A GOLDEN MOMENT FOR DRUG LAW REFORM

Recently state lawmakers announced plans to form a conference
committee to negotiate the reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. This
should be welcome news to all, and is long overdue.

Until now, we spent the legislative session baffled that in the
current fiscal crisis, a reform that can both improve justice while
saving state money was getting nowhere in Albany. The Rockefeller Drug
Laws often send low-level nonviolent drug offenders to prison for long
periods, thereby depriving them of opportunities for rehabilitation.
While the number of offenders serving time for the state's most
serious drug offenses is falling, there are still thousands of New
Yorkers convicted of lower-level offenses languishing in jail for far
too long.

Recently, lawmakers from Texas visited New York to explain how their
drug law reform was effective at both saving costs and reducing crime.
When New Yorkers need to learn a lesson on rehabilitation and
compassion from Texans, we are left to wonder how we got so far behind.

Perhaps it is because New York's drug laws are among the harshest in
the nation that we can find rare consensus among Manhattan District
Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, defense attorneys, Gov. George Pataki,
Democrat leaders, celebrities, community advocates and, most recently,
Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, on the need for reform.

The most compelling arguments against these laws are the human toll
taken on families split apart by prison cells and the opportunities
lost when prison takes priority over rehabilitation. But the monetary
arguments cannot be understated. It costs $32,000 a year to imprison
each offender, but it costs far less over a shorter period of time to
rehabilitate. New York spends more than $590 million a year to
imprison these offenders. Several other states have learned this
fiscal lesson and already have reformed their drug laws to reduce
budget deficits.

The savings being discussed don't include the dollars to be gained
when drug offenders are rehabilitated into productive tax-paying
citizens. While that number might be hard to quantify, turning inmates
who are housed and fed by the state into tax-paying citizens is bound
to lead to substantial savings. This is particularly true when
combined with the decrease in foster care and welfare payments to the
families now left behind.

Recognizing the major cost savings and the consensus on the need for
change, the passage of reform legislation should be a no-brainer. The
announcement of a conference committee was certainly encouraging. But
those of us who follow Albany closely know that it's too early to get
our hopes up, as partisan politics can derail the best of intentions.
But perhaps this year, the weak fiscal climate combined with the
Republican National Convention focusing the eyes of the nation on New
York (a star-studded drug law reform rally is planned for the start of
the convention if reform isn't achieved) will lead the politicians to
care enough to bridge the last gaps that separate the various proposals.

It is true that there are some substantial differences between the
pending bills. Questions relating to the degree of judicial discretion
and eligibility criteria for defendants seeking to be diverted to
treatment must be hammered out.

The Assembly needs to compromise and settle for far less than total
repeal, while the Senate must give more in the way of judicial
discretion. A conference committee is by far a much better sign than
the usual political tactic of parties issuing one-house bills, then
offering knee-jerk criticism of everything that is wrong with the
alternative proposals.

Instead, our legislative leaders must use this opportunity to sit
down, reconcile their conflicting ideologies and find common ground.
The rewards will be well worth it if they can deliver both justice and
cost savings all on one plate.