MANDATORY DRUG SENTENCES COULD BE REPEALED

Law Called Discriminatory

TRENTON -- Lawmakers are close to giving judges to ability to waive
enhanced prison sentences now mandated for selling drugs within 1,000
feet of a school, and the change could free some nonviolent offenders
from incarceration.

Backers of the change say eliminating the often three-year mandatory
prison term would be fair, given that 19 of 20 people sentenced under
the law are black or Latino because far more area in dense cities is
covered. And they say it would save the state much-needed cash, with
almost one in five inmates now serving mandatory drug sentences.

"We have an opportunity to really affect the crime rate by doing
what's responsible, by doing what's more affordable, by giving
treatment to offenders, rather than throwing them in jail and just
having them be an expense on society, not improve and have an
opportunity to lead a productive life," said Sen. Raymond Lesniak,
D-Union.

"Anyone who has familiarity with the school-zone enhancement for jail
penalties understands that it has been a complete and total failure,
not only for what it intended to do but its unintended consequences,"
Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari, D-Union, said. "The societal and budgetary
costs associated with the school-zone designation are
immeasurable."

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted last week to send the proposed
change to the full Senate. While some longtime lawmakers who have
supported school-zone laws such as Sen. John Girgenti, D-Passaic,
voted for the change, that sentiment wasn't unanimous.

"I do agree that rehabilitation, treatment is a more effective way
and a more cost-effective way and is a more humane way, but in this
day and age, I'm just concerned the perception we're sending out
there to those who continue to sell drugs and prey on our children,
some of our most vulnerable children," said Sen. Paul Sarlo,
D-Bergen, who despite his opposition allowed a vote on the bill that
he could have blocked as committee chairman.

"I was here . . . when we did some of these things," said Sen. Gerald
Cardinale, R-Bergen, a legislator since 1980. "And we did it because
the judges had created a revolving door by which people were picked
up, and they were put right back out on the street, and they were out
on the same corner before the cop got back on duty that arrested him."

The school-zone law was enacted in 1987. Since then, the portion of
the prison population locked up for drug crimes has grown from 11
percent to 29 percent. Department of Corrections data indicate that
some 4,800 inmates, nearly 19 percent of the prison population, are
serving mandatory minimum drug terms, some for selling less than an
ounce of cocaine or heroin.

Under the bill, a judge could waive or reduce the mandatory minimums,
taking into account a defendant's prior criminal record, the
seriousness of the offense, whether school was in session and whether
children were or reasonably could have been nearby.

Mandatory minimums could not be trimmed for offenses that took place
on school property, including school buses, or if the defendant
threatened violence or had a firearm in his or her possession.

The change would allow judges to sentence defendants to the state's
drug-court program, an intervention and treatment effort designed to
correct behavior without sending nonviolent drug offenders to jail
and exposing them to prison life.

"Once a person is incarcerated, their life is totally different --
sometimes for the better, most times for the worse," said retired
state judge Barnett Hoffman, founder of a Middlesex County drug
treatment program. "Prison is like college for criminals."

Such a change would bring the potential to save the state significant
amounts of money for prison operations. It costs the state around
$39,000 a year to house a prison inmate, compared with costs of
around $10,000 a year for people on parole or probation.

In 2008, according to judicial records cited by the Office of
Legislative Services, just over 3,600 people were convicted of
distributing drugs within 1,000 of school property. If half of them
avoided prison time, the difference to the state could amount to $52
million a year.

The Department of Corrections budget of $1.16 billion equals 4
percent of state spending. And its $1 billion in operating costs --
the part of the state budget that excludes grants and state aid --
amounts to over 16 percent of direct state spending.

Amendments to the bill made by the Senate Judiciary Committee would
allow inmates already serving mandatory minimum sentences to ask the
courts to review and possibly reduce those prison terms.

Positions on the bill mostly, though not precisely, follow party
lines, with the majority Democrats in favor and minority Republicans
opposed. Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, joined Senate committee
Democrats in supporting the bill last week.

The Assembly passed a version of the bill in June 2008 by a vote of
49-27, with 47 Democrats and two Republicans in favor. It would have
to approve the bill again, to concur with the changes made in the
Senate committee.

Gov.-elect Chris Christie has expressed support for changing
sentencing laws for nonviolent drug offenders and says he would
require drug rehabilitation and vocational training. He also
advocates stricter prison terms for violent offenders.