STUDY SHOWS MINORITIES MORE LIKELY TO DO TIME FOR DRUG-RELATED CRIMES

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Minorities in Connecticut are more likely to do
prison time for drug crimes than whites, according to a legislative
report.

The study by the General Assembly's Office of Legislative Research
found that while 62 percent of those arrested on drug offenses in 1997
were white, that group made up only 11 percent of those serving prison
time for drug convictions. Statistics from the U.S. Justice Department
show that blacks account for 38 percent of those arrested for drug
offenses nationally and 59 percent of those convicted.

Mike Lawlor, the House chairman of the Legislature's Judiciary
committee, said he's disturbed by the numbers, but doesn't believe
police, prosecutors or judges are racist.

He said part of the reason for the statistics may be that anti-drug
efforts normally take place in the cities, where many of those caught
buying are white, and those charged with the more serious offenses
tend to be minorities.

''I think the way the drug laws are enforced tends to focus primarily
on blacks and Latinos in terms of selling,'' Lawlor said. ''Therefore,
you have most of the arrests of the big shots taking place there.''

Nicholas Pastore, the former New Haven police chief who runs the New
Haven office of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, said he thinks
minorities in the city tend to buy more often, but in less quantity,
than wealthier whites from the suburbs.

''You don't buy as often, so you have less risk, but you buy more
weight,'' said Pastore. ''Where as a person in the city might live on
$10 at a time, a person in middle or upper middle class America lives
on $100 or $1,000 at a time.''

The result is poor and minority drug suspects often have previous
records, he said. And that means a longer sentence. Lawlor said he
will advocate training several members of the state Board of Parole
and members of the staff in substance abuse.

Those officials would be assigned to consider parole bids of prisoners
identified as having drug problems. The prisoners could get time
knocked off their sentences by undergoing drug treatment in prison and
after being released, he said. Craig Parker, a University of New Haven
professor of criminal justice, said he thinks a number of factors
probably account for the disparity in drug cases.

But he said he thinks any analysis must consider racism. He noted many
studies have shown that minorities are more likely to face the death
penalty - especially those convicted of killing whites - than whites
are.

''I think one has to raise questions about race up and down the
criminal justice system,'' Parker said.