Pubdate: Sun, 07 Oct 2012
Source: Herald Bulletin, The (Anderson, IN)
Copyright: 2012 The Herald Bulletin
Contact:  http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3877
Page: A8

DRUG-FREE ZONES SHOULD BE KEPT INTACT

The war against drugs has lessened in some arenas to a gentle slap on
the wrist. That's due, in part, to America filling its prisons and
jails with low-level drug dealers and abusers. In the state's
correction system, 40 percent of the Class B felony convictions are
due to drug dealing. Judges have lately been relying on alternative
programs such as drug courts or treatment programs to help reduce the
prison population.

Since 1988 in Indiana, gathering sites for have youth been such as
schools, churches, and parks have been ringed by a 1,000-foot and
border known as a drug-free zone in which dealers can get more prison
time than, say, if dealing at 1,001 feet away.

This week, members of a state legislative study panel expressed
concerns about the law that gives more prison time for drug dealing
within 1,000 feet of schools and other places children gather. The
panel likely will recommend the General Assembly reduce the distance
and limit the number of areas affected.

Earlier this year, the Indiana Supreme Court noted concern about the
law in two rulings. In both, the state's top court threw out 20-year
sentences and ordered 12-year sentences. In one, the defendant would
have received no more than a three-year term except police stopped the
car he was in within 1,000 feet of a school. Such a technicality
should have been resolved at the local level.

And there are unique court stances that prosecutors and police should
rise above: one theoretical involved a dealer driving on an interstate
within 1,000 feet of a school.

Most Hoosiers, however, should question the lessening of a law
intended to protect children and families.

A safe distance of 1,000 feet, in order to keep dealing away from
children, isn't much to ask.

In response to the panel's concern, Lake County Prosecutor Bernard
Carter said 34 other states have drug-free zone laws. Alabama law
creates zones within three miles of college campuses.

Despite overcrowded jails and prisons, this isn't the time to create
an atmosphere that lets drug-dealing sneak closer to youth activities.

The cases being cited as reason to change the law don't hold much
sway. They seem to involve a prosecutor or policeman taking advantage
of a law to further penalize a drug dealer or as a bargaining chip in
seeking a plea bargain. But Hoosiers need to keep one critical
component in mind: we are talking about dealing illegal drugs.

The existing law should be enforced wisely, more in tune with what the
Supreme Court is advocating.

But don't move the border.
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MAP posted-by: Matt