FEDS ON CASE OF DRUG CENTER

Authorities are making a federal case out of the Juvenile Court's drug
program mess. That investigation should be followed wherever it might lead.

The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office must pursue their inquiries without
regard to political or racial sensitivities. That cuts both ways. Care
should be taken to keep this investigation colorblind and to avoid bias for
or against members of minority groups.

We would not be the least surprised if federal officials encounter pressure
to lay off what might be a touchy case. This matter involves a black judge
who is married to a longtime state NAACP leader. Suggestions already are
being circulated to the effect that criticism of the drug program is rooted
in racial bias.

Federal authorities have a history of aggressively pursuing alleged
wrongdoing by local and state officials in Louisiana, but they also have a
record of staunchly defending minority rights. That background should work
against any efforts to play the race card in this matter.

It is clear there are problems in the operations of the East Baton Rouge
Parish Juvenile Court and the drug program. It's up to federal
investigators to look into whether any of those problems involve violations
of federal law.

The taxpayer-funded Straight and Narrow Drug Treatment Center is Juvenile
Court Judge Pam Taylor Johnson's baby, and it has a history of problems
that date from its very origins.

Some of the early problems led the Louisiana Judiciary Commission to
recommend that the Louisiana Supreme Court publicly censure Johnson, but
the justices voted 4-3 against publicly reprimanding Johnson. The state's
highest court did find it necessary, however, to send in an outsider to
deal with administration of the local court.

Recent news reports in The Advocate have raised questions about hiring, pay
and travel spending involving the Juvenile Court's drug program.

Most recently, the Sunday Advocate found inconsistencies in records
concerning the number of graduates of the program. Also, if participants
were subjected to regular drug testing to make sure they were clean during
and at the end of the program, that was not reflected in records examined
by reporter Christopher Baughman.

Things apparently are done differently in Jefferson Parish. Dawn Palermo,
coordinator for the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Drug Court, said graduates
there must have three straight months of clean drug screens, including one
immediately before graduation. "You just don't want to take a chance that
somebody's positive because then they would make you look like a fool," she
said.

Some of the people listed as graduates of the Straight and Narrow program
in East Baton Rouge Parish should be considered "unsuccessful discharges,"
Palermo said.

The state's Supreme Court justices have grappled with questions involving
Taylor and the Juvenile Court, and the justices obviously found them
difficult to resolve. Now federal officials have this mess on their plate.

Federal authorities have a lot of experience with investigations involving
Louisiana political and governmental agencies and officials. Now that that
this has become a federal case, maybe FBI agents and the U.S. Attorney's
Office can determine whether the Straight and Narrow Drug Treatment Center
has lived up to its name.