Berks Judge:

END MANDATORY SENTENCES INVOLVING DRUG SALES IN SCHOOL ZONES

Punishment for Drug Sales Within 1,000 Feet of Schools Has Unintended
Consequences

A Berks County judge called for immediate action from legislators to
repeal a law allowing prosecutors to seek mandatory sentences for
drug dealers selling within 1,000 feet of a school.

"We cannot continue to fill up the prisons with nonviolent people who
sell marijuana," Judge Linda K.M. Ludgate said. "We are in a state
budget crisis. This law no longer makes sense."

Ludgate, head of criminal court, was on a Pennsylvania Commission on
Sentencing advisory committee that concluded the law must be repealed.

The panel's report was presented to the House Judiciary Committee.

"We cannot wait any longer for this law to be repealed," said
Ludgate, also a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing.
"It's no longer practical. The legislators must decide whether they
want to fill up prisons with murderers and rapists or people selling
marijuana."

The numbers show Berks County prosecutors imposed mandatory sentences
for 186 cases, or 63 percent, of the 294 mandatory-sentence cases in 2008.

The law requires judges to impose mandatory sentences when requested
by prosecutors.

Prosecutors statewide obtained mandatory sentences in 314 drug-zone
cases, or 18 percent of the 1,732 mandatory sentences handed down in 2008.

The report concluded the 1997 drug-free school zone is clogging up
prisons, not shielding children from drugs.

"There is no relationship between the school zone and selling drugs
to kids," said Mark Bergstrom, executive director of the Pennsylvania
Commission.

"If you are selling drugs to another person at 2 in the morning, and
there are no kids out, you still face a mandatory sentence," he said.
"This is not the intention of the law."

The law allows prosecutors to require a sentence of two to four years
in state prison for anyone selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a
school - including day care centers, colleges, playgrounds and
religious schools.

About 20 percent of the 49,307 state prison inmates are there for
drug offenses.

District Attorney John T. Adams said prosecutors use the mandatory
sentence as a negotiating tool.

"We are continuing to evaluate the cases on a case-by-case basis,"
Adams said. "I do expect we will scrutinize cases even closer."

Adams said prosecutors are using treatment programs as an alternative
in appropriate cases.

First Assistant District Attorney M. Theresa Johnson reviews cases to
determine if mandatory sentences can be lifted.

"We don't want our children walking through dangerous drug areas in
the city," Johnson said. "The mandatory sentences give us the ability
to use our discretion."

Ludgate said such efforts by the DA's office are helping.

"There would be even more cases if they used the mandatory in every
case," she said.

Ludgate said another law allows mandatory sentences when drugs are
sold to minors, but that law is rarely used.

Judge James M. Bucci said mandatory sentencing can be dangerous for
counties with overzealous prosecutors.

Bucci said Adams is fair and does not abuse the privilege.

"The mandatory sentences tie the hands of the judge," he said. "The
judge is in the best position to make a decision on a case-by-case basis."

Reading defense attorney Lawrence Hracho said the drug-free school
zone measure is used inappropriately.

"At Penn State, the entire university is in a school zone," he said.
"A student could get a mandatory sentence of two years for selling
two joints. The law is being used too broadly."

William C. Bispels Jr., a Reading defense attorney, said the
mandatory sentence is used all over Reading because the entire city
falls within various school zones.

"There is an endless supply of people selling drugs, and we can't
lock them all up," Bispels said.

[sidebar]

MANDATORY SENTENCES

Mission: In October 2007, the state House directed the Pennsylvania
Commission on Sentencing to provide recommendations to revise
mandatory sentencing laws. An advisory committee of judges,
prosecutors, professors and state legislators prepared a 490-page report.

Mandatory sentence: A judge must impose the sentence requested by the
district attorney.

Commission: An 11-member legislative agency of four judges, four
legislators, a district attorney, defense attorney and law professor,
including Berks County Judge Linda K.M. Ludgate.

Drug-free school zone sentence: A 1997 law allows prosecutors to seek
a mandatory sentence of two to four years for anyone selling drugs
within 1,000 feet of a school, day-care center, religious school or college.

Drug Sentencing Recommendations

Repeal mandatory sentence of two to four years in state prison for
selling drugs within 1,000 feet from a school.

More treatment program sentences for non-violent drug offenders.

Increase the amount of cocaine required to ask for a mandatory
sentence to 5 grams from 2 grams.

Under the present law, the mandatory sentence for the first offense
is one to two years.

For the second offense, the mandatory is three to six years.