ILLINOIS' DRUG WAR FOCUSES ON BLACKS, DEFENSE ATTORNEYS COMPLAIN

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Illinois' aggressive drug war undermines families
and is disenfranchising blacks, defense advocates claim, while law
enforcement officials say the state's approach answers the public's demand
for cracking down on crime.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch released a report showing that
Illinois has the nation's greatest disparity in incarceration rates of
blacks and whites for drug crimes. Black men are imprisoned for drugs at a
rate 57 times greater than whites in Illinois, the report says. And 90
percent of those put behind bars for drugs are black, the highest rate in
the U.S.

"These drug cases have turned into a gold mine for police officers in
overtime and night court, and all that time we were getting tough on drugs,
we caused more disaster and poverty," said William Murphy, a Chicago
criminal defense attorney.

He suggested that tax money used for incarcerating a drug offender go to
expanding drug treatment programs to keep offenders productive.

More people are going to prison for longer periods because the Legislature
has enhanced penalties for selling drugs near specific places -- such as
schools or public housing projects, Murphy said. And blacks are
over-represented in the court system because police target places where
blacks live, he said.

But Greg Sullivan of the Illinois Sheriff's Association said law enforcement
officials target criminal activity, not racial groups.

"It (incarceration) is a problem for those on the street corners doing the
criminal activity because that's what the police are targeting and that's
what the public is demanding," Sullivan said.

Morgan County State's Attorney Charles Colburn, president of the Illinois
State's Attorneys Association, denied that race plays a part in prosecuting
criminals. Rather, prosecutors hit drug offenders hard because drugs cause
other societal problems, he said.

"Robberies and theft and forgeries and deceptive practices are undertaken in
getting money to buy drugs," Colburn said.

Human Rights Watch, compiling 1996 data from 37 cooperating states, pointed
out that white drug users outnumber black drug users 5-to-1. The group
called for reducing the reliance on prison for nonviolent drug offenders,
and instead urged expanding treatment opportunities.

Nationally, blacks are imprisoned about 13 times more frequently on drug
charges than white men -- 482 of every 100,000 black men sentenced to prison
are there on drug charges, compared to 36 of every 100,000 white men.

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said the problem is caused by police
targeting blacks, stopping them based on race; excessive sentences for
nonviolent drug offenses; lack of adequate defense attorneys; and the use of
prisons for economic development.

"In the court system, we're profiled from the point we're stopped until
we're in the court room," said Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, chairman of
the Legislative Black Caucus. "We suffer the full consequences of the law
when there are alternatives that can be given."

Trotter plans to continue pushing a plan he has for expunging court records
of felony convictions for rehabilitated, nonviolent drug offenders so they
can get jobs, vote and become productive again. He also will push for more
funding for teen programs, including those that offer alternative
punishments to prison.

On the Net: Human Rights Watch site: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/usa/