DRUG LAW FOES MARCH ON CAPITOL

ALBANY - Armed with banners and an unflattering sculpture of
Gov. Pataki's head, more than 1,000 foes of the Rockefeller Drug Laws
flooded the state Capitol yesterday to call for their repeal.

Pataki and the state Assembly have crafted dueling plans on softening
what critics call New York's draconian code for punishing drug offenders.

"We have never been closer," said Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry
(D-Queens), a proponent of cutting sentences and boosting drug
treatment. "Thirty years of imprisonment and pain is about to end."

The protesters argued the laws are particularly harsh on minorities
and youth and pull families apart.

"You'd rather put our kids in jail than to educate them," said Elaine
Bartlett, who spent 16 years in prison. "Now that's sad."

Meanwhile, Pataki appears to be maneuvering in a way that could
produce a compromise. With separate bills, the governor has urged
ending parole for all convicted felons and giving prosecutors the
right to appeal lenient bail decisions.

While those proposals have virtually no chance of clearing the
Democrat-led Assembly, some observers believe Pataki is advancing them
in order to neutralize his conservative base of supporters who favor
tough drug laws.

At the rally, demonstrators argued the Assembly's drug law reform
ideas are more sweeping and would make more felons eligible for treatment.

Inmate advocate Robert Gangi favored the Assembly proposal over
Pataki's, saying the former provides more money for treatment and
allows greater discretion by sentencing judges.

Pataki, who did not cross paths with the demonstrators, told reporters
that a "common ground" compromise could be achieved.

"I hope this is the year we can in fact adopt significant reform of
the Rockefeller drug laws," he said. "It's been something that has
been talked about for 20 years."

Both plans reduce the sentences for many offenses. The Assembly plan
maintains indeterminate sentencing, which gives a parole board
jurisdiction after a person has served the minimum required prison
time.

Overall, the governor's plan relies more heavily on determinate
sentencing, which means that offenders must serve out more of their
sentences.