Pubdate: Wed, 05 May 1999 Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (NY) Contact: 1999 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle Website: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/ INDEPENDENT STUDY IS CRUCIAL An independent investigation of New York state's drug sentencing laws is needed. Gov. George Pataki is moving in the right direction on New York's 26-year-old Rockefeller drug laws. But his support for easing the strict sentencing statutes is far from the needed scuttling of the laws. Pataki, who supported getting rid of the drug laws early in his first term, is now unpersuaded that they are as draconian as opponents contend. In fact, he recently released a report that challenges long-standing complaints that the drug laws are responsible for clogging the prison system with nonviolent drug offenders who'd be better served by rehabilitation than prison. Moreover, opponents of the drug laws have argued convincingly that the existing drug laws are simply unfair. That certainly seems so when you consider that a person convicted of selling 2 ounces or possessing 4 ounces of a narcotic substance must serve a prison sentence of no less than 15 years to life. People convicted of murder and rape in this state don't serve prison terms that severe. Pataki's new report insists it's actually rare that such a sentence is imposed. The study, conducted by the State Division of Criminal Justice Services, found that few people are sent to state prison upon their first felony drug conviction and that inmates imprisoned only for drug offenses usually have extensive arrest records. So who's right? New Yorkers need to know. Now more than ever an independent study of the situation is imperative. The governor's report, after all, was compiled by a state agency. And previous reports done by opponents of the drug laws are equally suspect. With support for revamping the drug laws now at an all-time high, easing them as Pataki is proposing is insufficient. An independent assessment of the situation and fact-gathering can go far to put the state's sentencing laws on the right course. Pataki, along with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, should order the independent study without further delay. Let's get the inarguable facts now. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck