BROOKFIELD JUDGE RAISES STAKES FOR DRUG USERS

Alarmed by the growing nonchalance of suburbanites who are fined for
minor drug offenses, Brookfield's municipal judge has ordered that
anyone cited for drug-related violations appear in court and face a
fine as high as $2,000.

In toughening Brookfield's stance on drug offenders, Judge Richard J.
Steinberg is doing what many Milwaukee officials have long advocated:
having suburbs treat their drug offenders as harshly as the city
traditionally has.

Steinberg, however, said he wasn't thinking about metropolitan equity
when he made the change.

"I'm concerned about the carefree and irresponsible attitudes," said
Steinberg, Brookfield's municipal judge for the past 24 years.

"I know these drugs are expensive, so I tell them, 'If you can afford
to buy that stuff, you can afford to pay the fine."

Previously, those caught with marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the
upscale suburb have been issued a citation much like a traffic ticket
- -- paying fines as low as $269 and receiving no other penalty or counseling.
When they appear in Brookfield Municipal Court now, however, drug
violators can be fined as much as $2,000, forced to undergo drug
testing and ordered to perform community service as part of their
sentence, Steinberg said.

Milwaukee Ald. Fred Gordon praised Steinberg's tough
stance. "That's (a $269 fine) not a major hit (in Brookfield), but certainly
in the central city it is," Gordon said.

Gordon was among Milwaukee officials and community activists who
expressed concerns last year about the disparity in the way minor drug
infractions were handled in Milwaukee and the suburbs. They complained
that people caught in the mostly white suburbs with small amounts of
marijuana usually are cited with violating a municipal ordinance and
let off after paying relatively small fines.

Milwaukee, with its much larger population of racial minorities, until
a year ago charged those caught with small levels of marijuana with a
more-serious criminal offense. After officials raised concerns about
the issue, the Milwaukee Common Council made possession of small
amounts of marijuana a municipal violation.