WAR AGAINST DRUGS MIGHT RECEIVE HELP

U.S. District Judge Royal Furgeson is optimistic that Congress finally
will take action to solve the border justice crisis created by the
unfunded war on drugs.

The former El Paso lawyer got a favorable reaction to his testimony
before a Congressional subcommittee recently when he made a strong
case about a system hopelessly drowning in a caseload driven by drug
arrests.

Congress, however, has not come up with the money to pay for more
federal judges, marshals, prosecutors, public defenders, support staff
and courtrooms.

Furgeson primarily hears cases in Midland and Pecos. Last year, El
Paso's two federal judges -- U.S. District Judge Harry Lee Hudspeth
and U.S. District Judge David Briones -- and Furgeson averaged 736
felony criminal cases. That national average was 74 cases for federal
judges.

The explosive growth in drug cases along the border has convinced
Furgeson "that there is such an overwhelming demand for illegal drugs
in the United States that it is going to be difficult to stem the tide
of illegal drug smuggling for the foreseeable future," he told the
criminal justice subcommittee.

Border case dockets will keep expanding by double-digit percentages
each year through the decade, the federal judge told the committee:
"From what I can see, the probability of apprehension and conviction
is still not high enough to bring about deterrence, especially in
light of the ingenuity and skill exhibited thus far by drug smugglers."

El Paso Congressman Silvestre Reyes and U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
deserve credit for pushing to get more federal judges for the border
region, Furgeson said later.

Del Rio and El Paso each should be getting another federal judge, and
El Paso could get a new federal courthouse big enough to accommodate
five district judges and five magistrate judges, he said.

Watchdog or lap dog?

Texas Democratic Party Chairwoman Molly Beth Malcolm offered a clever
response last week to a newly formed group calling itself the "Proud
of Texas Committee."

Texas Monthly Publisher Michael Levy organized the so-called watchdog
group that will respond to attacks on Texas from Al Gore.

"If these proud Texans have anything to do with it, the Lone Star
State will weather the remaining months of the presidential election
campaign without suffering any of the slings and arrows that can
result from the political brouhaha surrounding a national election,"
the group said in its coming-out announcement.

The five lead organizers warned in a letter to Gore that they would
speak out against his attacks. They described themselves as
independents and Democrats.

But Texas Democrats did some checking and discovered that all five
signees on the letter contributed to George W. Bush's presidential
campaign, including four who gave the maximum $1,000.

"As the old Watergate saying goes, follow the money. This make-believe
watchdog won't hunt," Malcolm says.

Gary Scharrer covers politics and state government for the El Paso
Times. His column appears each Sunday. For stories or suggestions,
call him at (512) 479-6606 or e-mail him at gshar@onr.com