ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : A Judge’s Right to Rile

Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray has an impractical, problematic and just plain bad idea--to legalize marijuana, cocaine and heroin as a way of dealing with the enormous tide of drugs flooding society. However, this is a country in which we look to society’s leaders to meet the challenges of modern life by fostering debate through the exercise of their right of free speech. There was no need for others in the Orange County law enforcement and leadership community to have attacked Judge Gray with such ferocity merely because he spoke his mind.

Gray was so concerned about drug cases overwhelming his court calendar that he took a vacation day last week to deliver a heartfelt message at a news conference. His message was one that some charged with stemming the tide of illegal drugs apparently did not want to hear.

Gray sees evidence daily in his courtroom that America’s long-running war on drugs is not working. So he proposed his radical solution to stimulate debate and to present what, in his view, is a way of trying to better regulate the tide of illegal substances and to remove the criminal element from the drug trade.

For his trouble, the judge ended up being slam-dunked on the evening news and in the reported comments of various Orange County officials. Sheriff Brad Gates and others roundly criticized him, and Donald E. Smallwood, presiding judge of Orange County Superior Court, even suggested that the judge had violated the state judicial canons.

The judge had clearly succeeded in accomplishing at least one goal--to prod the county to reflection on a problem that he sees every day from the bench.

In doing so, by the way, he joined a chorus of prominent advocates of legalization such as former Secretary of State George P. Shultz and conservative columnist William F. Buckley Jr.

We don’t agree with Gray’s position, but the judge did have a right to speak out and get people thinking. His courage in stepping forward merits at least some recognition for well-placed concern.