SOME NON-VIOLENT DRUG OFFENDERS GETTING A BREAK

Rakeem Brown stood in a Paterson courtroom recently, thanking the judge for
sentencing him to rehabilitation instead of prison for possessing cocaine
with the intent to distribute it in a school zone.

The 18-year-old got a chance to avoid hard time because he was arrested in
Passaic County, one of five counties where the state has been experimenting
with "drug courts" since 1997.

If Brown had been arrested across the Passaic River in Bergen County, he
would have been subject to up to three years in prison, and he'd have to
serve at least one year before being eligible for parole.

On Thursday, acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco signed legislation that
would give non-violent drug offenders such as Brown the same chance at
rehabilitation in Bergen and five other counties by April.

Tough state drug laws, including the 1986 statute that mandates prison
sentences for selling drugs in a school zone, have long blocked trial
judges from using any discretion in sentencing. In drug courts, judges have
the option of sending offenders to a five-month, in-patient treatment
program and then continued outpatient treatment. Offenders are then subject
to court supervision for as long as five years.

Offenders who violate the conditions of their parole, which includes
remaining drug-free, can be sent back to prison.

The state judiciary hopes to expand drug courts to all 21 counties by 2003,
but that will require further legislation.

The drug court expansion comes as the state is under increasing attack
because of the large number of minorities in prison, many because of drug
crimes.

Since the state began enacting tougher drug laws in 1986, those sentenced
to prison have been 64 percent African-American and 18 percent Hispanic.
Thirty-two percent of state prisoners are charged with drug offenses.

The large minority representation in prison in New Jersey and nationwide
has been an issue for civil rights groups for years. The issue coincides
with a growing consensus among officials nationwide that America's war on
drugs placed too much emphasis on law enforcement and not enough on
treatment for addicts.

Two moths ago, a new law took effect in California, sending all non-violent
first and second-time drug offenders to treatment instead of jail.

At a legislative hearing in April, Judge Richard Williams, the
administrative director of the New Jersey judiciary, blamed tough
sentencing laws when asked if the large number of minority prisoners meant
New Jersey courts practiced "racial profiling."

Williams told lawmakers that mandatory drug sentencing not only helped put
a disproportionate number of minorities behind bars, but had caused a more
than 400 percent increase in the prison population in the Eighties and
Nineties.

Williams cited the 1986 drug-free school zone law, which imposes a
mandatory prison for possessing drugs with intent to distribute within
1,000 feet of a school, as an example of why the disparate treatment occurs.

"You can't go into some urban areas and find a place that is not within the
school zone," Williams said.

Williams offered an expansion of drug courts as an answer to the problem.
Williams said in the five pilot drug court counties, 85 percent of the
offenders diverted from prison were minorities.

He said a statewide drug court system would divert about 1,875 offenders a
year, 70 percent of whom would otherwise be headed to state prison.

Brown, the drug defendant, told Passaic County Drug Court Judge Joseph Riva
that he does not plan to mess up his chance at treatment.

In a letter to the judge, Brown revealed that juvenile arrests kept him
locked up during much of his teenage years.

"I was unable to enjoy my teenage life," he said. "I will not blow the
chance that is given to me. My biological mother is addicted to drugs and I
do not want to follow in her footsteps."

In the letter, Brown said he knows what he has to do.

"My main goal is to get off the street and be a man," he said.