PROPOSALS TARGET SENTENCING BIAS

Blacks or Hispanics charged with a crime are a lot more likely to do time in
a Connecticut prison than someone who is white, according to a recent
government study.

The racial disparities in the state's prison population are so great - and
have done so much to erode confidence in the judicial system - that two key
lawmakers are proposing a package of changes aimed at reducing the number of
members of minority groups who are in prison.

The proposals include giving judges discretion to ignore minimum mandatory
sentences for nonviolent offenders and easing the penalties for possession
of crack cocaine to bring them in line with penalties for possessing powder
cocaine.

"Many people in our state perceive that the criminal justice system is
unfair," said state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, D-East Haven, co- chairman of
the General Assembly's judiciary committee. "We think we can reduce the
disparities without threatening public safety."

Lawlor is championing the package with Rep. John S. Martinez, D-New Haven, a
fellow committee member.

The committee held a public hearing on the issue Monday, and there was a lot
of support among advocates, who said that there is not a lot of confidence
in the criminal justice system among members of minority groups.

But the advocates acknowledged that they face a tough sell among lawmakers
wary of being labeled soft on crime.

Rep. Robert Farr of West Hartford, a senior Republican on the committee,
said the best ways to address the disparities are efforts to improve
education and job opportunities in the state's cities, reduce teenage
pregnancy and treat people with substance abuse problems.

"There is no question that crime and the effects of crime have made an
impact on the inner cities and minority neighborhoods," Farr said. "But I
don't think it's so much a symptom of the criminal justice system as the
whole drug problem."

Blacks and Hispanics made up only 17 percent of the state's population in
1997, but they accounted for 72 percent of the state's prison inmates - 91
percent of the inmates imprisoned on drug offenses - according to a recent
study by the legislature's nonpartisan Office of Legislative Research.

Among the proposals to address the disparities are:

* Establish a goal of reducing the prison population of members of minority
groups to 60 percent.

* Establish two commissions - one to monitor racial disparities in the
criminal justice system and the other to monitor racial disparities in the
juvenile justice system.

* Require state and municipal police to compile data on the racial and
ethnic makeup of motorists they stop for traffic violations, which is an
effort to document any racial profiling by police and to discourage any such
efforts. Unlike another bill that has already been approved by the public
safety committee, however, the data would be compiled on a voluntary basis.

The cocaine sentencing issue has gained national attention because crack
cocaine is generally less expensive than powder cocaine, and more prevalent
among offenders who are members of minority groups. Advocates said more
emphasis should be put on treatment for nonviolent drug offenders, rather
than jail time.

Rolando Martinez, executive director of the Hispanic Health Council Inc. in
Hartford, said the state's drug laws have become less progressive since the
late 1960s, when he was arrested for grabbing a handful of cash from a
gasoline station cash register to support a drug habit. Martinez, who was 16
at the time, said he spent 10 days in jail before he was given a suspended
sentence and ordered into treatment for substance abuse.

"If I had to live like that [in prison], I'd have come out a different
person," said Martinez, who is not related to the lawmaker. "There's
probably a lot of young people in prison with potential. But if they spend
five years in prison or 10 years in prison, that spirit will die."