SMARTER ON CRIME

It's Time For Harris County To Heed The Message Of A
Tough-On-Crime Judge About Handling Of Drug Cases.

When a respected felony criminal judge known for his lock-'em-up
philosophy concludes that slamming minor drug offenders with long
sentences is counterproductive to sensible prison management and
public safety, perhaps it's time for Harris County to listen.

And when that judge's advice -- to provide drug abusers with treatment
options while focusing policing efforts on major offenders -- squares
with best practices in other counties, perhaps it's time for Harris
County to change its crime-fighting ways.

Recently, state Judge Michael McSpadden called on the governor and
Legislature to reduce sentences for low-level drug possession. In a
letter to Gov. Rick Perry, the judge, a former prosecutor with more
than 20 years' judicial experience, wrote, "These minor offenses are
now overwhelming every felony docket, and the courts necessarily spend
less time on the more important, violent crimes."

The result has been that small-time offenders, some accused only of
possessing residual amounts of cocaine in a crack pipe, are clogging
local jails. In fact, there were almost two times as many Harris
County defendants sent to state jails last year for possessing less
than 1 gram of a drug -- less than the contents of a sugar packet --
than in all of the major urban counties of Dallas, Tarrant and Bexar
combined. Possession of less than 1 gram of a drug is a felony that
often lands people in state jail for six months to two years.

District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal says he has no discretion under
state law to charge a person caught with pipe residue with anything
less than felony possession. "We don't get to make the facts. We don't
get to change the law," he says.

But McSpadden doesn't see it so rigidly; neither do prosecutors in
other urban counties. He says those caught with crack pipes should be
charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor
punishable by a $500 fine and probation.

Meanwhile, the Harris County jail and local state jail are so crowded
that Commissioners Court is considering spending at least $267 million
to build two new jails. Plus, it costs Texans more than $59 million to
house more than 4,800 offenders convicted of possessing less than 1
gram of a drug, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice
figures. An inordinate number of those prisoners came from Harris County.

Worst of all, neighborhoods do not appear to be any safer from drug
dealers, drive-through buyers and loitering addicts. Such crimes make
residents of some neighborhoods and apartment complexes fear going to
nearby parks or even venturing out.

Police say they arrest low-level users as a crime deterrent. That may
be. But once in custody, addicts would be better served by improved
options for drug treatment outside prison, while they remain under
court supervision and fulfill requirements to be employed or get
training. County officials should use some of the millions they are
thinking of lavishing on new jail construction to fund such programs.

After all, the ill effects on a community of committing huge numbers
of prospectless drug addicts to lengthy jail sentences and felony
records without dealing with their underlying drug dependence are
well-documented and long-term. And those ill effects are suffered by
everyone in this county.