United States v. Ann Victoria Ellefson , 419 F.3d 859 ( 2005 )

LAY, Circuit Judge,

concurring.

Ann Ellefson was addicted to drugs. During her addiction, she allowed her boyfriend to use her apartment as a storage and distribution center for his business in illegal narcotics. The evidence showed that she was aware of his activities, accompanied him on a delivery of illegal materials, and independently offered to aid him in carrying out his business. Under these circumstances, the jury reasonably found her guilty of aiding and abetting the sale of illegal narcotics. Yet I wonder the extent to which her drug addiction contributed to her crimes and I find myself doubting whether the interests of society — let alone those of Ellefson — are served by her 188-month sentence (almost sixteen years in prison). To the extent that her addiction caused her actions, a sentence addressing her underlying addiction would better serve the interests of society.

Unfortunately, our inflexible federal criminal justice policy responds to the epidemic of drug crimes without adequately providing federal judges with the ability to address drug addiction — the root cause of this epidemic. In contrast, many states have created specialized drug courts that approach this epidemic with much greater success. In most drug courts, nonviolent, substance-abusing offenders charged with drug-related crimes are channeled into judicially supervised substance abuse treatment, mandatory drugs testing, and other rehabilitative services in an effort to reduce recidivism. Eligible offenders typically have the charges against them stayed and dropped if treatment is successful, or plead guilty with prosecution deferred and criminal punishment withheld if treatment is successful. Evidence shows that the flexible and pro-active approach of drug courts reduces recidivism rates to less than half of the recidivism rate of those offenders who are simply imprisoned for their drug crimes. Unfortunately, the federal criminal justice system offers no such alternatives for nonviolent, substance-abusing offenders. Given the tremendous economic and human costs of imprisoning nonviolent drug offenders, Congress should seriously consider creating federal drug courts. Federal drug courts would save a significant amount of money for taxpayers.