Bradley Buck is an early test case for Toledo’s drug court. His circumstance is perfectly suited to the court. It also shows the new court’s inherent limits and flaws.
For, while we need alternatives to long-term incarceration — Assistant County Prosecutor Lindsay Navarre says it’s just not working — we also need to uphold accountability.
Click here to read more Blade editorials
As Ms. Navarre also says, “there must be a balance.” What some have called “the prison addiction” is impractical and expensive, especially for nonviolent criminals. Many prison sentences for drug use are unjust and counterproductive. But “nonviolent” is not always a simple and neat category. And balance requires that we retain the concepts of personal responsibility, guilt, and punishment.
Yes, punishment.
It’s an old-fashioned word and idea.
We need to hang on to it.
Buck, an addict, pleaded guilty back in April to four robberies in Toledo.
He did not have a gun.
He did not have any weapon.
He did not say that he had a weapon.
He was therefore a candidate for drug court. And his was the classic case: An opioid addiction after an injury and an addict who had previously been a productive member of society. Buck had a full-time job and no previous felony convictions (only a misdemeanor for drunken driving).
“Mr. Buck, you sober are not a threat to this community, but if you can’t stay sober, you can’t stay with us anymore,” Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Ian English said.
OK. The judge, himself a former prosecutor, declared that Buck is not a threat to the community.
But, four robberies in two weeks certainly seems like a threat. Moreover, robbery, with or without a gun, is threatening, felonious, and menacing behavior.
Ms. Navarre reminded the judge that Buck had committed real crimes and that there were real victims. But the judge replied that he had an obligation to help the addict stay clean and sober.
In all due respect: No. The duty of the judge is to enforce the law and protect society.
It is Bradley Buck’s responsibility to stay clean. And when he gets to the counselors and social workers, it will be their obligation to help him. But it is not the judge’s function to act as a social worker. His obligation is to us — the citizens of Toledo. His obligation is to enforce the law and protect public safety.
It’s simple: First comes punishment and then treatment; first comes deterrence and then re-entry and restitution.
The first responsibility of the justice system is to the public and public safety.
First Published May 25, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
