Pubdate: Sun, 08 Feb 2009 Source: Star-Gazette (NY) Copyright: 2009sStar-Gazette Contact: http://www.stargazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1005 Author: Cara Matthews Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) PANEL WANTS CHANGES TO DRUG PENALTIES It Says Current Sentencing, Drug Treatment Laws Are Confounding ALBANY - New York should expand access to drug treatment and alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent felony offenders, establish a system of largely fixed prison terms, and adopt a graduated system for parole violations, according to a state report released last week. The Commission on Sentencing Reform released its recommendations after about 18 months of studying sentencing laws, which have not undergone a thorough revision in more than 40 years. The state has an "incredibly complex sentencing structure capable of confounding even the most experienced practitioners," the report said. "The commission's recommendations, if followed, will bring clarity to our patchwork quilt of accumulated sentencing reforms, improve (prisoner) reentry outcomes, and support more rational uses of our prisons and our parole systems," Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said in a statement. The Drug Policy Alliance blasted the commission's report, saying it failed to propose any "substantive" changes to the Rockefeller-era drug laws. The alliance's mission is to "reduce the harms of both drug misuse and drug prohibition." Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, also criticized the report. The state should adopt a plan to provide the necessary treatment beds and community-based resources and adopt a uniform statewide drug- diversion model, the panel recommended. New York has successful programs, such as prison diversion and the drug court system, but they are not always available. Many nonviolent drug-addicted offenders, particularly persons of color, don't have access to these alternatives. About 3,000 people a year would meet the criteria for diversion, the report said. The commission didn't reach a unanimous decision on any one drug-reform proposal, but most members agreed the best option would be a judicial-diversion model. It would give judges discretion to send first- and second-time nonviolent drug-addicted felony offenders to treatment without consent from the district attorney. Eighty-nine percent of individuals serving drug sentences in New York are black and Hispanic, so people of color would benefit from giving judges discretion to send offenders to treatment, said Denise O'Donnell, chairwoman of the commission and Gov. David Paterson's deputy secretary for public safety. The commission also found that the likelihood of a prison sentence for nonviolent drug offenders varied greatly in different counties. The governor's office is working on legislation in response to the commission's recommendations, O'Donnell said. Any proposal from Paterson would have to be approved by the Legislature before taking effect. Monroe County District Attorney Michael Green, a commission member, said a prosecutor should have to give consent too in cases of judicial diversion for first- and second-time felony offenders. "I feel that those decisions are very difficult decisions, and I think they impact on public safety," he said. Commissioners acknowledged that an expanded system would be expensive at a time when the state faces an economic crisis. They did not calculate an estimate. Nearly 14,000 people are in state prison on drug offenses, about 22 percent of the total prison population, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. The group has criticized the Rockefeller-era drug laws for carrying prison terms it believes are too severe for nonviolent offenders, and it doesn't think changes to the law in 2004 and 2005 went far enough. "True overhaul of the Rockefeller Drug Laws requires the restoration of judicial discretion in all drug cases, the expansion of alternative-to-incarceration programs in the length of sentences for all drug offenses, and retroactive sentencing relief for all prisoners currently incarcerated under the Rockefeller Drug Laws," Gabriel Sayegh of the alliance said in a statement. Silver said in a letter to the commission that state drug laws "have failed to combat drug abuse or effectively impact the incidence of violent crime across New York state." Instead, he said, they have imprisoned tens of thousands of low-level nonviolent offenders, most of whom are black and Hispanic. New York should restore the discretion of judges not to mandate a prison term when they believe it would be inappropriate, Silver wrote. The state should eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for low-level nonviolent offenders, and while district attorneys should continue to play a key role in the process, they should not be able to veto a judge's discretion on offenders, he said. The 11-member commission also recommended: * Adopting a largely "determinate," or fixed, sentencing system to promote uniformity and fairness. The current system uses a hybrid of determinate and "indeterminate" sentences, which impose a minimum and maximum term and the Parole Board decides the release date. * Using a system of graduated responses, such as curfews and electronic monitoring, along with risk assessment to identify parolees who pose the greatest risk to public safety. * Expanding the effective and cost-efficient "shock incarceration" and "merit time" initiatives, which reduce recidivism and reserve prison space for the most dangerous offenders. Shock incarceration involves a rigorous regiment of physical activity, discipline and drug treatment in a military-like program. * Improving the rights of crime victims and making it easier for victims, judges and others to quickly learn the rights and benefits that may be available. Expanding victims' rights training for prosecutors and judges, and passing new laws to make it easier for victims to collect restitution. * Establishing a permanent sentencing commission. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin