Pubdate: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 Source: Times Union (Albany, NY) Contact: Fax: 518-454-5628 Website: http://www.timesunion.com/ DRUG LAWS THAT DON'T WORK New York state's chief judge adds her voice to a growing chorus seeking reform of Rockefeller statutes By adding her prestige and wisdom to the drug law debate, Chief Judge Judith Kaye has given state legislators added reason to make reform a top priority this session. She deserves praise not only for that contribution to drug law sanity, but also for her leadership in urging that rehabilitation be as much a part of the war on drugs as incarceration. Judge Kaye isn't the first member of the state Court of Appeals to fault the draconian laws enacted during the Rockefeller era, when harsh punishment was seen as the only effective antidote to drug dealing and substance abuse. Readers of this page will recall that Judge Kaye's colleague, Judge Joseph W. Bellacosa, also has expressed serious reservations about the effectiveness of these statutes. But she is clearly in a position to make up minds on the matter. If the state's chief judge has little confidence in the rallying cry of being "tough on crime,'' and urges instead that New York be "very smart on crime,'' then politicians are bound to take notice. The Rockefeller drug laws were supposed to take big-time drug dealers off the streets for many years. But that isn't what has happened over the years. More often than not, it's the low-level users who winds up doing the most time behind bars. They don't have the funds to hire the best defense attorneys available, as drug pushers do. And even judges who are sympathetic to their plight have little leeway under the law to grant leniency. Ironically, no one knows this better than Governor Pataki. Not only did he suggest the need for reform in the past, but he also has granted clemency to drug offenders sentenced under the Rockefeller laws. Ironically, Mr. Pataki has come under fire recently over parole policy that allowed foreign drug king-pins to escape long years of hard time in U.S. prisons by being deported to their homelands. The outcry has caused the governor to review the program, but not before critics pointed out, correctly, that it is just one more example of a crazy patchwork of drug justice that desperately needs reform. Judge Kaye sensibly suggests rehabilitation as one of those reforms, based on the success of eight drug courts already established in the state. These courts steer nonviolent addicts toward court-monitored treatment, and have amassed an impressive record of success. For example, the Rochester drug court, which is the oldest in the state at three years, has handled 200 cases, with only 10 percent recidivism. That compares with the statewide rate of 70 percent. Then there's the escalating cost of the Rockefeller drug laws, in the form of more and more prison cells that have cost taxpayers $4 billion over the last 25 years. One group, the Correctional Association of New York, estimates that more than 20 percent of New York's prison population of 70,000 have been sentenced under the Rockefeller drug laws. But why spend so much for a 70 percent recidivism rate when rehabilitation can yield far better results for far less?