OPINION

If drug dealer ban is illegal, the city can find other means If a new city
ordinance against convicted drug dealers using city parks is itself
illegal, it wouldn't be the first time that a well-intentioned city
ordinance ran afoul of the Constitution. New Bedford has had run-ins
before, especially concerning attempts at curfews.

This time, City Solicitor George Leontire is raising questions about
whether it is within the city's authority to declare anyone with a drug
conviction persona non grata at city parks and playgrounds. The ordinance
has the strong support of community organizations and police, because known
drug dealers are an identifiable scourge that they want removed. But Mr.
Leontire, on the job just a couple of weeks in the new Kalisz
administration, has good reasons for his doubts.

To know why, hear the words of Ward 6 City Councilor Victor Pinheiro, who
says of the ordinance, "I consider it an extension of their sentence."

Precisely so. And who sentences criminals? The courts. Not the City
Council, the police or the community groups. The courts.

This doesn't mean it isn't a good idea to keep away drug dealers. But as
Mr. Leontire says, there are other alternatives. Restraining orders, for
one. If the city is willing and able to identify people with drug
convictions, and then sort out those who have served their time and are on
parole or probation, and then determine when the one-year period applies,
then that much effort could well be spent seeking specific restraining
orders to accomplish the same goal.

Otherwise, what at first looks like a uniform policy becomes a patchwork
approach with plenty of leeway and room for discretion by the police about
this "extension of their sentence." Councilor George Rogers protests that
no red flags were raised when the ordinance was passed. Perhaps not, but
better now than later, when some drug dealer succeeds in charging that his
civil rights were violated. We can get this done legally; let Mr. Leontire
help us learn how.