 May
4, 2007 - Palm Beach Post (FL)
Judge Questions Police Methods, Effectiveness Of Drug War
By Larry Keller
It was a routine misdemeanor possession-of-marijuana case.
But County Court Judge Barry Cohen rendered anything but a routine
verdict last week, questioning whether the national war on drugs
is effective, and whether investigating minor motor vehicle violations
is a good use of officers assigned to the Palm Beach County Violent
Crimes Task Force.
The judge, in his written not-guilty verdict, also raised
the question of whether the drug war has led to an increasing
perception among blacks that they can be stopped in their vehicles
for merely "driving while black." The case involved
a longtime Palm Beach International Airport skycap in whose car
marijuana was found when he was stopped for a minor equipment
violation.
"My written verdict was intended only to stimulate a
civilized dialogue as to the collateral consequences of the War
on Drugs," Cohen said by e-mail.
He succeeded. State Attorney Barry Krischer wrote a lengthy
e-mail response to Cohen's order, saying he was "bewildered"
by it.
Krischer noted that the multi-agency task force, revived more
than a year ago, is engaged in a battle against street gangs
that kill to protect their drug trade. "Any effort to make
the gang members more afraid of law enforcement than killing
each other and innocent bystanders will by necessity be aggressive,"
he wrote to Cohen.
Since law enforcement officers began late-night and early-morning
street patrols, "the level of gun violence in our county
has dropped markedly," Krischer wrote to Cohen.
What prompted the exchange was the non-jury misdemeanor trial
of Bertram Williams, 37, of West Palm Beach on April 19.
Williams was stopped around 1 a.m. by two sheriff's deputies,
who Cohen said were assigned to the violent crimes task force,
as Williams drove a 1993 Plymouth on Australian Avenue in January.
The ostensible reason: The tag light on his car wasn't working.
But the deputies frisked Williams for weapons, and finding
none, got his consent to search his car. They found 38 marijuana
butts and 2.7 grams of pot in the car.
Williams testified at trial that he doesn't smoke, drink or
do drugs. "The court believes it is reasonable to believe
the marijuana butts belonged to and had been smoked by defendant's
brother, who routinely drove the vehicle," Cohen wrote in
his verdict.
He also pointedly noted that pot continues to account for
a significant piece of the drug war, while a 1997 survey reported
that 71 million Americans had used marijuana at least once in
their lives. He added that "it was former Attorney General
John Ashcroft in the post-911 era who proudly announced the success
of 'Operation Pipe Dream,' a nationwide roundup of bong and roach
clip manufacturers."
Cohen said he's concerned about the threat of drugs to society,
especially children. He's just not convinced the current methods
of combating them are the answer.
The judge called the deputies in the Williams case well-intentioned.
"However, the spectacle of two members of the Violent Crimes
Task Force investigating a tag light violation warrants some
scrutiny by our citizenry," he wrote.
In fact, the deputies more likely were part of Operation Gangbusters,
another multi-agency group of about 80 officers that was formed
in January and works in sync with the task force, sheriff's spokesman
Paul Miller said.
While the traffic stop of Williams was legal, "this judge,
for 16 years, in his courtroom has been haunted by the image
of African-American motorists being detained by police officers
for minor equipment violations," Cohen wrote. While most
law enforcement officers are color-blind on the job, "increasing
numbers of African Americans have come to believe that 'Driving
While Black' is an offense for which they can be stopped,"
he wrote. Bertram Williams is black.
"People have been stopped from all different types of
backgrounds," Miller said. "We don't do any racial
profiles."
Krischer didn't address the race issue, but wrote: "In
order to get the guns and drugs off the street, law enforcement
must aggressively enforce the traffic laws during the early morning
hours when these shootings occur."
Miller agreed, although he had no data on gang-related arrests
made or weapons seized specifically as a result of traffic stops.
He said that other than a gang-related triple homicide in Lake
Worth, gang violence has diminished.
"It's been tremendously successful," Miller said.
"They've been making arrests, finding drugs, guns. We've
taken a lot of weapons off the street. The gang members realize
we're out there. It sends a strong message to the people we want
to get a message to."
Cohen is a veteran of 16 years on the bench who has spoken
out before. He wrote a commentary in The Palm Beach Post in December
2005 decrying bigotry and intolerance.
In the most recent poll of local lawyers, Cohen received the
highest marks of any county court judge in knowledge of the law
and diligence.
He said in an e-mail that "none of us should believe
there is a clear and simple solution to these problems or that
tension. If there was, both the state attorney and I would already
be unemployed, and there would be no necessity for this dialogue."
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