LIGHTS OUT FOR NIGHT DRUG COURT

Bowing to a declining number of drug cases and to lawyers who have long
grumbled about the late hours, Cook County is turning out the lights on
night narcotics courts, the first evening trial courts in county history.

The late shift was created in 1989 to cope with the explosion of crack
cocaine on the streets of Chicago. But the number of drug cases has
declined markedly, and officials plan to phase the courts out by the end of
the year.

But the chief judge of the night courts worries the county will lose an
effective way to fight drug abuse as the cases are shifted to day courts
and compete with murders, rapes and other major crimes for a judge's attention.

Hearing only narcotics cases, the judges in the night courts are more
knowledgable about whether the person before them is better served by jail
or treatment, says Chief Judge Wilbur Crooks, a former prosecutor and
police officer.

"In drug court, we don't have members of the Cali Cartel here. What you
have are low-level people who are drug addicts," Crooks said. "What I see
is people who can't manage their lives; they have no structure. The
treatment aspect is really the most important part."

Other critics warn that people charged with drug crimes will wait longer in
Cook County Jail before their cases go to trial. About 40 percent of the
10,600 inmates at the jail are being held on drug-related charges.

"The more cases you have, the less time you have to spend on each case.
Taxpayers are going to pay more if cases take longer to reach a
resolution," said an assistant public defender assigned to one of the night
courtrooms.

Deputy Presiding Judge Robert Bastone, in charge of dismantling the night
narcotics court system, acknowledges it won't be easy folding the cases
into the day court dockets.

"It may initially be more difficult for judges to handle these cases, but
it will be absorbed," he said.

Though drug arrests in Chicago have climbed 15 percent in the last five
years, with 58,697 arrests last year, Bastone and other officials say more
people are being diverted to treatment programs instead of going to trial.

And with the overall crime rate staying relatively low, Bastone believes
the county can do without the night courts and give some relief to private
lawyers who complain about the long hours.

"It's always been difficult for the lawyers. The chief complaint from the
bar is that they have to work all day and then come back at 4 p.m.,"
Bastone said. "It was a major complaint."

In the first year, five night drug courts handled 1,188 cases. Another
three courts were added in 1991 to process 10,540 cases. By last year, the
four remaining courts handled 5,107 cases.

Bastone plans to close one of the remaining courts in the next two or three
months, and the rest by the end of the year. The cases will be divided
among 40 felony court judges at the Criminal Courts building at 26th and
California, three judges at the Bridgeview courthouse and four judges at
the Skokie courthouse.

The move has the support of both the state's attorney's office and the
public defender's office.

"There is less of a need for night court," state's attorney spokesman John
Gorman said, pointing to the use of more treatment alternatives for
first-time offenders and those on probation for drug convictions.

Under state law, nonviolent drug offenders must be considered for
alternative punishment instead of jail. They are referred to an
organization called the Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities for
evaluation. In fiscal year 2000, referrals from day courts totaled 3,062
compared with 625 referrals from the night courts.

Cook County Public Defender Rita Fry said moving the cases to days is
better because representatives of other agencies, such as the Probation
Department, will be on hand for treatment options.

"Having the cases heard during the day won't change the situation legally,
but it may utilize more resources," Fry said. "The public defender wound up
being the primary sole representation in the drug courts. It added to our
work load."