WELCOME DISSENT

A Democratic primary in Albany County puts more focus on Rockefeller
Drug Laws reform

When state legislators appeared last week to be perhaps closer than
they've ever been to reducing the harshest prison sentences of all
mandated by the brutal failure known as the Rockefeller era drug laws,
it came with the usual caveat. The state's district attorneys are, of
course, adamantly opposed to such long overdue reform. And in their
alliance with police chiefs, police unions and others in law
enforcement, New York's prosecutors wield enormous clout. Their
ability to stop even modest changes in the drug laws makes them as
powerful as any special-interest group in Albany.

But what if the district attorneys stopped opposing such reform? What
if there were DAs who wanted the drug laws rewritten? Blocking such
efforts to fix the drug laws, as happened in the Legislature again on
Monday, wouldn't be remotely as easy.

As it happens, an assistant prosecutor named David Soares is running
against Albany County District Attorney Paul Clyne, one of the most
vociferous and inflexible defenders of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The
September Democratic primary has the potential to be a referendum on
more than three decades of draconian injustice, with Mr. Soares
pressing the case for drug laws that are both humane and effective.

That won't be the only issue in that race, of course. It might not
even be the deciding one. But neither can an election for district
attorney be waged this year in Albany County without debating the
wisdom and effectiveness of the Rockefeller era drug laws.

Mr. Soares makes the point that there has to be a better way to fight
crime than incarceration at all costs. Drug crime, for instance, could
be more effectively addressed by confronting demand, rather than
supply. Treatment of drug users needs to be more of a priority than
locking up suppliers, who themselves are often addicts.

Mr. Soares has developed these views in his tenure as a so-called
community prosecutor in the district attorney's office. He held that
job until last Thursday, the day he informed Mr. Clyne that he would
be running against him.

For that, Mr. Soares immediately found himself with a new title and
job description -- former assistant district attorney. In Mr. Clyne's
office, the draconian approach isn't restricted to drug offenders. Mr.
Soares' firing might well become a legal battle of its own.

His is a most unwelcome candidacy in some quarters. Mr. Soares has
been denounced already by county Democratic leader Betty Barnette, on
the grounds that he didn't get into the race soon enough. His failure
to follow the timetable set by the party leaders, she says, is a
reflection of his lack of qualifications to be DA.

The race is on now, though. Let's hope it's won on more substantive
matters than that.