HABITUAL OFFENDER RULING COULD LESSEN NUMBER OF INMATES

Raleigh - A ruling by the N.C. Court of Appeals in November could have
an impact on the state's habitual felon law and consequently on the
number of people who serve time because of it.

The opinion, written by Judge Ann Marie Calabria, ruled that
possession of cocaine is a misdemeanor and conviction of that charge
cannot be used to trigger the habitual felon law.

"Although possession of cocaine may be punished as a felony, the
statute plainly defines it as a misdemeanor," Calabria wrote.

Judges James A. Wynn Jr. and Robin E. Hudson joined in the unanimous
ruling.

Keith Acree, a spokesman for the Department of Correction, said
officials have not determined what effect the ruling will have on
prison population if it is held up.

"It's a complicated question that we're working on, trying to get a
good statistical answer to," Acree said.

The N.C. Supreme Court, at the request of the Attorney General's
office, has halted enforcement of the ruling until it decides whether
to take the case.

"For the safety of our communities, it is important that possession of
cocaine remain a felony," said Attorney General Roy Cooper. "I am
pleased that the court issued this stay so that prosecutors and law
enforcement can continue their fight against drugs while the case is
being decided."

John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation, a Raleigh-based
policy organization, suggested that the ruling makes sense.

"You can't possibly be sentenced as a habitual felon if you're not a
habitual felon," Hood said. "If the Legislature has not classified the
crime as a felony, then someone who commits it is not a felon."

Calabria in her ruling noted that the General Assembly could easily
make such possession a felony by stating that the defendant "shall be
guilty of" a felony and not merely punished as if it were a felony.