NJ: Drug-free zones are expanded

10/16/07

Drug-free zones are expanded
Appeals court refines definition of 'public'
By Kate Coscarelli, New Jersey Star-Ledger

New Jersey's tough law adding extra prison time for drug dealers caught near schools and other public buildings also applies to museums that aren't consistently open to the public, a state appeals court ruled yesterday

The ruling expands the state's drug-free zones as critics of the law push to shrink them. The tougher sentences are given to those convicted of dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school and 500 feet of a public building.

The court said the New Brunswick Fire Museum, a city-owned firehouse with pictures, old uniforms and a working model of a steam-powered fire engine, should be considered a public building under the law, even though it only opens by appointment.

"While it does not have regular hours, it is open to the public upon request. Public groups have visited the museum," wrote Appellate Division Judge Michael Winkelstein, who was joined by judges Stephen Skillman and Joseph Yannotti.

New Jersey probably has hundreds of little museums that could qualify, said Simon Rosenbach, assistant Middlesex County Prosecutor, who argued the case.

"Something that is not a giant building and doesn't have 3,000 impressionist paintings is, nevertheless, a museum," said Rosenbach. "Museums come in different sizes."

The decision comes as the drug-free zone laws are under attack from critics who believe they unfairly target minorities who live in cities, where wide swaths are within the zones. Three years ago, the state's Commission to Review Criminal Sentencing suggested shrinking the zones, but that plan was rejected.

Gov. Jon Corzine, who last week announced a major new anti-crime policy intended to reinvent how the state addresses the rising tide of gang violence, is expected to propose legislation concerning the zones later this year.

The state Public Defender's Office said yesterday's ruling was "disappointing," and an appeal is under consideration, said spokesman Tom Rosenthal.

"The decision is an expansive interpretation of our demonstrably discriminatory drug laws. ... The panel missed the basic due-process issue," he said.

Joseph Greer, campaign director of New Jersey Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said such decisions make it "more and more difficult for people to actually get cleared from these penalties because they are so harsh and draconian."

Prosecutors yesterday cheered the ruling, saying it helps police, especially in the state's smaller cities -- as long as they can prove they have similar museums.

"This is a useful arrow in the quiver," said Rosenbach.

The case involves Jessie Chambers, who was arrested just after midnight Aug. 8, 2003, for possession and intent to distribute cocaine. Chambers, 30, was within 500 feet of the fire museum, making it a second-degree, rather than third-degree crime. A jury convicted Chambers in 2004 and he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in state prison.