SCHOOL-ZONE VETERAN SPEAKS OUT

Over the past few months, I've been reading all the letters bashing
District Attorney David Capeless for doing what he was elected to do.
I can't imagine that he would have become our DA if, during his
campaign, he pledged to ignore the laws of Massachusetts and be
lenient toward drug dealers. The real fault lies with those who made
the law and took the power away from the judges, and with us citizens
who let this law stand.

I commend the DA for doing his job, even though deep down he might
know that sending a first-time offender away for two years is
excessive. I believe anyone caught selling drugs should serve time,
but how much time should be up to a judge. It's time to give judges
back their power and change the law, not to try to change the minds
of those responsible for enforcing it. I understand all the anger
about this law because 16 years ago I was the first-time offender
caught with marijuana in a school zone. After two years of trials and
petitions, I was sentenced to two years in jail by a judge who said
her hands were tied. I feel sorry for all the parents of these kids
because what I did to my family was far worse than what happened to
me. Everyone should work to reform the law so that judges may be free
to consider each individual case.

CHRISTOPHER LOUISON

Housatonic