DRUG LAW PROGRESS

Gov. Pataki Outlines A Promising Start Toward Reforming The Rockefeller
Statutes

Gov. Pataki's proposal to reduce the harsh sentences called for under the
state's Rockefeller drug laws holds the promise that genuine reform will
become a reality this year. That promise is even brighter now that Assembly
Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has ended his opposition to any reform
out of fear that it might make Democrats appear soft on crime. With Senate
Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, R-Brunswick, also prepared to negotiate,
there is every reason to expect movement this year.

Mr. Pataki's previous reform proposal was unacceptable to many reform
proponents, including Assembly Democrats, because it was tied to the
abolition of parole for all felons. But now the governor has wisely
relented on that condition and has set forth a reform package that stands
on its own. It includes reductions in the severest penalties, more
discretion for judges at sentencing, and an emphasis on treatment rather
than incarceration.

Not surprisingly, some reform advocates, while hailing the governor's plan
as an important first step, are cautioning that is does not go far enough.
They have a point. When it comes to the harshest sentences, only about 500
inmates would be eligible to apply retroactively to have their
15-years-to-life sentences reduced, and then only to 8 1/3 to life. That
compares with the 22,000 drug offenders now in prison, out of a total
inmate population of 70,000.

Still, the governor's proposal contains other initiatives to reduce the
numbers of drug offenders in the overall prison population. There are
provisions for lowering sentences for repeat offenders, for example. Just
as important, it gives low-level, nonviolent first offenders a second
chance by stressing treatment wherever possible. Judges, too, will have
more leeway to tailor punishment to fit the crime.

At the same time, Mr. Pataki is right to seek tougher penalties for drug
crimes involving guns and to keep "kingpins'' behind bars for long
sentences. The purpose of the Rockefeller drug laws was, after all, to
target the big-time dealers. But they are rarely caught, largely because
lower-level offenders will not testify against them out of fear for their
lives. On the rare occasions when they are arrested, they have resources to
hire top legal talent to defend them.

Regrettably, Mr. Pataki's new budget does not contain funds for new drug
treatment programs that his reform plan will clearly require. The theory is
that funds will be freed up as the state prison population declines, but
that's by no means a certainty. Meanwhile, some advocates are worried that
as more and more drug offenders are sentenced to treatment, they will
compete for, and perhaps even displace, the law-abiding patients who need
help in combating drug and alcohol addiction.

If Mr. Pataki and legislative leaders are serious about reform, they will
have to address the money issue soon. For the moment, though, they deserve
praise for facing, head-on, the issue of unequal treatment under drug laws
that have not served the interests of justice since they were enacted 28
years ago.