Pubdate: Wed, 7 May 2008 Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) Copyright: 2008 Journal Sentinel Inc. Contact: http://www.jsonline.com/news/editorials/submit.asp Website: http://www.jsonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265 BLACK, WHITE AND A GAP The disparity in arrests and sentencing points to a basic inequity. But treating drug use as a public health problem is the best solution. The reasons given in two recent studies for why blacks get arrested and go to prison more often for drug crimes than do whites are entirely logical. In fact, two reasons in particular argue sensibly that the system isn't racist: Inner city neighborhoods tend to have higher crime rates, which result in higher police presence. Police officers then do what police officers do - detect crime and make arrests. Dominoes in prosecution and the courts inexorably fall. Also, drug deals, it is said, are more visible in inner city neighborhoods than in largely white suburbs. So, detection and arrest are made easier still. These, however, don't alter an equally logical conclusion: Just because individual police officers, prosecutors and judges aren't racist doesn't mean the outcomes they and their work produce aren't. As the reports by The Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch note, whites outnumber blacks in Wisconsin and elsewhere. That means more drug use likely occurs among whites than among blacks, although rates of drug use between the two groups is roughly equal. Said another way: Whites commit more drug crimes overall, but African-Americans disproportionately suffer stiffer consequences. Not much about this is fair. Yes, all it takes to change this equation is for black drug users to stop using. And no one is arguing that higher crime areas shouldn't attract higher police scrutiny. But the outcomes the unlucky segment suffers as a result of this heightened scrutiny are not inconsequential. A felony conviction, no matter how many years are spent in prison, can be tantamount to a life sentence, barring people from jobs and other means, such as student loans and driver's licenses, to better their lives. The answer isn't to ratchet up drug enforcement in white communities. Instead, treat drug use as a public health scourge in need of treatment, not just punishment. This argues for the creation of drug courts - like the one in Waukesha County - that give judges the discretion to channel offenders into treatment and rehabilitation rather than prison. Fortunately, this is a goal of key people in Milwaukee County, District Attorney John Chisholm among them. It is unfair that one segment of the population suffers more for doing what others, in greater numbers, do elsewhere. But even less fair would be to make the war on drugs such a contributor to the cycle of crime and poverty that casualties only keep mounting. Are African-Americans unfairly targeted for drug arrests in Wisconsin? Send a letter to the Journal Sentinel editorial department. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake