INJUSTICE IS SERVED

The 32d-floor State Street offices of Choate Hall & Stewart seem an
unlikely setting for a battle against the war on drugs. Everything about
the law firm screams $500-an-hour, a world removed from the gritty world of
crack cocaine.

But in a federal prison in north Florida resides one of the firm's
unluckiest clients, Dorothy Gaines of Mobile, Ala. Gaines has been behind
bars since 1994, when she was convicted of conspiracy to distribute crack
cocaine. She is serving a sentence of 235 months, nearly 20 years.

Gaines, 42, a single mother, was a nurse's technician in a Mobile hospital.
Her service to her community was legendary, as were her efforts to support
her family. Prior to her arrest, she had never been involved in any legal
trouble.

The case aginst Gaines was typical in the so-called drug war. She thought
her boyfriend, a former merchant marine seaman named Terrell Hines, was a
recovering drug addict. She didn't know he was a low-level member of a
crack cocaine ring. When the ring's members were arrested, facing possible
life sentences, they traded information for lighter charges. One said he
had once seen Gaines deliver a small amount of crack cocaine to someone,
and a federal case was born.

Although a police search of her home turned up nothing related to drug
trafficking, Gaines was convicted on the word of four felons who cut deals
to save themselves.

For them, it worked. The higher-level dealers got substantially reduced
sentences, ranging from less than five years to 12 years. Some are already
out of prison. And the federal government got Dorothy Gaines.

Gregg Shapiro and A. Hugh Scott entered the case on a pro bono basis about
a year ago. They say it highlights an injustice suffered by many people in
the face of overzealous prosecution.

''Dorothy Gaines is not the only person in this predicament,'' Scott said.

This is a byproduct of the federal government's ludicrous sentencing
guidelines, which hammer convicts with little consideration for the
circumstances of the crime.

Worse, much worse, the guidelines have created a system in which high-level
defendants are able to trade information for reduced charges and,
therefore, reduced sentences. Suspects at the bottom of the food chain,
those with nothing to trade, often face the most serious charges and the
harshest penalties. It's justice stood on its head.

To say the people whose testimony convicted Gaines lack credibility would
be putting it kindly. Beyond that, even if everything they alleged is true,
it makes little sense that she would serve more time than people with far
deeper criminal involvement.

Gaines has run out of appeals, meaning the only thing that will free her is
a pardon. That's where her Boston lawyers come in: They have combed the
trial record and filed a brief with the Justice Department asking for
President Clinton to pardon her. While the line of applicants for pardons
and commutations is long, in June, Clinton granted pardons to four women
involved in similar cases, giving hope to Gaines's supporters. While the
Justice Department issues recommendations, Clinton is not bound by them.

''There's just no telling what will happen,'' Shapiro said.

Gaines's once-thriving family has fallen apart in her absence. Her teenage
son, who used to write letters to the judge in the case and other officials
calling for his mother's release, now refuses to visit her in prison. Too
painful. Her other children have suffered as well.

Dorothy Gaines has gotten less than her due from her government so far, and
has grasped at one last chance at freedom. With the help of some downtown
lawyers who just want to see justice done, she may yet get it.