Bill Could Shorten Some Drug Dealers' Prison Time

On the Senate floor last month, two Republicans said they favored rehabilitation over punishment.

"My thinking has completely changed," said Sen. Larry E. Haines (R-Carroll), telling colleagues of his recent work with addicts. "These people need treatment."

It's the same conclusion drawn in the past four years by 22 states, including Michigan, Texas and New York, that have rolled back mandatory minimum drug sentences or restructured penalties. At the federal level, the U.S. Sentencing Commission recommended last week that Congress reduce minimum sentences for first-time crack cocaine convictions. House leaders are expected to hold hearings on the issue.

The District does not have minimum mandatory sentences for drug dealers. Virginia gives judges more discretion in sentencing for drug cases, with mandatory minimums of five years for a third or subsequent conviction for drug distribution.

The bill's original language included funding for treatment. But it came to the floor of both chambers with none in a year with little new spending. This stirred concern among opponents, who said it would be irresponsible to parole drug offenders without a safety net.

"I'm not prepared to gamble with public safety by letting these people get paroled early and hoping they get treatment," said Del. Christopher B. Shank (R-Washington), the minority whip.

The number of drug offenders given fixed sentences in Maryland is relatively small, about 100 people a year, according to the Justice Policy Institute, a national advocacy group. But public defenders say the system encourages prosecutors to push thousands more defendants into plea bargains to avoid lengthier sentences.

"Do we want to continue to build more prisons, or deal with the root cause of these crimes and get people into treatment?" Anderson asked a Senate committee last month.

Maryland's prison system has tripled since 1980, when it had 7,731 inmates, according to the Office of the Public Defender. Today, 49 percent of all prisoners are arrested again within three years, corrections officials say, although the state does not calculate the rate for drug offenders. Few receive treatment in prison. The prison population has notched down by 1,300 inmates since 2003, and correction officials are trying to figure out why, said Mark Vernarelli, a spokesman for the state's corrections department.

Advocates for treatment and repealing fixed sentences say one reason for the drop could be the 2004 measure.

The law had the support of a broad coalition of lawmakers and criminal justice officials. But judges and public defenders have complained that funding has not kept pace with the demand for long-term inpatient beds, which are widely viewed as the most effective form of treatment.

Just $3 million of the state's $130 million budget for drug treatment was available for the program in fiscal 2005, and Maryland pays for about 150 long-term beds for this population, judges and state officials say. A panel of judges complained to the House Judiciary Committee in January that offenders faced lengthy waits to get into treatment.

"We're up in Annapolis banging on the door for more treatment dollars," said Michael McGuinness, director of Second Genesis, a Silver Spring-based treatment center with inpatient and outpatient services.

The state budget for the next fiscal year includes $5 million in new money for treatment, some of which will be used for long-term-care beds, said Peter F. Luongo, director of the Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration.