CALIFORNIA JUSTICE IN BLACK AND WHITE

When he was locked up in the Birmingham jail, the Rev. Martin Luther King
Jr. stated, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." For
people of color around California, the promise of equal justice is still
just a dream.

New data released by the District Attorney's Policy Forum this month shows
that African Americans and Latinos in California are more likely to be
arrested and imprisoned for drug offenses than Whites. Contrary to popular
misconceptions, these disparities exist even though Whites, especially
those over age 30, have higher drug use rates.

For example, Whites over age 30 have drug overdose rates five to seven
times greater than young Blacks and Latinos. Yet young people of color are
twice as likely to be arrested and sent to prison for drug offenses.

The result is that, at all age levels, Californians of color are four to
five times more likely to be imprisoned for drug offenses than Whites
compared to their relative drug abuse rates.

The research also reveals that African Americans and Latinos are subject to
a "funneling" effect, through which people of color are funneled in to
prison at disproportionate rates, and Whites are funneled out. For example,
while Blacks comprise 11 percent of the state's drug abusers, they
represent 22 percent of drug arrests and 30 percent of those imprisoned for
drug offenses.

Likewise, Latinos make up 20 percent of the state's drug abusers, 32
percent of drug arrestees, and 36 percent of those imprisoned for drugs.

By contrast, Whites constitute 66 percent of California's drug abusers, but
just 41 percent of those arrested for and 30 percent of those imprisoned
for drug offenses.

As an advocate for alternatives to incarceration, I believe we need to do
everything we can to redress the blatant unfairness of our state's "War on
Drugs." Particularly for non-violent drug addicts, we need to declare
"peace" on our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, and treat their
addictions like the public health problems they are.

This year, Californians can do something about the destructive and
prejudicial aspects of the drug war by passing Proposition 36 on the
November ballot.

Prop. 36 would divert non-violent persons convicted of drug possession (not
sales) into treatment instead of prison.

According to the non-partisan California Legislative Analyst's Office,
Proposition 36 would save state taxpayers between $150 million to $200
million in prison costs, and would save counties an additional $50 million.

With those savings, a $120 million drug treatment "superfund" would be
established to treat those diverted substance abusers. Making treatment
as available as prison for non-violent substance abusers won't solve all
the problems of California's justice system.

But it's an important first step toward Dr. King's dream of equal justice
before the law for all. Proposition 36 deserves your support on Nov 7, 2000.

Andrea D. Shorter is a criminal and juvenile justice policy analyst with
the Justice Policy Institute, a national policy agency dedicated to seeking
alternatives to incarceration. She is a member of the San Francisco
Commission on the Status of Women, and a former trustee of the SF Community
College District.