THE WAR ON DRUG LAWS

Protesters Angry That Queens DA Is Fighting Reform

A small but vocal group braved some chilly weather yesterday to lambaste
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown for his efforts to thwart reform of
the state's harsh drug laws.

A handful of convicted drug dealers, their family members and activists
(including the 90-year-old actor Grampa Al Lewis, of "The Munsters" TV
fame), taunted Brown outside the Queens Criminal Court building for
opposing Gov. George Pataki's proposed easing of the Rockefeller drug laws.

"Come out here and face your accusers," activist Randy Credico of the
William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice, called to Brown, whose
office is in the court building. "Drugs in Queens are more available than
ever, so you are pulling a scam on the taxpayers of this city."

Brown, who yesterday announced the bust of yet another drug ring in the
borough, is the target of activists because he has become the point man for
the state's 62 district attorneys in lobbying against reform of the tough
laws. Those statutes require a prison term of no less than 15 years to life
for anyone convicted of selling 2 ounces or possessing 4 ounces of a narcotic.

To make his point, Credico brought to the courthouse ex-cons whose
sentencing seemed excessive.

Terrence Stevens, 34, of Manhattan came in a wheelchair. A victim of
muscular dystrophy, he received clemency from Pataki on Jan. 31 after
serving 8 years of a 15-years-to-life sentence. Stevens said the sentence
was for his first conviction after being caught with a suitcase containing
5 ounces of cocaine that he said was not his.

Though Brown did not meet with the protesters, he told Newsday there are
two sides to every story. He said there was testimony at Stevens' trial
that his mother packed the drugs for him.

Of the 70,000 inmates in state prison, Brown said, 21,000 were in on drug
offenses but only 600 are now serving life sentences for what are known as
A-1 felonies.

"And those individuals-with very few exceptions-are there because they
belong there," Brown said.

"We would be willing to allow the courts to review first offenders serving
life sentences," Brown added, speaking of the proposed reforms, which have
gained support among politicians. "But to go beyond that, to dismantle our
law, would be a mistake."

In the drug bust announced yesterday, 10 people-several with prior
convictions for violent felonies-risk possible lengthy sentences after
being indicted for their alleged involvement with a cocaine ring that
operated out of stores on Mott Avenue in Far Rockaway.

Still, even locals such as City Councilman Archie Spigner (D-St.Albans)
suggest some reform is necessary. "I respect Dick Brown as the chief
prosecutor for the county," he said yesterday. "However, certain aspects of
the Rockefeller sentencing structure, in my opinion, ought to be looked at."