Borderline Cases.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Prosecutor strike in Texas brought about by referral of drug trafficking cases by federal authorities - Brief Article

Prosecutors in southern Texas went on strike in July, refusing to accept drug cases referred to them by federal authorities. But the lack of cooperation does not necessarily signal a lack of enthusiasm for the war on drugs.

Indeed, state Sen. David Sibley (R-Waco), who supports the strike, charges the feds with being too easy on drug smugglers. He told The Dallas Morning News that the Justice Department was only "paying lip service" to the idea of "zero tolerance" because it routinely declines to prosecute cases involving relatively small amounts of drugs, instead passing the ball to local authorities.

"For years, border counties, the poorest in...