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By Paul Gores of the Journal Sentinel staff

BROOKFIELD JUDGE RAISES STAKES FOR DRUG USERS

Alarmed by the growing nonchalance of suburbanites who are fined for minor drug offenses, Brookfield’s municipal judge has ordered that anyone cited for drug-related violations appear in court and face a fine as high as $2,000.

In toughening Brookfield’s stance on drug offenders, Judge Richard J. Steinberg is doing what many Milwaukee officials have long advocated: having suburbs treat their drug offenders as harshly as the city traditionally has.

Steinberg, however, said he wasn’t thinking about metropolitan equity when he made the change.

"I’m concerned about the carefree and irresponsible attitudes," said Steinberg, Brookfield’s municipal judge for the past 24 years.

Previously, those caught with marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the upscale suburb have been issued a citation much like a traffic ticket -- paying fines as low as $269 and receiving no other penalty or counseling.

When they appear in Brookfield Municipal Court now, however, drug violators can be fined as much as $2,000, forced to undergo drug testing and ordered to perform community service as part of their sentence, Steinberg said.

Milwaukee Ald. Fred Gordon praised Steinberg’s tough stance. "That’s (a $269 fine) not a major hit (in Brookfield), but certainly in the central city it is," Gordon said.

Gordon was among Milwaukee officials and community activists who expressed concerns last year about the disparity in the way minor drug infractions were handled in Milwaukee and the suburbs. They complained that people caught in the mostly white suburbs with small amounts of marijuana usually are cited with violating a municipal ordinance and let off after paying relatively small fines.

Milwaukee, with its much larger population of racial minorities, until a year ago charged those caught with small levels of marijuana with a more-serious criminal offense. After officials raised concerns about the issue, the Milwaukee Common Council made possession of small amounts of marijuana a municipal violation.