Pubdate: Wed, 16 Mar 2005
Source: Berkshire Eagle, The (Pittsfield, MA)
Copyright: 2005 New England Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.berkshireeagle.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/897
Author: Carrie Saldo
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

DA ASKED TO REVISIT SCHOOL-ZONE CHARGES

GREAT BARRINGTON -- More than 400 South County residents, business owners 
and high school students have signed a petition asking District Attorney 
David F. Capeless to reconsider seeking a minimum mandatory two-year jail 
term for seven of the 19 young people arrested last September on a variety 
of drug charges.

A letter being circulated with the petition from Concerned Citizens for 
Appropriate Justice asks that so-called school-zone charges be reconsidered 
only for those seven charged with small-scale marijuana distribution. In 
all, 19 people age 17 to 24, the majority of whom live in South County, 
were arrested on charges ranging from marijuana possession to distribution 
of ketamine, a powerful horse tranquilizer.

The majority of those arrested were also charged with committing a drug 
violation in a drug-free school zone. State law requires judges to sentence 
those convicted of a school-zone charge to a minimum of two years in jail. 
A decision whether to levy the charge in the first place lies with the 
district attorney.

"Our contention is not that criminal acts should go without consequences, 
but that not all of these young people should be looking at a minimum of 
two years in jail," the letter reads. "Punishment should be made in 
proportion to the crimes.

Two years in jail is too harsh a penalty for a teenager with no criminal 
record who is involved in selling a small quantity of marijuana," the 
letter continues.

Erik Bruun, a member of Concerned Citizens for Appropriate Justice, said 
the petition and more than 400 signatures were sent to Capeless on Monday. 
Yesterday, Capeless said he received the letter and petition and planned to 
meet with the members of Concerned Citizens for Appropriate Justice in the 
next few weeks.

"I want to sit and discuss this issue with these people and I don't want to 
rush to any judgment," said Capeless. Capeless said his office is regularly 
contacted by groups and individuals who both agree and disagree with the 
way cases are handled. He said the office had also received calls from 
people who support the planned prosecution for this series of cases.

Concerned Citizens for Appropriate Justice has been circulating the 
petition for about two weeks, Bruun said. "We were really trying to do this 
discreetly and keep it out of the media," he said. "It is better not to 
engage in a dialogue like this through the press. This is about trying to 
express and understand the profoundness of the problem and come up with an 
equitable solution."

The letter suggests that a combination of "probation, public service, and 
drug treatment" could have a lasting positive effect "at a far lower cost 
in both human and fiscal terms."

"There is widespread and growing recognition that mandatory minimum 
sentences, particularly for nonviolent drug offenses, do not serve the 
public interest and do not deter the behavior they were intended to 
address," the letter reads.

Bruun said the petition and letter are ways for citizens to express their 
opinions about the situation. "Many people haven't had an avenue to express 
their concerns," he said. "... Do we want as a community to support dishing 
out justice in that one-size-fits-all approach?"

In January 2004, police began an eight-month investigation in response to 
several incidents of violent behavior in the Taconic parking lot, which is 
in front of the Triplex Cinema complex. During a September crackdown by 
town police and the Berkshire County Drug Task Force, an undercover state 
trooper conducted "buy-and-bust" operations centered around the parking lot 
of the former Taconic Lumber building. Over several months, undercover 
police bought marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine, mostly in the 
downtown Taconic parking lot area. The location is within 1,000 feet of 
school property that has been declared drug free by local officials. Some 
of those arrested are facing multiple school-zone charges.

Bruun said he understands the frustration that merchants, the public and 
law enforcement experience over the problems in the parking lot. And he is 
interested in hearing specific details about the various cases.

On Monday, Mount Everett High School senior Becky Kuhn read the letter 
aloud to fellow students in a morning English class.

Following her reading she fielded questions and discussed the letter with 
about 20 students and asked that they sign the petition.

"This is an attempt to try to make a change," said Kuhn. "I'm not condoning 
what [the defendants] did. But to change them I don't think sending them to 
jail will be the best way to deal with it."

Many of the students said they were concerned the minimum penalty may be 
relaxed for all of those involved.

"If they did go to jail I think it would set a good example," said senior 
Lindy Marcel. "If you sell drugs in a school zone it is not OK and you go 
to jail."

The majority of the cases are proceeding in Central Berkshire District 
Court. Bruun said many of the cases are scheduled for trial in May. 
Capeless declined to comment on the individual cases. Alexandra Brenner, 
17, of State Road, Great Barrington, charged with possession of marijuana, 
submitted to facts sufficient to warrant a guilty finding at her March 10 
trial. Her case was continued without a finding to March 9, 2006. She was 
ordered to be evaluated at the Brien Center, not use drugs or alcohol, 
submit to random screens and pay $21 per month to probation.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth