Charles L. Hobson

Many jurisdictions are experimenting with sentencing nonviolent drug offenders to treatment instead of prison. Passed by California voters in the November 2000 election, Proposition 36 gives a first-time drug offender the option to go to treatment instead of prison. If the drug offender violates probation three times, he or she will be imprisoned. In the following viewpoint, Charles L. Hobson asserts that this initiative is flawed because imprisonment is necessary to treat most drug offenders. Hobson argues that the threat of imprisonment provides an incentive for drug users to break their addictions. He adds that many drug offenders are dangerous, and failing to imprison them puts public safety at risk. Hobson is the attorney for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a nonprofit public interest law organization.

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