Pubdate: Fri, 19 Jan 2001
Source: Albany Times Union (NY)
Copyright: 2001 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation, Albany,
Contact:  News Plaza, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212
Website: http://www.timesunion.com/

DRUG LAW PROGRESS

Gov. Pataki Outlines A Promising Start Toward Reforming The Rockefeller 
Statutes

Gov. Pataki's proposal to reduce the harsh sentences called for under the 
state's Rockefeller drug laws holds the promise that genuine reform will 
become a reality this year. That promise is even brighter now that Assembly 
Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has ended his opposition to any reform 
out of fear that it might make Democrats appear soft on crime. With Senate 
Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, R-Brunswick, also prepared to negotiate, 
there is every reason to expect movement this year.

Mr. Pataki's previous reform proposal was unacceptable to many reform 
proponents, including Assembly Democrats, because it was tied to the 
abolition of parole for all felons. But now the governor has wisely 
relented on that condition and has set forth a reform package that stands 
on its own. It includes reductions in the severest penalties, more 
discretion for judges at sentencing, and an emphasis on treatment rather 
than incarceration.

Not surprisingly, some reform advocates, while hailing the governor's plan 
as an important first step, are cautioning that is does not go far enough. 
They have a point. When it comes to the harshest sentences, only about 500 
inmates would be eligible to apply retroactively to have their 
15-years-to-life sentences reduced, and then only to 8 1/3 to life. That 
compares with the 22,000 drug offenders now in prison, out of a total 
inmate population of 70,000.

Still, the governor's proposal contains other initiatives to reduce the 
numbers of drug offenders in the overall prison population. There are 
provisions for lowering sentences for repeat offenders, for example. Just 
as important, it gives low-level, nonviolent first offenders a second 
chance by stressing treatment wherever possible. Judges, too, will have 
more leeway to tailor punishment to fit the crime.

At the same time, Mr. Pataki is right to seek tougher penalties for drug 
crimes involving guns and to keep "kingpins'' behind bars for long 
sentences. The purpose of the Rockefeller drug laws was, after all, to 
target the big-time dealers. But they are rarely caught, largely because 
lower-level offenders will not testify against them out of fear for their 
lives. On the rare occasions when they are arrested, they have resources to 
hire top legal talent to defend them.

Regrettably, Mr. Pataki's new budget does not contain funds for new drug 
treatment programs that his reform plan will clearly require. The theory is 
that funds will be freed up as the state prison population declines, but 
that's by no means a certainty. Meanwhile, some advocates are worried that 
as more and more drug offenders are sentenced to treatment, they will 
compete for, and perhaps even displace, the law-abiding patients who need 
help in combating drug and alcohol addiction.

If Mr. Pataki and legislative leaders are serious about reform, they will 
have to address the money issue soon. For the moment, though, they deserve 
praise for facing, head-on, the issue of unequal treatment under drug laws 
that have not served the interests of justice since they were enacted 28 
years ago.
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