Evening star., 1947-03-17
A Judges View of Alcoholism
He Questions the Logic of Punitive System That
Treats This Disease as Crime
By Waher J. Casey

By Walter J. Casey
Judge OF the Municipal Court

By Walfl
Judge OF the j
printed BY permission from the current issue
Of the Journal Of the Bar Association Of the
District Of Columbia.o
In the decade nostalgically associated
with gayety, our National Legislature
saw fit to impose sanctions upon the
alcoholic when his infirmity was ex-
hibited to public gaze within the District
of Columbia. 1t may be that our vener-
able brothers could enlighten us as to
the forces or factions claiming father
hood of the early legislation and the
success or failure In enforcement. In
the absence Of such information, how
ever, it is safe to assume the legislation
followed the pattern of the day and that
the District of Columbia Jared no better
or worse than other communities In the
Nation. 1t Is to be observed that the
early laws were not severe in penalty.
1t may be inferred that the judges OF
those days also were lenient because
we have inherited from them the prac-
tice (extra-legal, perhaps) Of taking a
defendants personal bond not to re-
peat his offense.
The problem Of what to do with the
alcoholic became more vexing with the
passage Of years, and the legislative
sanctions increased in severity. With
the lifting of prohibition we fayed
away at the alcoholic who fell for the
third or subsequent time by subjecting
MIN to a fine of $500 or six months
deprivation of liberty-or both. I in
clude no table of statistics in this article,
but observe we have not gained ground
in contending with this problem by in
voking the punitive provisions OF the
statutes.
Recognizing the Problem.
We have insisted upon treating the
alcoholic as a criminal, and we have
subjected him to penalties as severe as
those imposed upon offenders whose
acts are vicious in character and anti
social in nature-deliberate law-break-
ers. If the alcoholic is sick person,
as believe him to be. common sense
dictates that his restoration to health
should be the responsibility of those
who, by training and experience, are
equipped to handle the problem from
the time the patient is placed in their
hands. Therapies have been devised
through years of study and patient ex-
perimentation which today are consid-
cred sound by recognized authorities in
this field. Punitive measures are being
discarded and the warehouses and jails
abandoned as corrective institutions in
the handling of the problem.
Enlightened conviction is supplanting
these institutions with hospitals and
clinics where the afiicted may be cata-
logued and treated in the early stages
of his disease and where later, when
the convalescent period is reached, he
may receive the intelligent guidance of
those best able to set the physically or
mentally recuperated upon the path to
health with some measure of assur-
ance that the antecedent treatment
and prospective guidance will restore to
society whole man.
DR.. Robert M. Lindner, writing in
Alcohol Hygiene" puts it this way:
"A feature of more distinctly sociologi-
cal import in the relationship of alcohol
and crime relates to the undesirable
contacts with the law made through
arrests for simple drunkenness. Our
police blotters are crowded with such
entries, which reflect more than any
thing else our confused thinking on the
subject and the inadequacy of our tech
niques for handling the problem. Arrest
for drunkenness and instantaneous
complicated by drunkenness such as
disturbing the peace comprise the
greatest single statistic of crime
Where the need is for treatment, for
inquiry into causes for care and under
standing--we provide the filthy lookup
and the foul stockade. ="
Should we eliminate the visit to court
from the alcoholics experience pattern,
he would still claim the attention Of
the police for all the obvious reasons
which hold true today; he would merely
detour his erstwhile criminal role and
be lodged in a sanctuary more hefitting
his estate, to be dealt with by personnel
trained and equipped to handle his
problem. The saving in time for the
court and the testifying officers is a
minor, though by no means negligible,
consideration.
Results Of an Experiment.
In January, 1916, when assigned to
the District of Columbia branch of the
criminal division of this court for the
months Of January and February,
called upon Alcoholics Anonymous for
aid. Within 30 minutes of placing
the call two members of the organiza-
ton visited me and offered full CO.
operation. Throughout the calendar
year 1916 these two members, aug
mented at time by others, have been
in attendance upon the court. They
have interviewed offenders turned over
to the probation office whom the court
thought might be receptive to the IA