State’s Attorney Alvarez Announces Sweeping Reforms To Cook County Drug Policies

Cook County Diversion, Criminal Justice , , , , , , , ,

State’s Attorney Alvarez Announces Sweeping Reforms To Cook County Drug Policies:

Initiative Involves Not Charging Marijuana Misdemeanors, Expanded Drug Deferred Prosecution Program, and a Street-level Diversion Program for Juveniles.

 

State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez today announced the implementation of a new drug policy in Cook County that will seek to keep nonviolent low level repeat drug offenders out of the criminal justice system and steer more individuals to treatment.

The New Policy Includes The Following:

  • The State’s Attorney’s Office will no longer proceed with misdemeanor charges for possession of under 30 grams of cannabis for individuals who have less than three arrests or municipal citations for similar charges.
  • All offenders charged with Class 4 felony charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance or Possession of Cannabis, except for those with significant violence in their criminal backgrounds, will be routed to an alternative prosecution program including the newly created Drug Deferred Prosecution Program (DDPP). These would include individuals possessing substances other than cannabis, such as heroin, cocaine, etc.
  • The State’s Attorney’s Office will formalize an ongoing policy of not proceeding with charges against juvenile offenders for the possession of under 30 grams of cannabis and those who have fewer than three arrests or police contacts for similar charges. Instead, the State’s Attorney’s Office will work closely with the Chicago Police Department and community-based organizations to create and implement a juvenile-specific version of Seattle’s successful Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, program

The State’s Attorney Office reports that this policy was arrived at after in-depth analysis conducted by the office over the last year that examined and evaluated the screening and prosecution of drug cases as well as cost effectiveness and system outcomes.

A Great Step Forward                                                              

This new initiative is a welcome step forward for Cook County. Research has long shown that low-level drug offenders have better outcomes—in terms of reducing rates of recidivism—if they are diverted from the criminal justice system early and/or are connected with treatment. This new policy better conforms to evidence-based practices and will serve to redirect county and city resources to pursue offenders that pose greater risks to the community and to work more wisely toward public safety.

Certain Questions Remain 

Since 2012, when the City of Chicago first allowed for certain amounts of marijuana possession to be ticketed or arrested for by the discretion of the police officer, we have seen a racial disparity in the people ticketed versus arrested. This new initiative to drop misdemeanor cases would seem to solve that concern – taking arrest off the table – but will there be publicly available data on the increase in the number of dropped charges and the racial make up of the individuals entering the new Drug Deferred Prosecution Program?