BUSH ASKED TO EXAMINE DRUG CASES

Groups Seek Pardons For Nonviolent Crimes

AUSTIN -- A handful of groups hoping to decriminalize some drug offenses
asked Gov. George W. Bush on Monday to examine the cases of an estimated
28,000 people imprisoned in Texas for nonviolent drug offenses with an eye
toward commuting some sentences or granting pardons.

"Warehousing the nonviolent (inmates) in Texas prisons does not increase
the safety or security of Texans, nor does it do anything to help the
inmate," said Alan Robison, executive director of the Drug Policy Forum of
Texas.

In a prepared statement, Bush spokeswoman Linda Edwards noted that under
Texas law a governor can commute a sentence or pardon an individual only at
the recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

"Governor Bush is reluctant to grant pardons because of his basic belief
that those who commit crimes should suffer the consequences of those crimes."

Citing Bush's references to unspecified "mistakes" in refusing to answer
questions about whether he used illegal drugs more than 25 years ago, the
groups said Bush is proof that young people can overcome poor choices to
experiment with illicit substances and become productive citizens.

If unsubstantiated allegations that Bush used drugs are true, then a
"terrible double standard" exists, Robison added.

"Governor Bush thinks that if he did it, it should be regarded as a
youthful indiscretion," Robison said. "Whereas if we do it, or at least if
we get caught doing it, we should be punished for it by being sent to prison."

Robison's group and several others, including Families Against Mandatory
Minimums and the Texas Hemp Society, said the nation's War on Drugs and
harsh prison sentences have failed to end drug abuse.

"A criminal record for what is often a youthful indiscretion makes it very
difficult for an individual to be fully productive, tax-paying citizen,"
Robison said. "It also prevents people from participating in electoral
politics as voters or candidates for office."

Kevin Zeese of the group Common Sense for Drug Policy said Texas ranks
second in the number of disenfranchised voters as a result of criminal
convictions, a situation that has the greatest impact on minorities.

In a letter to former first lady Barbara Bush, a Dallas woman who has three
sons in prisons on drug conspiracy charges, asked for her help in
convincing the governor that drug policies should be changed.

"Youthful drug use, an issue that you and your son both claim is
`irrelevant' to the governor's personal history, has been made permanently
relevant to us by drug policies of the federal government and the 50
states, including Texas," wrote Virginia Traylor. "Our sons will have no
second chances."