VERMONT MUST FIND NEW SOLUTIONS TO DRUGS AND CRIME

Nobody likes to feel powerless, and probably nothing instills a sense of
powerlessness more than being the victim of crime. The more violent the
crime, the greater the feeling of helplessness.

It is understandable, therefore, that friends and family of Teresa King
have called for the Vermont Legislature to reinstate the death penalty.
King was shockingly murdered two weeks ago, evidently the most innocent of
innocent victims: a person in the wrong place at the wrong time. According
to police, two young men, who allegedly had just committed two other
murders, were looking for a getaway car and preyed on King as she arrived
for work at the Price Chopper in Rutland shortly before 4 a.m. on Nov. 27.
They kidnapped her, police have charged, and later killed her in New York.

Full of anger and anguish, King's friends and relatives want to do
something and want something to be done. Responding to reports that the two
alleged killers had been smoking crack, community leaders want to beef up
anti-drug efforts in Rutland, which police say is experiencing a rise in
heroin use. The mayor and the business community have pledged money for
tougher law enforcement, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has come up with
federal funds to help in the fight against drugs throughout Vermont.

Rep.-elect Carl Haas, R-Rutland, has taken up the call for reimposing the
death penalty. He said last week he had asked legislative staff to draft a
bill for him.

Vermont largely abolished the death penalty in 1965, and then in 1972 the
U.S. Supreme Court effectively struck down the state's remaining capital
offenses. There have been previous efforts to reimpose the death penalty,
usually in reaction to a particularly appalling crime. It could be useful
for the Legislature to revisit this question again, especially in light of
some of the recent revelations about the quality of legal representation
and errors in death penalty cases.

Advocates of the death penalty argue that it serves as a deterrent. But
this current case seems to undermine that argument.

The two suspects, Donald Fell and Robert Lee, could face a variety of state
and federal charges. They are suspected of killing Fell's mother, Debra
Fell, and Charles Conway in Rutland. They are suspected of killing King in
New York. And currently they are being held on federal charges of
kidnapping and carjacking, which stem from the abduction of King from the
Price Chopper parking lot.

The federal charges carry potential death sentences. New York allows lethal
injection in certain murder cases, for example murdering a witness or
committing a murder in connection with other felonies. We don't know yet
whether or how these two men will be charged in New York, but it would
appear Fell and Lee at least face a risk of ending up on death row there.

If King's killers were not deterred by the harsh federal and New York
penalties now on the books, it's hard to see how the risk of a third death
penalty in Vermont could have made a difference.

The urge by Rutland community leaders to get tough on drugs also is an
understandable reaction. Police attribute a recent spate of petty crimes
there to increased heroin use. Now a couple of alleged crack users are
accused of more heinous crimes, and it's easy to see why people are saying
enough is enough.

Perhaps Rutland police can do more to address the city's drug problems, but
surely there is a better community response than simply getting tough on
drugs. We've been getting tough on drugs for at least 20 years. If you
recall, it was the Reagan administration that ushered in the "zero
tolerance" policies. We have a lot more people in prison on drug charges,
but the supply of new drug users doesn't seem to have dwindled.

And in a way, it's too easy to blame these three killings on drugs.
According to police, on the night Debra Fell and Conway were killed they
were smoking crack with Lee and Fell's son. Obviously drugs were involved,
but that's a portrait of far more serious problems - problems that go back
many years and that won't be addressed by more strenuous law enforcement.