DA HOPEFULS: NOT ALL DRUG CASES EQUAL

Most Back Leniency for Young, New Users

Candidates for Orleans Parish district attorney addressed the city's
illegal drug trade at a forum Wednesday night, with most saying that
cases must be "prioritized" before being brought to trial, and almost
every candidate promising counseling for first- and second-time
nonviolent offenders.

Gary Wainwright, a defense attorney whose campaign is based on
decriminalizing simple drug possessions, especially first-time
marijuana offenses, said addicts need treatment, not
prosecution.

"We need to take the sick people out of the criminal district
courthouse and put persons who have harmed other persons in the
crosshairs," he said. "Murderers, rapists, armed robbers and
politicians will be the only persons tried at Tulane and Broad if you
give me the chance."

The candidates forum, sponsored by the Alliance for Good Government at
the University of New Orleans, marked the second time the candidates
faced off.

Dolores "Dolly" Mason Smith, who worked as a prosecutor in the 1980s
and is the only Republican in the field, didn't attend.

At the end of the night, the alliance endorsed Clerk of Civil District
Court Dale Atkins.

For the first time in decades, New Orleans has a district attorney's
race without an incumbent. District Attorney Harry Connick announced
in March he wouldn't seek a sixth term and later endorsed Atkins. The
election is Oct. 5.

Like the entire campaign so far, the candidates spent most of the
allotted time debating who has the most experience to run the DA's
office.

On the issue of small-scale drug possession charges, lawyer Paul Massa
said he agrees with Wainwright that a young person busted for one
joint shouldn't have his life "ruined" by it.

Unlike Wainwright, several candidates promised convictions and prison
time for drug dealers.

"The more dope they're bringing in, the heavier the prosecution,"
lawyer James Gray said. "It just makes sense."

Eddie Jordan, a former U.S. attorney, said, "We need to pull out all
the stops" to ensure incarceration for those who sell drugs.

Atkins, who was a prosecutor for a few years in the mid-1980s, said
the district attorney's office should look to the juvenile courthouse
to create a "meaningful diversion program" for young, first-time
offenders. Morris Reed -- a former police officer, agent with the Drug
Enforcement Administration and judge at Criminal District Court --
said that during his time as judge he helped steer troubled first-time
offenders away from a life of crime.

Franz Zibilich was the only candidate who questioned whether the
district attorney's job is "to do something about drugs. The DA's job
is to prosecute cases."

Zibilich, a longtime chief deputy city attorney and defense lawyer,
said he certainly would "prioritize" cases, but added, "If someone is
charged with drugs and we can't divert (the case), those cases will
not go away when I'm DA."