Drug Cases Clog Justice System, ABA Concludes

The criminal justice system is starved for money and is being overwhelmed by massive but largely unsuccessful efforts to bring the nation’s drug problem under control, an American Bar Assn. report concluded Wednesday.

The conclusion, in a two-year study by an ABA committee, was based on testimony from the legal community and a telephone survey of police, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges. The panel was chaired by Samuel Dash, former chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee and a Georgetown University law professor.

“Police, prosecutors and judges told the committee that they have been unsuccessful in making a significant impact on the importation, sale and use of illegal drugs, despite devoting much of their resources to the arrest, prosecution and trial of drug offenders,” the panel reported.

‘Distorted, Overwhelmed’

“These extraordinary efforts have instead distorted and overwhelmed the criminal justice system, crowding dockets and jails, and diluting law enforcement and judicial efforts to deal with other major criminal cases.”

The panel recommended that the ABA set up a commission to study and reevaluate national, state and local strategies in dealing with the drug problem and to educate the public and lawmakers as well as government policy makers.

It reported that most criminal justice participants identified a lack of resources, and not legal protections afforded criminal suspects, as the major obstacle to effective law enforcement.