STUDY SAYS SENTENCING CROWDS PRISONS

MONTGOMERY -- Alabama's sentences for minor drug offenders are among the
harshest in the nation, and some researchers say the stiff punishments
create racial disparities among offenders and continue to fill state
prisons beyond capacity.

A study by the Equal Justice Initiative points out that more than half of
prisoners locked up for first-degree marijuana possession are black men,
while nearly three-fourths of felony DUI offenders are white men.

But driving while drunk doesn't even become a felony until the driver has
been convicted on DUI four times, and the average sentence is nearly half
that for first-degree marijuana possession -- creating a racial disparity,
the study says.

"Even though penalties for drunk driving have become more severe, they are
still very modest compared to the punishments for drug offenses," said Mark
Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based
consulting firm for criminal justice research.

"And you think about the people who are affected by this: Drunk drivers are
predominantly white and the majority of drug offenders are
African-American. There's two forms of substance abuse and two very
different approaches, but both of them can be harmful in a different way."

A first-degree marijuana possession can result if a person has a prior
misdemeanor conviction or if it's a first offense with 2.2 pounds of
marijuana or more.

The average sentence for first-degree marijuana possession is 8.4 years,
while the average felony DUI sentence is 4.8 years, according to the
Alabama Department of Corrections.

Jefferson County Drug Court Judge Pete Johnson said blacks are not the only
ones getting harsh sentences for drug-related offenses under Alabama's law
- -- it's a problem for all drug offenders.

"We have overreacted totally with zero tolerance and a lot of people are
getting swept up for minor things and they have a little bit of drugs,"
said Johnson, a former member of the sentencing commission.

There has been an impact on the prison system: Drug-related offenses made
up 3,202 of the 10,267 prison admissions in 2004 -- nearly twice the number
of robbery, murder, rape and manslaughter entries combined, according to
the Alabama Sentencing Commission's 2005 report. Despite a second parole
board to speed up paroles for nonviolent offenders, the new inmates have
pushed Alabama's prison population to more than twice its designed capacity.

Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, takes
a different view than Johnson on the racial aspect.

"There's no question the racial disparities exist. But why they exist is a
complicated question," he said.

He blamed the reported disparities on what he said was a two-pronged
problem: First, police are more likely to target blacks for drug crimes,
resulting in more black arrests. Second, minorities are disproportionately
poor, resulting in weak courtroom defense and, ultimately, longer sentences.

"I think it has a lot to do with who's being punished," Stevenson said.
"We're too harsh in the drug context. Why is someone serving life in prison
for simple possession?"

Part of the answer lies in Alabama's drug-sentencing laws, which are some
of the harshest in the country, according to the state sentencing
commission. Alabama ranks with only four other states -- Arkansas, Georgia,
Mississippi and South Dakota -- which allow up to 10 years in prison for
possession of 2.2 pounds or less of marijuana.

Only Mississippi authorizes a more severe sentence of up to 16 years in prison.

"I think the problem with that . . . is that we're using a lot of our
prison beds for drug offenders. What we've got to do is maintain room for
our violent offenders," said state Rep. Marcel Black, D-Tuscumbia, chairman
of the House Judiciary Committee.

But Black and Linda Flynt, executive director of the sentencing commission,
said there's no clear evidence that race plays a role in sentencing and
that the commission had not conducted an independent analysis on the issue.

Still, other studies support EJI's findings. Most recently, Professor Ted
Chiricos of Florida State University completed research in 2004 about
racial stereotypes and their effects in sentencing.

"Generally the case for drug crimes is that African-Americans and Hispanics
are consistently dealt with more harshly than white defendants," he said.

Chiricos said there is a perception that blacks are more likely to commit
drug crimes than whites and that view indirectly influences sentencing. He
called this trend "modern racism."

"It's not overt racism. In court, decisions have to be made about
sentencing with imperfect information. Judges have to make a decision on
who is more dangerous to the community," he said. "In absence of perfect
information, the stereotyping fills the void and they get a harsher outcome."

Johnson, who has served in the Jefferson drug court for more than a decade,
said he has noticed more white drug offenders than black appear in his
court, though the numbers seem close.

"Race should have nothing to do with a sentence," Johnson said. "I know
from being on the sentencing commission, there's people going to prison for
long periods of time who shouldn't -- and it's not just black folks."

While Stevenson and the sentencing commission may disagree on race playing
a role in stiff sentencing, they agree that alternative measures should be
taken for drug offenses -- whether it be treatment programs like those
offered by Johnson's court or more consistent sentences for first-time drug
and alcohol offenses.

"With drug or substance abuse offenders, they're due punishment but we also
have to come up with a way to get them treatment," said Black, who is also
a member of the sentencing commission.

"If you made the sentencing scheme identical, we could eliminate these
disparities," Stevenson said.