TOUGH STATE DRUG LAWS ATTACKED AS INEFFECTIVE, COMPLICATING PROBLEMS

(Loudonville) - On Saturday, Sen. John R. Dunne spoke out against New
York's mandatory sentencing laws.

But 25 years ago, he was one of the very people who championed that
legislation.

"The unhappy conclusion is that this measure did not work," Dunne said
of the laws, commonly referred to as the Rockefeller laws after Gov.
Nelson Rockefeller. "These laws have handcuffed our judges and denied
treatment to our addicts," Dunne said.

He and the other speakers at the Forum on New York State Drug
Sentencing Laws at Siena College on Saturday spoke of the need to
change the laws that mandate sentences for people who possess and sell
drugs, and even more stringent sentences for those convicted of two
drug felonies in 10 years.

These laws have crowded the prisons with people who would be better
off getting treatment for drug and alcohol addictions, Dunne said. He
said mandatory sentencing has been one of the greatest contributors to
the increase in the prison population from 12,000 in 1973, when the
laws were enacted, and 72,000 currently.

The forum was sponsored by the college and the New York State Catholic
Conference, both of which support the repeal of the Rockefeller laws.

The Rev. Peter Young, who was an advisor to Rockefeller when he was in
office, also spoke out against the laws.

He said he was surprised when the governor supported the laws. "I
said, `Governor, what happened?' He said, `We tried it the soft way,'
" said Young, now 70.

When a young college student and bartender in Albany, Young realized
that he wanted to help addicts take control of their lives.

Now pastor of the Blessed Sacrament Church in Bolton Landing, Young
also directs the Altamount Program, which offers drug and alcohol
treatment services across the state.

Young also developed a drug and alcohol treatment program for inmates
while the chaplain at the Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility in
Saratoga County and developed treatment programs for other state
prisons, as well.