Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jul 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Authors: Hiram Monserrate and Roger L. Green
Note: The writers are members of, respectively, the City Council and the 
Assembly.
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1370/a02.html,
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1346/a06.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?140 (Rockefeller Drug Laws)

CRUEL ROCKEFELLER LAWS

To the Editor:

We thank Bob Herbert for pointing out the cruelty of the Rockefeller drug 
laws (columns, July 18 and 22).

As the representatives of communities of color for the city and state of 
New York, we will no longer sit idly by while the minorities and the poor 
disproportionately suffer from these ineffective drug laws. Instead of a 
do-nothing public relations campaign, we need a special session of the 
Senate and the Assembly to pass fair and effective reform.

Gov. George E. Pataki is strongly courting the Latino vote in his 
re-election campaign. Yet he has a longstanding tradition of blocking 
meaningful reform of the Rockefeller drug laws. When so many Latino 
families have an incarcerated relative on a drug arrest, it's lucky for the 
governor that inmates aren't allowed to vote.

Hiram Monserrate, Roger L. Green, New York, July 22, 2002

The writers are members of, respectively, the City Council and the Assembly.
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