U.S. Will Give Lawyers Data on Drug Program

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles on Tuesday agreed to turn over to defense lawyers a large amount of information about a controversial program under which people convicted of dealing drugs near a schoolyard receive much stiffer sentences.

In several federal court suits filed last year, defense lawyers asserted that blacks and Latinos were being illegally targeted for prosecution under a 1986 law that requires stiff prison terms for those who deal drugs near schools. The selective prosecution charges are pending in cases under consideration by three federal judges here.

In a hearing before U.S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter, Assistant U.S. Atty. Steven G. Madison said the government would turn over to defense lawyers all documents in possession of the U.S. attorney’s office or the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office relating to the “establishment, funding, organizational structure and implementation” of the schoolyard program and all documents relating to the U.S. attorney’s office decisions to prosecute particular individuals under the law.