CITY VOTES TO PADLOCK HOUSE

Heralding their enforcement of a controversial padlock law as one more
tool in the war on drugs, Battle Creek city commissioners on Tuesday
ordered a 30-year-old woman and her three children out of their home
- -- a suspected drug house at 30 Hancock Ct. -- for 90 days.

The commission's 7-2 vote to padlock Charmica Griffin's house was
Battle Creek's first use of an ordinance that's been on the books
since 1992. The so-called padlock law allows the city to board up
houses for up to one year if police raid and find evidence of drugs,
prostitution, gambling or illegal alcohol sales twice within six months.

"I don't understand it. What am I supposed to do?" a tearful Griffin
said after the decision. "It's not for them to decide if me and my
kids are put out on the street. My children and I have nowhere to go."

Several neighbors on Hancock Court are applauding the decision to lock
the house and hope the action slows or halts the drug trade on their
street.

It's likely Griffin will have several weeks before the house is
actually padlocked. City officials said she'll be formally notified by
letter of her move-out date and a notice will be published in the newspaper.

"Possession of drugs in a home with three children is a very serious
matter," said Commissioner Geri Drozdowski.

"It doesn't matter if it's an ounce or a pound, we have to start
somewhere," said Commissioner Dale Geminder.

Griffin has vowed to fight the padlock decision, possibly with a
lawsuit against the city.

Police raided Griffin's house twice in January. During the first raid
on Jan. 6, according to Lt. Michael Sherzer, police found about 28
grams of marijuana wrapped in 21 bags and arrested five people,
including Griffin. The second raid produced less than a gram of
marijuana and no arrests.

That the drugs were individually wrapped indicated they were prepared
for sale, Sherzer told commissioners in a quasi-judicial hearing on
Tuesday.

But Griffin, who has a possession charge pending in District Court,
said the dope, worth an estimated $150 on the street, was intended for
personal use.

"It was in packages because that's how I bought it. It comes packaged
like that," said Griffin, who has denied she was selling from her house.

The relatively low street value of the marijuana concerned
Commissioner Tony Walker, whose ward includes Hancock Court.

"We're talking about boarding up and depriving this person of her
private property," said Walker, who voted against the padlock measure.
"There are drug dealers who would laugh at $150 worth of marijuana."

Commissioner Tyrone Baines also cast a no vote.

Afterward, acting police chief Mike Olson expressed confidence in the
decision.

"It's never a pleasant day when you have to padlock a house and
prohibit a mother and her children from going in there," Olson said.
"This is one more tool we have against drugs and the message was sent
that the city commission is not going to tolerate this behavior."

City officials had been reluctant to use the padlock ordinance,
modeled after similar ordinances in Lansing and Grand Rapids, until
the Michigan Supreme Court in 1997 declared such laws constitutional.
The Griffin case was the first padlock case suggested by Battle Creek
police.

As a result of the Jan. 6 raid, Griffin faces a charge of possession
of marijuana with intent to deliver. If convicted, Griffin faces a
maximum penalty of eight years in prison and a $40,000 fine as it
would be her second drug offense. Of the other four adults arrested
Jan. 6, two have pleaded guilty to association of a controlled
substance and two have charges pending. One of the men arrested is
charged with possession of cocaine.

In 1995, Griffin pleaded no contest to a charge of possession of
cocaine. According to court records, she was placed on probation for
two years, but the probation was extended three times for failing to
pay off $1,754,25 in fines and costs and failing once to report to her
probation officer. She's presently on probation until Jan. 24, 2003.

Several community members questioned the validity of the ordinance and
the rationale behind its enforcement at Griffin's house.

"Her house is not a drug house," said Toni Darden of Battle Creek.
"There are other houses that are drug houses and they get raided and
they're just setting up shop the next day."

"I'm definitely not for drugs or drug sales ... yet I would not want
that house padlocked without due process of the law," said Battle
Creek resident Art Heagney.