Pubdate: Mon, 14 Oct 2002 Source: Times Union (Albany, NY) Copyright: 2002 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation Contact: http://www.timesunion.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/452 Author: Elizabeth Benjamin GOLISANO TO CALL FOR REFORMING STRICT DRUG LAWS Gubernatorial Candidate Will Outline Plan To Seek Treatment For Nonviolent First-Time Offenders NEW YORK -- Jumping into the battle for the support of Hispanic and black voters in the governor's race, Independence Party candidate B. Thomas Golisano will today call for repeal of the strict Rockefeller Drug Laws. Golisano's aides said he will outline his plan at a news conference in Harlem and unveil a TV commercial featuring Mothers of the New York Disappeared, whose relatives are serving long prison sentences under the 1973 laws. The group's spokesman, Randy Credico, is poised to endorse Golisano's third bid for governor, according to Golisano's political consultant, Roger Stone. He said the plan calls for addiction treatment as an alternative to prison for nonviolent drug offenders convicted of lesser offenses who have no criminal history, and stiffer penalties for traffickers. "Tom is the most conservative candidate in the race, but he has looked at this situation and determined these laws are harsh, ineffective and expensive," Stone said. The move by Golisano is aimed at getting votes downstate, where polls show his support is lowest. Golisano has concentrated his efforts and much of the $39.7 million he's spent -- upstate, focusing on fiscal restraint and job creation. A poll by Penn, Schoen & Berland found Golisano with about 20 percent of the vote and trailing Democrat H. Carl McCall by about 10 percentage points statewide. McCall trails GOP Gov. George Pataki by roughly 11 points. Upstate, where Golisano lives and founded his company, Paychex Inc., the poll found he is leading McCall. Golisano's call to repeal the drug laws also is designed to pull support from Pataki, who leads McCall among New York City's Hispanic voters, according to an August poll by the Hispanic Federation. Critics of the laws, which mandate long to life sentences for possessing or selling relatively small amounts of drugs, maintain they disproportionately affect Hispanics and African-Americans, who make up the bulk of New York's inmates serving drug sentences. McCall proposed a reform plan earlier in the campaign, but has not called for full repeal. His campaign manager, Allen Cappelli, said: "The difference between reform and repeal is largely semantics," and said he doubted that Golisano's drug law reform plan will attract Hispanics or blacks now supporting Pataki. Many Democrats are banking on the historic nature of McCall's candidacy -- he is New York's first black candidate for governor -- to energize the black vote and bring core party members home on Election Day. While the governor called for changes in the laws in his 2001 and 2002 State of the State addresses, critics contend those proposals don't go far enough in restoring judicial discretion and won't affect most drug offenders. Pataki campaign spokeswoman Mollie Fullington had no comment on Golisano's plan, but said: "No governor has worked harder to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws." Pataki tried to win the support of Mothers of the New York Disappeared in June for a bill passed by the GOP-controlled state Senate that would restructure prison sentences for only the highest level, or Class A, drug offenders. The group appeared instead at a news conference with Speaker Sheldon Silver, leader of the Democratic-controlled state Assembly, to criticize the governor's plan. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens