A JUDGE'S SENTENCE AND TOXIC WORDS

The Tribune reported Saturday that Hillsborough Circuit judge Florence
Foster refused to send a drug addict guilty of violating his probation to
state prison. Instead, she ignored the minimum sentence prescribed by law
and placed Paul Hamill on two years of community control, a stringent form
of probation, and sent him to a drug treatment center known for its
exacting rules and counseling sessions.

We don't find fault with Foster's decision to force a drug addict into
counseling, but the way she did it raises uncomfortable questions about her
use of discretion.

A transcript of the Nov. 21 hearing tells it all.

"And when I looked at him," Foster said, "he's a small, thin, white man
with curly dark hair, and I suspect he would certainly become a sexual
target in the Florida state prison system. And I've been told they can't
protect people like that. I'm not going to send a man like this to Florida
state prison. That is cruel and unusual punishment in my book."

Would she have done the same for a small, thin black man?

Foster declined to comment specifically about the case, but she told
reporter Lyda Longa that her general goal is to "help people with drug
problems get rid of their drug problems."

Good enough. But her words have racial implications.

A University of Florida law professor, Sharon Rush, said Foster's comments
were "fairly racist." Another, Bruce Rogow of Nova Southeastern University,
while recognizing that her statements raise the issue of race, commended
Foster's honesty.

"I think it's a statement of great sensitivity," he said. "She is probably
trying to save this man's life."

The case brings other issues into focus as well.

Is state prison an appropriate or effective punishment for drug addicts?
Hamill was arrested for possession and delivery of cocaine. He couldn't
stay clean. He violated probation three times. Would a prison stay be any
more effective in turning Hamill's W around than forced treatment in a
tough treatment center?

The case also reminds us that men get raped in prison. Should an addict who
is not a hardened criminal be placed among men who are?

By law, Hamill faced a minimum mandatory three-year sentence. We have long
believed that minimum mandatory guidelines are ill-conceived. Judges should
have the discretion to look at a case and decide, based on all of the
circumstances as well as statutory guidelines, a proper sentence for a
defendant.

But the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges from making
comments about race or gender bias in court. Foster's statement feeds the
idea that the system is inherently unfair to people of color.