Drug-induced homicide charges have rapidly increased since
2011, according to data collected by
the Health In Justice Action Lab, a project of the Northeastern University
School of Law. The lab found 23 cases total between 1974 and 2000, less than
100 a year through 2011, and exponential growth since: 326 in 2015, 495 in
2016, and 717 in 2017.
But this legislative change also speaks to the importance of
DAs and their associations. The Pennsylvania District Attorneys
Association lobbied
for the 2011 reform, asking lawmakers “to remove that malice
requirement.” Other prosecutors demanded statutory changes elsewhere. Expanding
prosecutors’ ability to charge people with drug-induced homicide was a priority for
the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys this year, for instance.
Madeline Singas, the Democratic DA of New York’s Nassau County, wrote draft
legislation to the same effect.
With 49 Pennsylvania counties electing their DAs this year,
the surge of homicide prosecutions could have been a core issue up for debate.
The same goes for New York, home to 25 DA elections this year, and where
prosecutors have also somewhat frequently charged people with homicide in the
aftermath of an overdose. I have identified few counties where this has played
out, though.
One candidate ruled out homicide charges, and three shared
concerns
The Political Report contacted DA candidates running in the
nine Pennsylvania counties and two New York counties with contested elections
this year that have prosecuted at least six people for drug-induced homicide,
based on the Health In Justice Action Lab’s data.
Across these eleven counties, only one candidate ruled out
ever charging someone with homicide in the aftermath of an overdose.
It just so happens that this one candidate is running in
Lancaster, the Pennsylvania county that has used this approach more frequently
than any other county nationwide.
“We must prioritize treatment over punishment, and DDRD laws
prioritize punishment over healing,” Hobie Crystle, the Democratic nominee in
the Nov. 5 election, said in a statement emailed via a spokesperson. “That
approach sends folks into the shadows. We need light and air to heal, so my
office will not pursue DDRD charges. Period.” Crystle said DAs have other tools
than homicide at their disposal to hold “profiteers who have caused a death”
accountable. “We can punish peddlers of poison severely enough using regular
drug delivery laws, without involving the families and loved ones of those who
succumb to their illness,” he said.
Crystle’s stance sets up a potentially stark policy shift in
Lancaster given the office’s current policies. Steadman, the Republican
incumbent, is not seeking re-election. Heather Adams, the Republican nominee
and a former prosecutor who now works as a criminal defense lawyer, did not
answer multiple requests for comment. The Political Report could not identify
her stance from her
website or other reporting. Adams and Crystle have publicly disagreed
on other
issues such as the death penalty, which Adams supports and Crystle
opposes.
Three other candidates shared their discomfort with
drug-induced homicide prosecutions.
In Pennsylvania, Lisa
Middleman (an independent in Allegheny County) and Jack Stollsteimer
(the Democratic nominee in Delaware County) expressed concern that DDRD charges
are used excessively against people with addiction issues and people who shared
their drugs in the context of using them. Shani Curry Mitchell, the Democratic
nominee in New York’s Monroe County (Rochester), said she saw no deterrent
effect in drug-induced homicide prosecutions, and worried about the racial
disparities in their use.
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