Pubdate: Wed, 05 Jun 2002 Source: Albuquerque Tribune (NM) Copyright: 2002 The Albuquerque Tribune Contact: http://www.abqtrib.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/11 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/johnson.htm (Johnson, Gary) JOHNSON ACTED JUSTLY TO COMMUTE SENTENCE For all his shortcomings as a leader, Gov. Gary Johnson deserves respect and credit for focusing state and national attention on one of the most troublesome, complex and divisive issues of our time: drug law, policy and justice. He has been berated by leaders of both political parties and the entrenched drug war bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., for raising important questions, not only about the ineffectiveness and cost of our anti-drug effort but also about its basic lack of justice. While the appropriate reforms are not crystal clear, Johnson has made a strong case, in particular for how anti-drug laws have unfairly afflicted minorities and how they have been unjustly used to jail nonviolent offenders who often get disproportionate sentences. Many drug offenders jam our crowded prisons, frequently getting tougher sentences than violent criminals. Last week, Johnson walked the talk. He freed state convict Belinda Dillon, a 25-year-old mother who was serving a six-year sentence for drug-related crimes before Johnson commuted her sentence and ordered her released. This wasn't just a symbolic act of mercy by Johnson. He sent a powerful message that exposed a fundamental, unacceptable flaw in our criminal justice system. While incarcerated, Dillon was raped over a period of about two months by at least three corrections officers, who in turn were convicted of criminal sexual penetration. But for these violent crimes against a defenseless woman in their custody, these officers received a measly year to 18 months in jail. In dark contrast, Dillon was serving a six-year term for being convicted of stealing less than $1,000 to support her drug habit, even though the victim of the theft did not want her to go to jail. "She received," Johnson aptly observed, "a harsh sentence for her nonviolent crimes while those who (violently) abused and mistreated her received collectively less time for their sexual offenses." Dillon not only deserved to be free, but if she had been given a more sensible sentence to start with perhaps she would not have been victimized by the criminal acts of people who were entrusted to enforce justice. They not only violated her and the law; they broke the public trust. Their sentences, compared with hers, show that justice in America is not blind. It is outrageous. The next governor of this state could do a lot worse than to pick up where Johnson leaves off. In order: a systematic review of all existing sentences of drug-offending convicts to assess the proportionality of the sentence to their crime; and work with the Legislature to develop sensible drug law reforms. Meanwhile, Johnson could do further public service by continuing to stimulate a serious debate not only about drug law reform but about how to achieve justice in America today. - --- MAP posted-by: Ariel