DAs in Mass. Sue to Block Drug Reform Ballot June 7, 2000
News Summary
A group of district attorneys in Massachusetts is going to court to try and block a ballot initiative to require drug offenders to get treatment rather than prison, Reuters reported June 6.The six DAs oppose Proposition P, which was recently certified by Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly for the November ballot. "It allows drug dealers to escape punishment, even multiple offenders, and it allows drug dealers to keep their assets," said Michael Sullivan, DA for Plymouth County.
The measure would allow judges to sentence low-level first and second-time offenders to treatment rather than mandatory jail time. It also would require a guilty verdict before assets could be seized from suspects in drug cases, rather than a probable cause ruling, and would require seized funds to be put into a trust fund for drug treatment rather than going to law enforcement agencies.
The DAs' suit in Supreme Judicial Court contends that Proposition P violates the state constitution and illegally subverts the legislature's power.
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