FOCUS ON REPEAL OF SENTENCING LAW

The latest case involving those arrested for selling drugs in a 2004
Great Barrington drug sweep has resulted in a conviction, reviving a
heated debate that has divided the Berkshires. Nineteen young people
were arrested in the controversial sweep and District Attorney David
F. Capeless is obviously determined to prosecute them, shrugging off
the concerted opposition of the Concerned Citizens for Appropriate
Justice and others. Given this reality, perhaps it is time for the
CCAJ to shift its focus elsewhere. The drug cases have energized
opponents because those on trial face conviction for selling drugs
within a school zone, a charge that carries with it a mandatory
minimum two-year jail sentence.

That is the fate awaiting Mitchell Lawrence of Otis. The Eagle
believes the punishment does not fit the crime here because those
charged were not selling to school children.

The Taconic parking lot happens to be within 1,000 feet of a
downtown school, and if the intent of the law was to protect school
children than it is not applicable here. That said, with the latest
case completed, the CCAJ, which has shown itself to be a
well-organized and passionate neighborhood group, should consider
making a concerted effort to have the mandatory minimum sentence law
repealed. State Representative "Smitty" Pignatelli of Lenox, who is
Great Barrington's representative in the House, indicated last year
that he would press for its repeal, and the CCAJ should lobby him to
take that initiative. There is a great case to be made for its
repeal, as the law ties the hands of judges, whose responsibility it
is to use a scalpel not a sledgehammer when applying justice. In an
ideal world, of course, drug use on the part of young people would be
dramatically curtailed, reducing the market for dealers.

This can be accomplished to an extent through education, with the
forum on drug and alcohol issues in the community attended by
parents, youth group leaders and school administrators at Monument
Mountain Regional High School Tuesday providing an example. Everyone
in a community bears some responsibility for addressing the drug
problems within that community.

If drug problems can be nipped in the bud through counseling or
something as simple as playing a school sport, than the drug trials
that can tear apart a community will become fewer in number, if not a
thing of the past.