Judge focuses on drug reform in lecture
Taylor Lee
Issue date: 2/9/07 Section: News
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Reagan appointed Webb to the position of United States Attorney for the District of North Dakota on Oct. 8, 1981. Webb was later appointed to the position of Chief Judge for the district.
Having both graduated from UND's College of Business and earning his J.D. with distinction from the Law School, Webb said that he "feels at home with several familiar faces," at UND.
Webb's visit to campus was highlighted by a session of the United States District Court and a lecture on the U.S. Constitution.
During the lecture, Webb focused on several issues common to the people of North Dakota, including drug reform.
"We need to change our approach on how we treat people with these types of problems," Webb said.
He noted that claiming to be a politician that promises to be tough on crime isn't going to be the solution that this world needs.
The fact that the United States locks away eight times more people than any other country in the world goes to show that "we're scared of crime, therefore we don't know what to do other than put them in a place where we don't see them," he said.
The high incarceration rate hasn't been met with an equal drop in the crime rate, showing that something needs to change.
"We can't jail our way out of these problems," he said.
He recommended creating more drug rehabilitation centers, similar to those for alcoholics, to address the problem.
Webb said these rehabilitation centers would be expensive, but not cost any more than the amount of money that is spent keeping the people in jail. The hardest part of being a judge was sentencing someone that he thought didn't deserve the minimum sentence that he was about to give that person, Webb said.
In addition to addressing the drug problem, Webb also focused on the judicial branch's role in the government today. He said the branch was losing power, and that his occupation could eventually be replaced by computers.
All he thinks that the government wants him to do is count the votes and deal with the offender according to government standards.
The Distinguished Jurist-in-Residence program aims to bring judges to the School of Law to meet with students and host lectures to further understanding of legal issues.
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