NEW DRUG-LAW PLAN STILL NEEDS WORK

An Improved Drug Plan In Albany (July 25, 2001)

To the Editor:

Re "An Improved Drug Plan in Albany" (editorial, July 25):

Gov. George E. Pataki's most recent proposal to revise New York's drug laws
falls short of meaningful reform for nonviolent drug offenders. Rather than
diverting offenders into community-based treatment, the proposal needlessly
requires that the offender, even to be admitted to treatment, must first
plead guilty and be conditionally sentenced to a disproportionately long 4
to 16 years in prison.

This most recent modest step by Mr. Pataki is a signal to legislative
leaders that the time is now for all parties to engage in good-faith
negotiations to resolve this long neglected issue.

JOHN R. DUNNE
Albany
July 25, 2001

To the Editor:

While Gov. George E. Pataki's new drug-laws proposal (news article, July
24) apparently offers a treatment option to several thousand drug
offenders, the treatment will take place in prison rather than in
community-based settings, where the services provided are likely to be less
expensive and more effective.

Moreover, the plan does not restore judicial authority in all drug cases.
For example, judges will have no discretion in cases involving certain
weights of narcotics, cases where the drug offender has violence in his or
her background and cases involving young people.

Since prosecutors have authority over the indictment process, these
exceptions will enable them to maintain control over the outcome of far too
many drug cases. Unless the Legislature fully repeals the Rockefeller drug
laws, district attorneys will have the ability to undermine the intent of
any reform plan.

ROBERT GANGI
Executive Director, Correctional Association of New York
New York
July 24, 2001