NAME OF THE GAME: SHAME

If you don't want your name in the paper as a lowlife, don't come to
Paterson looking for drugs and hookers.

That's the message city officials say is behind Wednesday's
publication of the names of nearly 400 residents of the counties of
Bergen and Passaic in two North Jersey newspapers. The individuals'
common tie, authorities say, is being charged with drug or
prostitution activity on the streets of Paterson.

The list, in a full-page ad, gives the names of arrested adults, as
well as their street, hometown, date of birth and category of offense.
It is the city's latest tactic in targeting out-of-town drug buyers
who fuel a rampant street trade. Police and city officials say the
intent is to shame drug users and prostitution johns and alert their
communities to their alleged activities.

"I think the message we're sending is that if you commit the act,
don't think you can go back home and nobody's going to know what you
did," Police Chief James Wittig said.

But critics questioned the fairness of a list based solely on charges
and not convictions -- echoing concerns aired in other cities that
have tried or considered such plans. Paterson ultimately dropped a
plan in 1998 to publish the names of prostitutes and johns -- and that
would have included only those with a conviction.

This week's advertisement, titled "Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware),"
appeared in The Record and Herald News, which are both owned by North
Jersey Media Group. The list covers an arrest period from July 1,
2005, through Feb. 28, and is the first in what officials say will be
quarterly ads.

The ad's cost was unclear. The company's in-house records showed a
cost of $2,463, but Mayor Joey Torres said it was about $3,500. Wittig
said it was covered with police funds.

Torres said the impetus for the ad was a Record series last July on
the city's drug trade and police operations that followed it. The
series showed how Paterson has grown as a regional draw for drug
users. A follow-up article in February reported the city's plan to
publish defendant names.

"As result of The Record series and the police sting operations that
followed, we made the decision to go ahead," Torres said.

Torres is up for reelection on Tuesday, and his opponents on the
ballot questioned the timing of the ad. But Torres denied that
politics played into the equation.

"The pendulum swings when it swings," he said. "These are things that
are on the drawing board. They've been planned. The timing just
happened to be now."

Torres said it had taken time to compile and verify the information
and ensure the city was on firm legal footing. He and other city
officials stressed that the information comes from public arrest reports.

Several names are listed more than once, and that of one man from
Wayne appears three times. And despite official fact-checking, a woman
from New Milford listed twice appears with birth dates that are nine
days apart.

Those under 18 are listed as a "juvenile," but their street name and
date of birth do appear.

Wittig himself acknowledged that some of the listed individuals might
have already had their cases dismissed.

Three years ago, Camden tried taking out ads that listed the names,
ages and hometowns of people charged with buying heroin, said Bill
Shralow, a spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. The
effort did not run into legal problems, but became too costly to
continue, he said.

The ads were paid for by money confiscated during reverse sting
operations targeting drug buyers.

"We like to think it was an additional deterrent," Shralow said. "But
there was really no way to quantify it."

David Mactas, executive director of Straight & Narrow, a Paterson
addiction services center, said seeing their names published might
wake up some addicts. However, he did not foresee a great impact.

"When you look at the disincentives every day that are real,
significant and immediate for addicts," he said, "having your name
published in the paper might not be very formidable by
comparison."

Brian J. Neary, a defense attorney in Hackensack, noted that
Paterson's list gives no information about the circumstances of the
arrests or the disposition of the charges. He called it "the newspaper
equivalent of the stockade."

"Any one of these suspects could have been part of a drug sweep by
police," he said. "They might have been on the wrong street at the
wrong time."

But he and another defense attorney said they doubted the published
list would affect someone's ability to get a fair trial. Repeated
calls to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey for comment
were not returned.

Neary and others also questioned the fairness of publishing the names
of out-of-towners, but not Paterson residents.

"It's a week before Election Day," he said. "Maybe to publish those
names might anger some of the electorate."

Torres said he plans to publish the names of city suspects in the
future but felt the initial focus should be on outsiders.

Lawrence Spagnola, the former city police chief now running for mayor,
said he had proposed a similar plan four years ago as chief. He
criticized Torres for waiting until election eve to run the ad.

"As a matter of fairness, I would think I would only put the people
that were convicted," he said.

In 1998, the City Council voted to publish the names of convicted
prostitutes and the men who solicited them. But then-Mayor Marty
Barnes blocked the move, citing the potential for lawsuits.

Years earlier, Ronald Fava, then county prosecutor, printed posters
with convicted dealers' names and distributed them to schools, police
stations and libraries.

Some newspapers have refused to publish ads naming suspects who have
not been convicted. They include The Denver Post and The Miami Herald.

Samuel Martin, senior vice president of sales for North Jersey Media
Group, said the advertising department does not print anything it
believes to be "false or misleading." He said all the information in
the Paterson ad appeared to be based on public records.

"As long as we're given ad copy that appears to be correct and
truthful and doesn't offend or violate any policy the publisher has
set, we would publish it," Martin said. "Our job is not to attempt to
censor information needlessly."