PATAKI PROPOSES DRUG LAW OVERHAUL

Reforming Rockefeller-Era Rules Could Ease Prison Crunch

ALBANY, N.Y. (January 18, 2001) -- The minimum prison sentence for
some drug offenders would be cut nearly in half and judges would
receive more discretion in sentencing, under a plan unveiled on
Wednesday by Gov. George Pataki to overhaul the state's strict
Rockefeller-era drug laws.

Pataki's plan would lower the minimum term for possession of 4 ounces
or more of narcotics from 15 years to 8 1/3 years. It would also
allow those already serving time for those offenses to try to get
their sentences cut.

The proposal would give judges the discretion to reduce prison terms
for repeat offenders with no history of violent felonies and send
others to drug-treatment programs instead of prison.

If convicts wash out of residential treatment programs, they would go
to state prison and not get credit against their sentence for the
time they were in treatment, according to state Criminal Justice
Coordinator Katherine Lapp.

"This comprehensive, balanced proposal addresses the overly severe
sentences of the Rockefeller drug laws, while recognizing that
effective treatment for nonviolent offenders can work," Pataki said.

Pataki has proposed similar measures before that have been rejected
by the Legislature. But supporters said this plan has a better chance
because he is not tying it to anything unacceptable to lawmakers. In
addition, pressure has been mounting to change the statutes.

"I believe the Legislature will probably act favorably," said
Assemblyman David Gantt, D-Rochester. "We can't build our way out of
this problem. We just keep overcrowding the jails."

The proposal is an "important first step," said John Dunne, a former
assistant U.S. attorney general and director of the Campaign for
Effective Criminal Justice, a group urging reform. Dunne helped write
the Rockefeller laws when he was a state senator from Nassau County.

"(Pataki) stood up there today and said . . . 'We're not going to be
soft on crime -- we're going to be smart on crime,' " said Dunne.

The laws enacted in 1973 under Gov. Nelson Rockefeller sought to make
the penalties so tough that people would be scared away from using
drugs.

The state had only 13,437 prison inmates then, compared with more
than 70,000 now, almost 22,000 of whom are serving time for drug
offenses. A total of 618 of those are serving 15-years-to-life
sentences for possessing as little as 4 ounces of a narcotic or
selling 2 ounces.

Corning resident Robert Bavisotto was one of those convicts. He
admits he made a mistake when, in a financial bind, he began selling
drugs two decades ago. But Bavisotto, who had no previous criminal
record, does not think he deserved a minimum 20-year sentence for
selling 3 ounces of cocaine.

Once in prison, Bavisotto encountered dozens of other inmates in
similar situations.

"You realize you're stuck. No matter what you do, there is no way
out. It takes away hope," said Bavisotto, 52, who was released from
prison a year ago -- after serving 17 years -- because Pataki granted
him clemency.

Bavisotto has since put his life together. He works full time at
Corning Inc. He believes others serving long sentences under the
Rockefeller laws also could could turn their lives around and save
taxpayers money.

However, Walter J. Stauffer, a retired police officer from Sodus
Point, Wayne County, opposes any reduction in sentencing for drug
dealers or drug offenders who have committed other crimes to support
their habit. And he is skeptical of the success of requiring someone
to go into drug treatment. "They won't be cured of drug addiction
until they want to be cured."

Monroe County District Attorney Howard Relin said the drug laws
should be reconsidered -- with the maximum penalties given to sellers
and distributors as opposed to addicts who sell to support their
habit. He cited the success of Rochester's Drug Treatment Court as
evidence that alternatives to incarceration work for low-level,
nonviolent offenders.

But Relin opposes reviewing the cases of more than 500 nonviolent
drug offenders who now could have their sentences reduced. "It
doesn't make sense to have them re-appeal to get them out of prison,"
Relin said.

Clare Regan, who edits the newsletter of the local reform group
Judicial Process Commission, said that judges need more discretion
than provided for in Pataki's proposal.

And she noted that among the offenders serving 15 years to life are
women who were either forced to carry drugs or unknowingly used as
carriers. "It would make much more sense if they were given drug
treatment and job training," she said.

Lapp said the legislation would divert nearly 6,000 inmates from
prison when fully phased in by the fourth year. It costs about
$30,000 a year to incarcerate an inmate in New York.

Pataki's Proposed Drug Law Reforms

Reduce current maximum sentence for first-time Class 1-A drug
offenders without violent records from 15 years to life to 8 1/3
years to life. For repeat offenders without violent records, the
maximum sentence would be reduced to 10 years to life. The reforms
would allow inmates already serving time under this harshest category
of the drug laws to appeal and receive reduced sentences.

Reduce current maximum sentence for repeat Class B drug offenders
without violent records from 4 1/2 to 9 years to a determinate
sentence of 4 years. Offenders who serve six-sevenths of their term
would be released after 3 years, 5 months.

Class C, D and E drug offenders without violent records, currently
subject to mandatory sentences of at least 1 to 3 years, could be
sentenced to complete six months in a residential drug-treatment
center and avoid prison.

Repeat nonviolent drug offenders could be sentenced to 18 months in a
residential drug-treatment center and avoid prison at the discretion
of judges and with the consent of prosecutors.

Close what the governor called a loophole in state law that allows
some kingpin drug traffickers to receive as little as 1 to 3 years in
state prison. Instead imposes 15-years-to-life maximum sentences for
those who "exercise leadership positions in drug rings, managing,
controlling and overseeing drug organizations."

Create a new offense of a drug offender possessing a firearm and
makes it a Class B felony, subjecting violators to between 6 and 25
years in prison.

Heighten penalties for convictions of selling illegal substances over
the Internet. Offenders found guilty of a Class C felony for drug
sales (up to 15 years in prison) would face a Class B felony (up to
25 years) if the sales were over the Internet.

Advance the penalties by one class in felony for people found guilty
of using youths under age 18 in drug transactions.