DRUG LAWS PROTESTED

60 Appeal To DA For Relatives

Henry Clemente stood in a biting wind for two hours yesterday to
protest the Rockefeller drug laws that put his son behind bars.

For Clemente, 49, and many of the 60 other protesters standing in
front of the Queens Supreme Court building, it was an act of love.

"My son was so young," Clemente said of Christopher Clemente, who was
20 when he was arrested in a Manhattan apartment in 1990.

"It was his first offense, a nonviolent offense. There are murderers
who have served shorter sentences."

Christopher Clemente, then a student at the University of
Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. Police
seized a gun and more than 2,000 vials of crack cocaine in the raid.

Holding posters of family members serving long sentences for what many
consider minor drug offenses, the protesters told their stories to
cops, attorneys and anyone on Queens Blvd. who would listen.

Their focus was Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, one of the few
public officials defending the harsh drug laws.

While Gov. Pataki and leaders in the state Legislature and courts have
called for an overhaul of the laws, the state's district attorneys
association has warned that any change could bring on a new drug epidemic.

Brown, who is leading the defense for the district attorneys, says the
laws can be adjusted but should not be scrapped.

"I'm not unmindful of the sadness felt by those who have family
members go to jail," he said from his third-floor office. "But the
people going to jail are the people who are doing the deeds."

Brown, who did not come out to meet with the protesters, credited the
laws with cutting crime in New York City.

That's simply not true, said Randy Credico, who heads the William
Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice. The group organized the
protest, which included an appearance by Al Lewis, former mayoral
candidate and actor who played Grandpa on the 1960s TV show "The Munsters."

Credico said there is more cocaine at lower prices than ever in
Queens, and he joined speaker after speaker in protesting the
Rockefeller laws.

"We're here to counter what Brown's saying," Credico said. "And we'll
keep coming back until the laws are changed."