WEAK END TO A WEAK CASE

When the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans secured indictments
earlier this year against promoters of local raves, it touted the move
as an innovative use of a federal statute intended to punish owners of
crack houses. But the specific act forbidden by the law -- managing or
maintaining a building where drugs are used -- is poorly defined.

The case was weak at the outset, and a plea agreement entered
Wednesday merely brings it to a whimper of a finish.

It's no secret that the use of ecstasy and other drugs is common at
raves, parties that also feature flashing lights and pulsating techno
music. In January, a grand jury indicted State Palace Theater manager
Robert Brunet, his brother Brian and rave promoter Donnie "Disco"
Estopinal under the crack house statute.

But some of the evidence prosecutors offered was flimsy: pacifiers,
flashing lights and literature from a group that urges ravers to use
drugs more safely.

Even so, Barbecue of New Orleans, a corporation that has put on raves
at the State Palace Theatre, has pleaded guilty under the crack house
law and will pay a $100,000 fine. The Brunet brothers were merely
named as unindicted co-conspirators, and Mr. Estopinal was dropped
from the case. In short, the U.S. attorney's office gets to claim
victory, and the promoters themselves avoid criminal penalties.

Common sense, however, did not fare so well. Under the plea deal,
Barbecue of New Orleans will be forbidden to sell pacifiers, glow
sticks and other items commonly associated with rave culture, or even
allow those items into the State Palace Theater. And it won't be
allowed to set up "chill rooms," rooms where overheated ravers can go
to cool down. But the trouble with the raves at the State Palace
Theater wasn't the presence of glow sticks or pacifiers; it was the
potential that the use of ecstasy, which can cause extreme dehydration
and high fevers, could seriously injure ravers. In that context -- and
given that even ravers who don't do drugs may want a break from the
dance floor -- a chill room is arguably a sensible idea.

You can hardly blame prosecutors for looking for new ways to combat
drug sales. But not every innovation is a good one. And in the end,
prosecutors need now what they have always needed: hard evidence of
intentional violations of well-defined laws.