VIEWS VARY AT HEARING ON STATE DRUG LAWS

As spectators booed and cheered, defense attorneys, prosecutors,
treatment providers and reformers testified before state lawmakers
yesterday about the ongoing battle of approaches in enforcing drug
laws and rehabilitating offenders.

The daylong hearing in Manhattan marked to the day the 35th
anniversary of the enactment of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, a set of
mandatory sentencing measures that made New York one of the most
punitive states.

Speakers urged the panel to build on amendments to the laws in 2004
and 2005, with most calling for a more public-health based approach
over a criminal justice strategy. Those alterations lifted the most
draconian elements of the laws, such as lifetime incarceration for
the most severe offenses.

The hearing is part of a process to determine what else should be done.

"The city bar believes more should be done," said Robert Gottlieb, an
attorney in Commack and Manhattan, speaking for the criminal justice
council of the bar association of New York. "Allow them into drug
treatment, not prison."

Judy Whiting, of the city bar's corrections committee, said the
Rockefeller Drug Laws have wreaked "collateral consequences" on
people convicted of drug offenses and their families and communities.

"People convicted of drug-related felonies face really serious
obstacles to joining society once they are released," she said.

Lisa Schreibersdorf, president of the state Association of Criminal
Defense Attorneys, said legislators should adopt laws to "wipe away"
a first-time offender's record for minor drug offenses.

Bridget G. Brennan, special narcotics prosecutor for New York City,
said reforms to the drug laws have reduced the amount of time people
serve in prison and the number of inmates in for drug offenses
without lifting the threat of incarceration that motivated many to
kick the habit.

"The threat of incarceration is critical to the success of our
programs - and it is a critical element in the success of our efforts
to keep dealers from taking over buildings, blocks and
neighborhoods," she said.

Brennan echoed prosecutor Rhonda Ferdinand, who runs alternatives to
incarceration (ATI) programs for the city. "The plain and unvarnished
truth is that for the ATI process, the harsh sentences of the
Rockefeller Drug Laws was the backbone of our success," she said,
drawing hisses and boos in response.

"Drug cases are on the wane, so somebody's doing something right,"
said Assemb. Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn). "The answer may lie
somewhere in between" reducing penalties and giving incentives for
treatment and curbing the drug trade.