KUDOS TO HALLINAN

Credit Is Due (Letters to the Editor, SF Chronicle, Oct 25, 1999)

Editor - In these days of Three Strikes and record numbers of drug
prisoners, Terence Hallinan deserves credit, not blame, for having the
lowest conviction rate in the state.

A glance at the state's arrest statistics shows why this should be so. San
Francisco has by far the highest proportion of felony drug arrests in the
state (41% of all felony arrests versus 28% statewide), as well as the
lowest proportion of violent felonies (18% versus 28%). Because drug
crimes are typically non-violent, consensual offenses, Hallinan has rightly
sought alternatives to criminal conviction and incarceration in drug cases.
Given that his office faces twice as many drug offenders, relative to
violent offenders, as other district attorneys, it follows that his
conviction rate should be lower - indeed, any other result would be
indefensible.

Dale Gieringer, Berkeley