DEMS PUT A RAP ON GOV'S DRUG-LAW FIX

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki's reform fix for New York's ultratough drug laws
won over rap mogul Russell Simmons, but Democrat lawmakers and some
drug treatment advocates weren't too high on it. Pataki's revamped
plan to remake the so-called Rockefeller drug laws would dramatically
cut prison time for all nonviolent drug felons, making about 10,000
inmates eligible for sentence reductions.

At the same time, Pataki called for beefing up penalties for predators
who use children to sell drugs or serve as kingpins in narcotics gangs.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) signaled that the lower
house would not pass Pataki's measure, saying it didn't give judges
enough leeway in sentencing drug offenders.

"We are most disappointed by the complete lack of judicial discretion
and the absence of any drug treatment diversion provision ..." Silver
said in a joint statement with Assemblyman Jeff Aubry (D-Queens), who
chairs the Assembly Correction Committee.

Simmons, who has led a high-profile lobbying effort against the
Rockefeller drug laws, which were named for the governor in office
when they were enacted, acknowledged Pataki's proposal isn't perfect.
But he said the governor's plan is the best path for compromise.

"I know how bad the law we have now is, and this is going to help 90%
of the people in prison," Simmons said.

Silver's rejection puzzled aides to the GOP governor, who had hoped
the Democrats would have declared victory and helped end the 30-year
era in which New York has had some of the toughest drug laws in the
nation.

"We've met them at least 98% of the way," Chauncey Parker, Pataki's
criminal justice director, said in an interview last night.

But some drug treatment advocates agreed with the Democrats' position
that Pataki's plan falls short. Robert Gangi, director of the
pro-inmate Correctional Association of New York, said of Simmons'
support for the Pataki measure: "It's an example of a little knowledge
being a dangerous thing."