for five years to pay for treatment. The state office of the legislative analyst estimated California is likely to save $200 million annually even after the $120 million expenditure, because of the state’s smaller prison population. The initiative also caused California to abandon plans to build one of two new prisons, saving an additional $500 million. Still, it won’t take any arm-twisting to convince Coleman that treatment is the best way to deal with drugs from a public policy standpoint. A 1996 cost analysis by the New Standards of Minneapolis showed that for every dollar spent on treatment at Maryhaven, taxpayers are saved $2 in medical and criminal justice costs. “My position has been let’s go into this with an open mind. Let’s see what the language says and see if it might give us the opportunity in Ohio to make our state not only safer but also healthier,” Coleman explained. Ohio is in a unique position to watch California’s experiment play out. The sentencing provisions of Proposition 36 become effective July 1. Despite the initiative’s overwhelming victory—it received more than 60 percent support in the Golden State—Proposition 36 was met with opposition from the governor, the attorney general, and virtually every major metropolitan daily newspaper. California has some of the toughest drug laws in America, despite the state’s liberal reputation. Until July 1, California will have incarcerated more people per capita than any nation or state in the world. Approximately 19,000 out of 170,000 total inmates in California state prisons that would have fallen under Proposition 36’s purview, not including inmates in county jails. When it came to financial backing, Zimmerman and his colleagues also found a unique opponent. Prison guards fought vigorously against the initiative, spending about $200,000 as part of a total “no” campaign expenditure of $500,000. “Here in California the prison guards play a unique role,” Zimmerman explained. “They are the largest single contributors to political campaigns and elected officials in the state. They actually contribute more money to officeholders and candidates than do doctors, lawyers, oil companies, tobacco companies—you name it.” Zimmerman said prison guards have an incentive to favor treatment over incarceration, despite the obvious decline in prison population. “Our prisons, like yours in Ohio, are operating beyond capacity. When prisons are overcrowded, it makes the job of the guards much more difficult.” The Campaign for New Drug Policies will decide by the end of summer whether or not the group will commit resources to Ohio. Zimmerman said Ohio polling looks favorable. According to numbers crunched by Paul Maslin, a leading pollster who also works for California Governor Gray Davis, support for the initiative is greater here than it was in California at this stage of the game. “Ohio is either more liberal than California, or you have to posit there is a transformation taking place in the country.” When Ohioans were asked whether we were winning or losing the drug war, 77 percent said “losing.” And when people were asked at the end of the poll if they had a friend or family member who got into trouble with illegal drugs, 44 percent of respondents answered “yes.” “This problem in the last several years has moved from a ‘them’ problem to an ‘us’ problem,” Zimmerman explained. He hopes that public opinion spurred by success out West will set a precedent for America’s heartland. “Politics is the most unpredictable human endeavor there is, so I don’t want to say I’m certain we’re going to win. But I think the 61 percent vote in California is an indication on how strongly people feel about this.” Source: Columbus Alive (OH) Related Articles & Web Site: Campaign for New Drug Policies Threesome Fund Growing War On War On Drugs Soros, Two Allies Fund a Growing War on WoDs Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
 |
| Post Comment |  |
 |  |