A LITTLE TOLERANCE WORKS, SOMETIMES

Zero tolerance keeps our prisons filled, no matter how many we build, with
a record number of inmates serving long sentences.

We are tough on crime. We want maximum punishment for anyone who breaks any
law, and there is a vast range of them, violent and non.

Zero tolerance makes the rest of us feel stronger, safer.

Zero tolerance has put Tulia, up in the Panhandle, in the national spotlight.

That's where 43 people in a town with a population of only 5,000 were
indicted for selling cocaine in a sting operation conducted last year by an
undercover officer with a questionable resume.

The first trial resulted in a man's being sentenced to 434 years. In the
most recent trial, a man got 60 years for selling one-eighth of an ounce.
Another man got 20 years for delivery of an eighth of an ounce.

Swisher County had to raise property taxes by 5 percent to pay for all the
criminal-justice proceedings.

Forty of those arrested are black. That's one of every six black Tulia
residents. The ACLU has filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the
county.

A Key Classroom Lesson

Zero tolerance is taught in our schools.

You probably saw that recent story out of Galveston: A 7-year-old kid found
a loaded gun in his backpack after he'd gotten to school. The kid didn't
know his mother's boyfriend had put the gun in the pack. He alerted his
teacher. Galveston police presented him with a plaque for doing the right
thing.

School officials booted the kid off campus for three days for doing the
right thing. Said they had no choice. Zero tolerance.

Recently, when reading about a Houston police captain who also serves on
the Magnolia school board and who was charged with drunken driving, zero
tolerance was my initial reaction. What a travesty that he got special
treatment, I reacted. Should have made an example of him, I reacted.

But after gnawing on it for a while, I overturned my original convictions
about the matter.

And now I think it was good that the Montgomery County assistant county
attorney came up with a "diversion contract" arrangement in order to avoid
prosecution, and so the police captain doesn't have to admit guilt, and so
he can avoid having a conviction on his record.

Here is a man who obviously has good qualities, a man others look up to, a
respected leader. Otherwise, it is unlikely he would have made captain at
the HPD, and unlikely he would have been elected a school board trustee.

Make An Example In This Case

The story said the captain told a state trooper who stopped him on I-45
near The Woodlands that he had downed five beers at an ice house.

The DPS report said the captain performed poorly on field sobriety tests
and his breath smelled of alcohol.

But what would be accomplished by hitting him with a conviction that would
destroy his career? Is that the help he needs? Would zero-tolerance
punishment be best for the community? Would it be best for the captain,
best for his family, best for anyone?

This "diversion contract" sounds much like a deferred adjudication, which
also allows a defendant to avoid having a conviction on his record.
However, under current state law, deferred adjudication is not an option
for first-time DWI offenders.

Terms of this diversion contract call for the HPD captain and school board
trustee to serve a year of probation and to contribute $500 to a
drinking-and-driving prevention program.

I wish him well. I hope he completes his year of probation without any
violations. I hope his employer gives him a fair shake. I hope he gets help
in recognizing and admitting and dealing with any alcohol problem he might
have.

And I hope he will find a way to share what he learns from this experience
with any kids he comes into contact with as a school trustee and as a cop.

And I still believe we should make an example of this man.

We should remember how he was treated by the criminal-justice system, and
if it works out well for him and for the community, then we should push for
our criminal-justice system to deal with others in similar circumstances in
a similar manner.

Maybe a little tolerance sometimes is not such a bad thing.