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1996-05-06
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From: kkruse@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Korey J. Kruse)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs,talk.politics.drugs
Subject: NY Times article....Judges to refuse drug cases
Date: 19 Apr 1993 02:28:32 -0500
Message-ID: <1qtkb0INNo6l@matt.ksu.ksu.edu>
Here's a copy of a New York Times article that appeared Sunday, April 18
1993. Although basically nothings really improved, at least some
people with influence (and age) are getting smart. 50 out of 680
judges are refusing to try drug cases in the federal courts, a
surprisingly large percentage in my opinion. Hopefully, we'll be
seeing more famous people, politicians, judges, and other people
involved with criminal justice start to make their anti-WoD opinions
public.
Seems like good news to me. Anyone else have any comments on the
articles ?
------article begins here----------
Judges to refuse drug cases, citing bad sentencing rules.
NEW YORK -- Two federal judges in New York say they will not
preside over drug cases, joining dozens of other jurists who oppose
U.S. drug-sentencing policies.
The decisions by U.S. District Judges Jack B. Weinstein of
Brooklyn and Whitman Knapp of Manhattan were made in protest Friday
against national drug policies and federal sentencing guidelines.
The judges said the emphasis on arrests and imprisonment, rather
than prevention and treatment, has been a failure, and they are with-
drawing from the effort.
Federal court officials estimated that about 50 of the 680 federal
judges are refusing to take drug cases. The protest has been confined
to senior judges, a catagory of judges eligible for retirement who are
given wide latitude in choosing their cases.
The two judges, who have not criticized drug policies in the past,
said that on special request they would preside over a drug case to help
an overloaded colleague. But they said they would insist that sentences
be delivered by others.
A few federal judges have called for the legalization of drugs, and
a few have resigned rather than apply what they regarded as overly
harsh sentences.
"The present policy of trying to prohibit drugs through the use of
criminal law is a mistake," said Robert W. Sweet, a federal judge in
Manhattan who began speaking in favor of legalization of drugs four years
ago. "It's a policy that's not working. It's not cutting down drug use.
The best way to do this is through education and treatment."
Knapp and Weinstein said they were not calling for legalization of
drugs, nor did they offer any specific solutions to the drug problem.
Their decisions are expected to have little effect on the flow of
cases through the federal courts except to increase the burden on other
judges.
But a top federal admministrative judge said the actions would
probably have a symbolic effect and encourage other judges to speak out
against policies that many judges oppose.
"A lot of judges feel the present system breeds injustice," said
U.S. District Judge William W. Schwarzer, the director of the Federal
Judicial Center, the educational and research agaency in Washington for
the federal courts.
He said many judges think sentencing rules enacted by Congress that
provide for little or nor judical discretion "load up the prisons but
have not done much else to improve the drug situation."
--
_ _ _ _ _ _ kkruse@ksuvm.bitnet
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