NO ROOM FOR MERCY IN 1998 DRUG CASE

Some judges complain about the harshness of mandatory sentences.

When Rich Peoples passed a $10 bag of marijuana to a female
acquaintance at a Bound Brook tavern one night in 1998, he didn't
realize he was violating the state's drug-free school zone law.

The tavern was within 1,000 feet of two schools, and the law calls
for a mandatory three years in prison without parole for sale or
possession of heavy drugs, or one year for marijuana or hashish, in a
school zone.

Peoples, who was caught in an undercover sting, had no criminal
record and a solid work history. When he appeared before Judge Victor
Ashrafi in Somerset County Court, the judge said he was "very
troubled" by the mandatory sentencing because Peoples' crime was not
connected to schoolchildren.

The intent of the law was "to provide extra protection for kids and
reduce drug sales around schools," said Paul Loriquet, a spokesman
for the state Attorney General's Office.

Some judges complain that the mandatory nature of the law forces them
to send defendants to jail when a probationary sentence might be more
appropriate. In Peoples' case, he was facing jail time for a crime
that normally would have gotten him nothing more than probation --
all because it took place within 1,000 feet of a school.

"This is about as minimal a drug distribution case as I've seen in my
time, either as a prosecutor previously or as a judge," said Ashrafi,
who spent a dozen years with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.

Like Leonard Arnold, the first judge assigned to the case, Ashrafi
allowed Peoples to apply to the pretrial intervention program, which
allows first-time offenders to have their charges expunged if they
pay fines, complete community service, agree to drug testing or
counseling.

Each time, the county prosecutor fought the move, finally winning an
appeal. Prosecutor Wayne Forrest said Peoples doesn't deserve a break
because "he's a drug dealer. He sold $10 worth of marijuana." But
Ashrafi allowed Peoples' attorney to appeal the sentencing
restrictions and after 21/2 years, the case is still pending.

Since the drug-free school zone law was passed, New Jersey and other
states have continued to stake out varied zones, such as those within
500 feet of public housing, parks or beaches.

It is difficult to tell what the effect has been because New Jersey
and national drug enforcement agencies do not compile statistical
data on drug traffic in the zones.

"I'm totally convinced that these things work," said Terrence Farley,
first assistant prosecutor in Ocean County, where he directs the
narcotics strike force. "I'd much rather have them sell it 1,001 feet
from a school than even 999."

Arrests within New Jersey's school zones climbed after the law took
effect in July 1987, reaching a high of 12,241 in 1998, according to
the state Division of Criminal Justice. The total dropped slightly in
1999, but hit 11,357 in just the first three quarters of last year,
according to state figures.

Critics contend law enforcement needs to take a second look at the
whole concept of special zones. "This is part of the absurdity of
drug laws in America," said Lewis Katz, a criminal justice professor
at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. In some states, Katz
said, "violent offenders are released early to make room for drug
offenders who must serve mandatory sentences." The words "mandatory
sentences" scrape like nails on a blackboard for some judges. "We
pride ourselves on having individualized justice," tailored to the
particular facts of a case, said retired Justice Burton Roberts,
former chief administrative judge of civil court in the Bronx.
Mandatory sentences deprive judges of the ability to consider "the
nuances of the differences that make up the details of the various
crimes," he said. Mitchell Ignatoff, a Middlesex Borough attorney
representing Peoples, argues his client "did something wrong,
something stupid, but the punishment should be proportionate to the
crime." "Do we really want to put someone away over $10 worth of
marijuana?" he asked. But Forrest says the law is the law. Peoples
wasn't "in the wrong place at the wrong time," the prosecutor said,
"he was in a school zone." Subscriptions & Contacts | Archives |
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