News (Media Awareness Project) - US NY: PUB LTE: Women and Drug Laws |
Title: | US NY: PUB LTE: Women and Drug Laws |
Published On: | 2001-01-27 |
Source: | New York Times (NY) |
Fetched On: | 2008-01-28 16:03:33 |
WOMEN AND DRUG LAWS
To the Editor:
Re "Signs of a Thaw in the War on Drugs" (news article, Jan. 21) and
"Overhauling New York's Drug Laws" (editorial, Jan. 21):
Incarcerated women in New York are far more likely than their male
counterparts to be drug offenders. Approximately two-thirds of all women in
the state's penal institutions were committed for a drug offense. Women in
prison are often first-time offenders, but under the Rockefeller drug laws
they are separated from their families and given 15 years to life based
solely on the actual weight of illegal substances. Judges are denied
discretion to consider a defendant's background, lack of criminal record or
actual role in drug transactions.
We endorse the plan of Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye and Deputy Chief
Administrative Judge Joseph J. Traficanti Jr. to institute the nation's
first statewide initiative offering court-supervised drug treatment to all
nonviolent offenders, respondents in our family courts and juveniles.
DEBORAH KAPLAN
President, Women's Bar Association
of the State of New York
New York, Jan. 22, 2001
To the Editor:
Re "Signs of a Thaw in the War on Drugs" (news article, Jan. 21) and
"Overhauling New York's Drug Laws" (editorial, Jan. 21):
Incarcerated women in New York are far more likely than their male
counterparts to be drug offenders. Approximately two-thirds of all women in
the state's penal institutions were committed for a drug offense. Women in
prison are often first-time offenders, but under the Rockefeller drug laws
they are separated from their families and given 15 years to life based
solely on the actual weight of illegal substances. Judges are denied
discretion to consider a defendant's background, lack of criminal record or
actual role in drug transactions.
We endorse the plan of Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye and Deputy Chief
Administrative Judge Joseph J. Traficanti Jr. to institute the nation's
first statewide initiative offering court-supervised drug treatment to all
nonviolent offenders, respondents in our family courts and juveniles.
DEBORAH KAPLAN
President, Women's Bar Association
of the State of New York
New York, Jan. 22, 2001
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