CAMPAIGN SEEKS REPEAL OF ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS

Josie Green, 66, showed up Saturday at a Hempstead Village forum on
reforming the state's drug laws because she is tired of the fallout
from the drug trade in her community.

"I've seen families fall apart, mothers sent away and grandmothers
left to care for kids, and young people given unjustly long
sentences," said Green, who lives in the village. "It's a bad
situation, and to this day, it isn't any better."

The forum was part of the "Drop the Rock" campaign, a statewide
effort to repeal the Rockefeller drug laws. Along with about 50
others -- community organizers, residents and pastors -- Green called
Saturday for the repeal of the drug laws, among the toughest in the country.

Named for then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, the laws date to 1973 and
impose minimum sentences of 15 years to life for possessing more than
2 ounces of heroin or cocaine.

More than 90 percent of those behind bars under the Rockefeller
statutes are members of minority groups, according to the
Correctional Association of New York, a criminal justice policy group.

Hempstead village Mayor Wayne Hall said the laws have had a "terrible
effect on the black and Latino community." He praised the Terrace
Bedell Initiative, a second-chance program by the Nassau district
attorney that offers nonviolent drug dealers a one-time pass if they
go straight.

In 2004, the State Legislature reduced the minimum sentences for the
most serious felony drug offenses and increased the weight thresholds
for the most serious possession offenses.

Yet those changes didn't go far enough, advocates say. Drop the Rock
organizers want the state to restore sentencing discretion to trial
judges on all drug cases, retroactive sentencing reform, shorter
sentence lengths for drug offenses and expanded funding for drug
treatment and job and education training.

Supporters of the laws argue that giving drug dealers long sentences
and taking them out of neighborhoods allows communities to be rebuilt.

The New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform is reviewing the
punishments for drugs and other crimes and is expected to make
recommendations to Gov. Eliot Spitzer this year.

"We have the public on our side. They want meaningful reform,"
Caitlin Dunklee, coordinator for the campaign, said at the forum.
"Under this administration, we think we can bring pressure to bear.
We are optimistic."