Standoff on Drugs

Gov. Jim Douglas, on the surface a mild-mannered, self-effacing kind of guy, has never been afraid of using the power of his office in dramatic fashion, when he thinks conditions warrant. A memorable example occurred within weeks of his taking office, when he convinced the entire board of Mary Fletcher Medical Center to step down, merely by publicly asking them to.

The latest example came last week, when Gov. Douglas found a dramatic way to spotlight his disagreement with Windsor Co. State’s Atty. Robert Sand over the issue of the proper enforcement of drug laws. When Sand approved a lenient sentence for a marijuana-growing lawyer, Douglas responded by ordering state police forthwith to bypass the state’s attorney by sending all "significant" marijuana cases directly to the office of Vermont Atty. Gen. William Sorrell in Montpelier.

The reactions to this display of gubernatorial power were fascinating in what they reveal about how government works.

State’s Atty. Sand had previously made it plain that he has deep misgivings about how drug laws work. He believes undue criminalization is ineffective in solving serious drug crimes while meanwhile victimizing low-level drug users. The latter especially include Vermont’s untold thousands of marijuana users who span at least two generations.

Sand has publically argued that marijuana use should be decriminalized—punishable only by a traffic ticket kind of thing. While this is an idea with a long pedigree, it’s rare to find a law enforcement official arguing the cause.

Then along came a Vermont Fish and Game warden who found 36 marijuana plants and more than two pounds of ready-to-smoke marijuana in the Windsor home of Martha Davis, a defense lawyer who, one assumes, often argues cases that State’s Atty. Sand prosecutes. Rather than prosecuting her, Sand agreed to send the case straight to the Diversion program, which requires an admission of wrong-doing and can require payments or fines, but which leaves the defendant without a criminal record.

Had any other state prosecutor done the same thing, it would likely not have even been noticed. Prosecutors have extremely wide discretion about whom to charge with what, and different prosecutors handle that discretion differently. Gov. Douglas, however, took the Windsor County case very seriously. He was afraid, he implied, that Sand was using his discretion to put his drug enforcement views into practice unilaterally.

"This is a message to people who want to possess a large amount of controlled substances that you can go to Windsor County and get a get-out-of-jail-free card," he said in an explanation which overstated the situation but certainly made his point. "There’s no room in enforcing our laws for a personal crusade."

He then ordered all state police and Fish & Game wardens and other prosecutors under his control not to send any more "major" marijuana cases to the Windsor County State’s Attorney. This was a stunning move onto the turf traditionally occupied by county prosecutors; in fact it appears to be the first time it’s ever been done.

Gov. Douglas, like Gov. Howard Dean before him, has scored political points with tough-on-crime positions, but there’s no reason to believe he is guilty of political opportunism in this case. He obtained near-uanimous agreement among the state’s other prosecutors that they would have criminally prosecuted Atty. Davis. Police chiefs in Hartford and Springfield, though not bound by the governor’s directive, said they would also likely boycott Sand’s office. Even more impressive, Douglas received a tacit endorsement from State’s Atty. Gen. William Sorrell. Sorrell, a Democrat, reportedly had no problem with taking on the extra marijuana cases, and furthermore he joined Douglas in criticizing Sand’s decision.

On Tuesday, the issue reverberated politically, as most of Windsor County’s Democratic legislators signed scathing letters to both Douglas and Sorrell. The letter was penned by Sen. John Campbell, who is said to be considering running for governor.

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If Sand has any consolation in all this, it is that he is now more famous than ever for his drug-enforcement views.

His is a cause with substantial credibility in many thoughtful circles, a cause which needs a champion. If Bobby Sand still has stomach for the fight, he will find his soapbox is bigger than ever.