DRUG COURTS

Legislature, high court taking notice

After years of being debated, tentatively adopted here and there and
shuffled aside, could the issue of drug courts finally be on the state
government radar screen?

Although Circuit Judges Keith Starrett, Billy Joe Landrum and Justice Oliver
Diaz , who are vying for Diaz' south Mississippi seat, couldn't agree on
what should be done about the drug problem, providing drug courts was one
option they discussed.

In fact, the Legislative Budget Committee was approached last week by
Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Lenore Prather seeking $150,000 to
assist in having drug courts set up in the state.

The Legislature last spring gave Attorney General Mike Moore $250,000 to
fund a similar, separate program, and Hinds County also got $200,000 for its
drug court.

Madison County Judge Bill Agin and circuit judges in Leflore, Sunflower and
Washington counties have expressed interest in drug courts.

Starrett started a drug court more than a year ago in Lincoln, Pike and
Walthall counties. He says it has proved effective in dealing with drug
addicts who commit crimes.

He says drug courts are effective in sending nonviolent drug and alcohol
offenders into treatment followed by probation. Diverting 40 people to drug
court saves the state $1 million in prison beds.

Moore also believes that there is a legitimate place in crime prevention
through providing drug courts.

About 6,000 people — a third of the state's prison population — are serving
time for drug offenses, Moore says.

"There are a bunch of 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds out there with first- and
second-offense drug cases that we can do a better job of turning their lives
around than just locking them up," he said.

No one is saying that drug crimes aren't crimes. People who murder, rape and
kill, people who victimize others through stealing, ransacking others'
property and violating others' homes, deserve just punishment.

But a consensus seems to be growing that there is a better way to deal with
drug-related crimes. A lot of offenders who are arrested for selling drugs
are doing so to fund their own addictions. Prostitution, petty theft, crimes
of passion are fueled by drugs and alcohol.

If the state can do a better job of weaning offenders away from the source
of their criminality — addiction — not only are penal costs reduced, but
society also is better served.

Mississippi lawmakers in the 2001 session, which begins in January, would be
wise to further explore and adopt programs leading to a statewide drug court
system.

The attorney general and the Supreme Court could be leaders in forging a
cost-effective way to achieve this goal using local court fees and state and
federal funds.

Justice does not have to be done under lock and key alone. Sometimes the
threat of incarceration is enough to motivate offenders toward preventive
treatment.

If not, the cells are there.

PRISONS

Could one solution solve another?

Has everyone forgotten that the state is under a federal court order to
reduce prison crowding?

The problem hasn't gone away just because the state narrowly avoided fines
of up to $236 million in June for having too many state prisoners in county
jails.

Mississippi now has more than 19,000 inmates, but it is estimated the number
will reach 25,000 within the next five years. And the state can't build
prisons fast enough.

The state could find itself back in the same situation.

Could drug courts avert another crisis? They could help.

Another solution is for the 2001 Legislature to revise the so-called
"Truth-in-Sentencing Law" requiring inmates to serve at least 85 percent of
sentences.

The 85 percent rule was intended to apply only to violent offenders, but the
1995 Legislature made it apply to all, filling prisons with drug and
property offenders.

It is not being "soft on crime" to run a prison system that keeps the
dangerous criminals behind bars and provides alternatives for those who can
be punished and rehabilitated in other ways.

The 2001 Legislature should change the "Truth-in-Sentencing Law" to make it
more honest.