MIXED BAG

Prisoners' Relatives Assess Pataki's Drug Law Reform Plan

The good news rippled down the aisle of the bus as it headed along the
highway from Albany to New York City on January 3. Drug prisoners' relatives
had boarded the bus outside the state capitol, where they had spent the day
rallying against New York's strict drug laws. Now everyone was talking about
governor George Pataki's state of the state speech and his promise to reform
New York's so-called Rockefeller drug laws. The activists, it seemed, would
soon have something to celebrate.

Over the last three years, these mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and
children of drug prisoners have built a small but scrappy movement.

They have held vigils at City Hall, Rockefeller Center, and the State
Capitol. They have chanted, "Too much time for nonviolent crime!" outside
Pataki fundraisers and the Manhattan office of Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver. And along the way, they have shared their stories with every
reporter who will listen.

These prisoners' relatives have been pushing legislators to repeal the
state's drug laws and restore judicial discretion, so that judges can decide
drug offenders' punishment. New York's drug laws, signed by Governor Nelson
Rockefeller in 1973 and known as the Rockefeller drug laws, set up mandatory
prison sentences.

The top-level felony, known as a "Class A-1" drug offense, involves selling
two or more ounces or possessing four or more ounces of a narcotic like
heroin or cocaine.

Anyone convicted of an A-1 drug offense receives a mandatory prison sentence
of at least 15-years-to-life. Drug offenders convicted of carrying or
selling lesser amounts receive shorter mandatory sentences.

Almost everyone accused of an A-1 drug felony--as well as almost everyone
charged with a lower-level drug crime--tries to avoid a trial and a lengthy
mandatory prison term by pleading guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence.
While there are more than 21,000 drug prisoners in New York State, there are
only 618 Class A-1 drug offenders.

Nevertheless, Rockefeller drug law critics have sought to sway public
opinion by focusing media attention on these A-1 cases, since they are the
most sympathetic. Nearly all of the family members who regularly appear at
drug law vigils have relatives who are A-1 drug felons.

Judging from Pataki's plan to reform the Rockefeller drug laws, the governor
appears to have heard their stories.

His 10-part proposal includes shrinking the mandatory sentences for
first-time A-1 drug felons from 15-years-to-life to 10-years-to-life. He has
proposed giving judges more leeway to steer some low-level drug offenders to
treatment instead of prison. And he has included a retroactivity plan that
would permit current A-1 drug prisoners to appeal for early release.

When they heard this part of Pataki's plan, many prisoners'
relatives-turned-activists cheered.

Such a proposal, if passed by the legislature, could shave a few years off
their loved ones' prison sentences, reducing them to 10-years-to-life or
eight-and-one-third-years-to-life, depending on their prior record.
According to prison officials, 506 of the state's 618 A-1 drug offenders
would be eligible for a reduced sentence.

But not everyone is pleased.

By addressing the concerns of the Rockefeller drug prisoners with the
longest sentences, Pataki's plan would strip Rockefeller drug law critics of
their most powerful weapon: the stories of first-time offenders serving at
least 15 years in prison. "It's a terrible bill," says Randy Credico, who
organizes protests for drug prisoners' relatives as head of the William
Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice. "It is not reform.

It takes care of a few people, but 20,000 people will be left hanging.

It's not fair if you only deal with A-1 felons.

You have to deal with all the other categories."

When Mary Mortimore, a rally regular, heard the details of Pataki's proposed
reform, she too was unhappy. "It's not going to benefit my children at all,
so I'm depressed about that," says Mortimore, 54, who has two sons in prison
serving time for B-level drug felonies, which would not be covered by
Pataki's proposed retroactivity plan. One is serving an 11-to-23-year
sentence, while the other is doing 15-to-30 years. "My kids have been locked
up for 10 years," Mortimore says, "I wonder if I'm going to be alive to see
them hit the streets."

If the state legislature does pass a drug law reform bill, there is no
guarantee that it will resemble Pataki's proposal.

Nonetheless, Credico is already scrambling to ensure that his group does not
lose momentum. "I'm going to start breaking out the B felonies--people doing
eight-and-one-third to 25 years.

It's the second wave. Those families would be so angry if the A-1's got some
relief and they didn't. It would bring out fresh troops."