Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-12-13

/ lnUO accepting Tie IdCC JIldC an
kind over the years has come to
regard mailman as diseased
victim but an alcoholic is still
viewed widely as common gut
ter bum. not sick but just shift
less.
The American Bar Association
has a special subcommittee here
studying legal problems caused
by alcoholics who pack our cells,
clutter the courts and take UP
thousands of police man-hours.
The subcommittee says the
first thing to do in getting a
sensible system of handling them
is to educate the public that
alcoholism is a disease.
Second Objective
The second thing to do, the
subcommittee says, is to throw
out the statute permitting punt
tive Imprisonment to alcoholics.
1t is as witlesS to send an alco-
holic to jail, merely to punish
him. as it would be to pen up
a diabetic because he has dia-
betes, experts say.
Two weeks ago today the sub
committee filed it's final report
and recommendations to its
parent group, the Special Com
mittee on Improving the Admin
iStration of Justice.
Chairman William NJ. Esca-
vaille of the subcommittee said
yesterday that the educational
program is No. / on the priority
list.
His report said initiation of a
public information program ito
stimulate community support for
legal revisions, financial support
and popular acceptance" of the
disease factor was vital to "any
enlightened solution to the pc
Irennial problem"
Tragedy Calls for Rescue
Alcoholism, the allergy which
compels an uncontrolled drinker
to go on drinking is a personal
tragedy for the individual 1t
follows that the ultimate goal is
the rescue of this person from
his tragedy, in cases where
it is possible.
This step is a prerequisite to
the long-term solution of the
difficulty" the subcommittee
said. However, it is necessary to
focus attention for the moment
on the immediate objective of
relieving the taxpayer and the
community of this unnecessary
burden. From this accomplish
Iment, many corollary benefits
will come"
I'VE are spending well over a
million dollars per year on the
problem of the penal alcoholic,
and making no progress toward
its solution the report con-
tinued.
The Districts drunk law has
been compared to a revolving
door. A repeater drunk goes to
court. is sentenced to Jail oil
workhouse, serves his time, i'm
mediately gets drunk again, re-
turns to court and Imprisonment
goes back to the bottle upon his
release, and keeps this cycle up
Increasing Burden
so far from alternating the
situation OF in any way solving
the problem, we are allowing the
size and compleXity of the burden
to increase each year; for not
only does the number of jail
alcoholics and chronic repeaters
mount steadily, but our present
legal procedure makes it difficult
Ito reach potential offenders sc
that there is no way of shutting
them off at the source" the sub
committee stressed.
Since we are already spend
ing SO heavily, we must find g
way to make our investment
show some return in the way Of
solving the alcoholic problem,
the report warned.
Lists Legal Goals
1t charts these legal goals:
/. Repeal of the penal statute
on alcoholism. COther large
cities do no classify ordinary
public drunkenness as a lega
Ioffense. But in the District Il
be drunk in public is a INSIDE
meanor per SCI
2. Creation of a commission
of alcoholism. Such an organ
ization would function as ar
arm of the police precincts anc
Municipal Court. 1t would bt
authorized to dispose of al
alcoholic cases. except those in
volving crimes. Dispositions