ASSEMBLY ACTS ON DRUG LAWS

Albany-- Compromise Bill Yields To Gov. Pataki On Some Key Aspects Of
Reforming Statutes

In a possible breakthrough after years of efforts to modify the
strict Rockefeller Drug Laws, the Democrat-controlled Assembly issued
a compromise reform bill on Wednesday that offers significant
concessions to Republican Gov. George Pataki.

The plan adopts several key aspects of a reform framework Pataki
proposed in early May. It allows district attorneys to choose which
nonviolent drug offenders are eligible for treatment rather than
prison, but gives judges the power to overrule. The Assembly
originally wanted full sentencing discretion for judges.

The Assembly would also eliminate parole for high-level drug
offenders convicted of class A1 and A2 felonies, as Pataki has
sought. Parole would remain an option under the Assembly plan for
almost all lower-level drug offenders -- including those convicted of
most B-class felonies and all C, D and E felonies.

Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, called the measure "our last,
best hope to getting the governor to the negotiating table'' on the
1973 laws, which mandate long sentences, up to life, for selling or
possessing relatively small amounts of narcotics.

Pataki spokeswoman Caroline Quartararo called the Assembly's bill "a
good step.''

Sources close to the negotiations said Silver's refusal to end parole
for all drug felons could be a sticking point. Reform failed in 1999
amid Pataki's insistence that it be tied to abolishing parole.

Both the Assembly and Pataki would end life sentences for A1 and A2
drug offenders and increase funding for treatment to accommodate an
increase in patients. More offenders now incarcerated under the drug
laws could appeal their sentences under the Assembly's plan, but the
number is fewer than in an earlier proposal.

Robert Gangi, director of the Correctional Association of New York, a
prison watchdog group, said the Assembly bill is "a potential step
forward.'' But he questioned the virtue of limiting the number of
offenders eligible for treatment or retroactive appeals.

"These exclusions are not made based on substantive rationales, but
on political considerations,'' said Gangi, whose organization favors
full repeal of the drug laws.

John Tunney, president of the New York State District Attorneys
Association, said reform is unnecessary because many people already
get addiction treatment.

Meanwhile, some questioned why Silver was willing to bend in an election year.

Reaching a deal before the end of this legislative session could help
Pataki appeal to traditionally Democratic minority voters, who
advocates say have been disproportionately affected by the drug laws.
Silver's compromise may rob the two Democratic
gu@@hyphen@@bernatorial candidates -- state Comptroller H. Carl
McCall and former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo -- of a potent
weapon against Pataki, political observers said.

But Silver insisted reform "isn't about elections.''

"We're here to do something that impacts people, people who are
suffering,'' he said. "People who, but for the availability of
treatment, are forced into a life of prison, a life of recidivism.''