Join Together
1 Appleton St, 4th Floor
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: (617) 437-1500
www.jointogether.org

Boston, MA - A study released by Join Together, a project of Boston University School of Public Health, finds that the 1989 Massachusetts School Zone Anti-Drug law fails to drive drug dealers away from Massachusetts schools. The Join Together study reviewed the role of the law, which gives a mandatory two-year sentence for selling drugs within 1000 feet of a school property, in 443 drug dealing cases in the Massachusetts communities of Fall River, New Bedford, and Springfield.

"It appears from the study findings that the school zone statute does not make the areas around schools particularly safe for children, nor can it reasonably be expected to do so," said Will Brownsberger, senior criminal justice advisor at Join Together and co-author of the study. Study findings also indicate that "the law is is not used by prosecutors in a way calculated to move dealing away from schools," he noted. "Perhaps as a result, the law operates generally to raise the penalty level for drug dealing and does so in ways that are unpredictable for defendants."

The study used aerial photography, Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements, GIS computer mapping, prosecution records and other data to analyze the geography of drug dealing with reference to the school zone law.

Although the study was conducted in Massachusetts, it may have national implications. Noting that at least half of U.S. states have similar laws, Brownsberger said, "To our knowledge, this is the first study to use mapping technology to evaluate the effectiveness of a school zone statute. Other states may want to conduct similar studies of their own laws as applied in their own cities."

Regarding Massachusetts, Brownsberger said, "This study gives further support for the sentencing reform package developed by the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission and similar sentencing proposal reforms." He added, "This is a state-wide issue. District Attorneys Paul Walsh and William Bennett deserve enormous credit for their openness in allowing us to review their records."

The study showed the following:

• School zones, the areas within 1000 feet of schools, cover 29% of the areas of the study cities, and 56% of the high poverty areas within the cities.
• Although less than 1% of the drug-dealing cases involved sales to minors, almost 80% occurred within school zones, apparently because of the density of schools in high-poverty/high-drug-dealing areas.
• Most school zone cases are "broken down" -- defendants plead to lesser charges and receive less than the two-year mandatory minimum sentence for dealing in a school zone.
• Decisions to "break down" charges are not influenced by proximity to schools or time of day.
• Most drug dealers commit their offenses close to home and most school-zone-charged dealers reside in school zones.
• Overlapping school zone boundaries are chaotic and confusing in the studied inner city areas.
• The school zone statute fails to push drug dealing away from schools -- the density of dealing within 250 feet of schools is similar to the density of dealing at greater distances.

The full text of the study is available online at www.jointogether.org.

Join Together is a national resource for communities fighting substance abuse and gun violence. A project of the Boston University School of Public Health, Join Together is funded by grants from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Joyce Foundation and David Bohnett Foundation. The Harpel Foundation provided development funding for the school zone study, while the Gardner Howland Shaw Foundation provided operational funding.