GROUP RAPS PATAKI EFFORT ON DRUG LAWS

TV Ad Says Governor's Plan Doesn't Redirect Emphasis To Rehabilitation

(July 26, 2002) - ALBANY - Advocates for drug-law reform renewed criticism
of Gov. George Pataki's lack of progress on the issue, unveiling a TV
advertisement Thursday that calls for changes in the sentencing laws.

The ad, paid for by the group Drug Policy Alliance, says Pataki's plan for
changing New York's Rockefeller-era drug laws is too weak to be effective.
The ad features Mary Mortimore, the mother of a man serving 15 to 30 years
on a low-level drug offense, and former state Sen. John Dunne. The ad is
set to run for two weeks on New York 1, an all-news network in New York
City; Dunne said the ad also would be translated for Spanish-language networks.

Dunne, a sponsor of the 1973 package of drug laws viewed by some reformers
to be among the harshest in the nation, now calls them a "well-documented
failure" in the ad.

"The governor's reform will also fail if it does not effectively redirect
people and resources away from prison to treatment and rehabilitation,"
Dunne says in the ad. Mortimore, a Schenectady resident with a terminal
illness, makes an emotional plea for the release of the son she says she
hasn't seen in 10 years. The Pataki administration called the ad campaign
"political games."

The drug laws, passed in 1973 under Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, mandate prison
time for anyone convicted of a second felony and enforce a sentence of 15
years to life for those convicted of selling 2 ounces or possessing 4
ounces of narcotics. Pataki, a Republican, said last year that rewriting
the laws was one of his top priorities.

However, activists said Pataki hasn't pushed for true reform and has made
unrealistic promises about releasing some prisoners in a matter of weeks if
his plan is adopted.

The governor's plan would shorten the harshest sentences and put more
people into drug treatment. Critics say Pataki's plan doesn't give judges
enough sentencing discretion, leaves prosecutors with too much power over
who gets drug treatment and doesn't change the threshold weights for felonies.

A Pataki spokesman said the group was playing political games and said the
governor had a "smart, balanced plan."

The governor's plan would "give some additional discretion to judges and
realize the value of rehabilitation," said spokesman Michael McKeon. He
said Pataki's plan would recognize the role that prosecutors should play in
sentencing. Talks between the governor and the Legislature to reform the
laws broke down in June.

This isn't the first TV ad groups have produced to criticized Pataki on the
issue. In June, Spanish-language television stations in New York City
pulled an ad paid for by the Drug Policy Alliance after Pataki aides said
it was inaccurate.

The Pataki administration claimed the ad misstated the number of people in
jail serving top sentences for drug crimes. But detractors claim Pataki
aides were trying to silence criticism of the governor in the Latino
community, where Pataki has been courting Hispanic voters in his bid for
re-election.

"If he wants to do something palpable (for Latinos), he can change these
laws," said Randy Credico, a spokesman for the Mothers of the New York
Disappeared, a group of family members of jailed drug offenders.

About the new ad, Dunne said: "There's nothing in regards to factual
content that would be in any way disputable."