DRUG FIGHT

Engler Can Untie Judges' Hands With Flexible Laws

Michigan is poised to bring an end to its costly and inflexible drug laws --
if Gov. John Engler signs a package of bills before he leaves office.

The bills, sponsored by Rep. Bill McConico, D-Detroit, and passed by the
state House and Senate, would end more than two decades of mandatory
sentencing laws. These laws have driven up prison costs -- something the
state can ill-afford -- and removed from judges the same discretion they
have when sentencing violent criminals.

Michigan's mandatory minimums missed the mark. They failed to get drug
kingpins off the street. Too often, small-time dealers and addicts got
excessive sentences, including life, when shorter sentences or treatment
options would have been more suitable and cheaper.

Essentially, McConico's bills would replace mandatory minimums, based on the
amount of the drugs involved, with sentencing guidelines. The guidelines
would permit judges to do what they're paid to do: Tailor sentences to fit
the crime by taking into account prior offenses, use of a weapon and other
circumstances.

Nearly 150 inmates serving a mandatory minimum sentence could get paroled,
but only if a tough parole board grants it. Pushed by Families Against
Mandatory Minimums and backed by judges and prosecutors, the bills increase
penalties for some serious crimes.

In truth, they would not substantially change the sentences of most
offenders. Nor would they lead to a dramatic drop in the state's prison
population, which stands at nearly 50,000. But they would end Michigan's
one-size-fits-all sentencing that serves neither justice nor the taxpayer.