DRUG PENALTIES HARSHER FOR BLACKS IN COUNTY

Black people in El Paso County are seven times more likely than
whites to be imprisoned for drug crimes, according to a recent study.

Despite similar rates of illegal drug use among blacks and whites
nationwide, more blacks wind up in prison for it, according to the
study by the Washington, D.C.-based Justice Policy Institute, which
supports policies to reduce the number of people sent to prison.

The disparity is greater in other parts of the country. Na-tionwide,
blacks are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of whites.

Who's to blame for the disparity is unclear, but the researchers said
poverty, unemployment and government spending on law enforcement are
factors that combine to usher more blacks into prison.

Judges are responsible for sentencing criminals, although they must
follow guidelines in the state law. Kirk Samelson, chief judge of the
4th Judicial District, which includes El Paso County, said Friday
that he couldn't discuss the findings because he hadn't read the study.

Sentences are also based on recommendations from district attorneys,
defense lawyers and reports compiled by probation officers. Deputy
District Attorney Denise Minish said the study doesn't provide enough
information to judge whether there's a disparity between blacks and
whites because it doesn't examine the factors that led to prison
sentences. Prosecutors consider a defendant's criminal history and
the severity of a crime when they recommend sentences, she said. "We
do not look at a person's race," she said. "It's irrelevant."

The study, issued last month, compared 2002 imprisonment rates for
blacks and whites in 198 U.S. counties with populations of at least
250,000. The imprisonment data came from the National Corrections
Reporting Program, a project of the Department of Justice. There were
227 counties with populations of at least a quarter-million in 2002,
but imprisonment data was available for only 198 of them, including
seven in Colorado.

In 193 of the counties, blacks were more likely than whites to be
sent to a state prison in drug cases.

The findings on drug crimes reflect a broader problem with racial
minorities being imprisoned at higher rates than white people, said
Rosemary Harris, president of the Colorado Springs branch of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"It is certainly obvious to black Americans, as it should be to all
Americans of good conscience, that there has been a policy of mass,
disproportionate incarceration, particularly of young black men,"
Harris said. "It has not only decimated entire black communities, it
is America's greatest criminal justice travesty. It's an issue of
fairness, yes, because as the joke goes, when they say 'justice' it's
all too often 'just-us.'"

The study found that disparities were larger in some parts of the
country. The biggest gap was in Forsyth County, N.C., which includes
the Winston-Salem metro area, where blacks were 164 times more likely
than whites to be imprisoned for drug offenses. Nationally, the rate
was 10 times.

"Drug addiction doesn't discriminate, but our drug policies do," said
Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, in a
statement accompanying the study. The alliance opposes most laws that
make drug use a crime.

The study didn't look at lighter sentences such as a term in the
county jail or probation, and it didn't break down the types of drug
offenses. It didn't examine the performance of prosecutors or defense
attorneys, or previous convictions, which could make a sentence to a
state prison more likely.

Laws require prison sentences in some cases, such as crimes involving
at least 25 grams of some illegal drugs or selling drugs near a
school, leaving no room for lighter punishments, Minish said.

According to the state Department of Corrections, judges in El Paso
County sent 627 criminals to state prisons in the 2002 fiscal year,
roughly the year the study examined.

Statewide, the number of prison admissions was 5,531 that year. Of
those, 19 percent were black, although blacks made up only 4 percent
of Colorado's population that year.

The study argues that higher rates of drug use can't explain the
higher rates of imprisonment for blacks. A federal survey conducted
in 2002 found 9.7 percent of blacks reported using illegal drugs
during the past month, compared with 8.5 percent of whites. Among the
respondents, whites were more likely than blacks to report having
used illegal drugs at some point.

The findings aren't surprising to Carrie Thompson, head of the El
Paso County branch of the Colorado State Public Defender. The office
provides legal defense for people in criminal cases who can't afford
to hire a lawyer.

"I've been doing this 20 years in different jurisdictions," Thompson
said. "The one thing that doesn't change in every jurisdiction is
it's the poor people, and in every jurisdiction the poor people tend
to be people of color."

The policies that could lead to a higher imprisonment rate for
minorities run through the criminal justice system, Thompson said.
Police target law enforcement to neighborhoods that have higher crime
rates and often larger minority populations, she said. Prison inmates
are often released without sufficient resources to rebuild their
lives and that could lead to repeat offenses. Drug addiction
treatment isn't always available. In other words, the system is
stacked against minorities in some ways.

"I'm not one of these people that's quick to call someone racist, I
don't think that's very fair," Thompson said. "But I do think that
certain policies that exist can have certain consequences that amount
to racism, even though it's not intentional."

DETAILS

In the United States, blacks are sent to prison for drug offenses at
10 times the rate of whites.