FOUR GET CLEMENCY FOR THE HOLIDAY

Albany -- Inmates chosen in Gov. George Pataki's yuletide decision were all
serving time under Rockefeller drug laws

Four prison inmates serving time under the state's harsh Rockefeller Drug
Laws were granted clemency Thursday in a yuletide gesture of mercy by Gov.
George Pataki.

The governor's decision to commute the prison sentences of Elaine Bartlett,
Robert Bavisotto, Jan Warren and Arlene Oberg does not mean they will be
released automatically. All four will appear early next month before the
state Parole Board.

But generally, the Parole Board gives quick releases to inmates who have
been granted gubernatorial clemency.

"We're just very happy -- it's so great that she's coming home,'' an
emotional Robert Bartlett said Thursday of his mother, Elaine, who has been
incarcerated at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility since 1984 and had
twice applied for clemency.

"We have to try to make up for the last 15 years,'' said Robert Bartlett,
who was nine when his mother went to prison. "She's missed a lot, and we've
missed a lot. It's like a brand-new start.''

Elaine Bartlett was convicted of selling four ounces of cocaine in a Latham
motel and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. Bartlett, 42, was
one of four inmates profiled by the Times Union this year in a series on
the Rockefeller Drug Laws.

Under the laws -- which set mandatory minimum sentences of 15 years to life
for possessing or selling relatively small amounts of narcotics -- drug
felons in New York are often more severely punished than defendants
convicted of violent crimes like rape and robbery.

Nearly one-third of the 71,000 people in state prisons are serving time
under the Rockefeller Drug Laws, according to data provided by the
Correctional Association of New York State. While most gubernatorial
clemencies were granted to murderers 25 years ago, nearly all in the last
two decades have gone to drug felons, state records show.

Pataki did not grant clemency to any of the inmates that applied for
release in 1998. In October, however, he gave clemency to Patricia Feerick,
a former police lieutenant in New York City who was serving a two-year jail
after being convicted of vandalizing a Harlem apartment during a drug raid.

Criminal justice experts had feared Pataki would not give clemency to the
more than 175 other inmates who applied for mercy this year as the GOP
governor seeks to be considered for national office.

Still, "While I remain firmly committed to continuing our successful
efforts to fight crime, these individuals have worked hard to earn a second
chance,'' Pataki said in a statement released Thursday.

The three women up for release also had a powerful ally in their corner:
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, who in July called on the
governor to give clemency to Bartlett, Warren and Oberg.

"When we looked at their backgrounds, we just feel that they have paid
their penalty sufficiently to society,'' Bruno said Thursday. "There just
isn't any merit to keeping them incarcerated.''

Pataki said all four inmates to win clemency Thursday excelled in
educational, vocational and volunteer programs while in prison. All four
were also first-time offenders who were given long sentences for drug sales.

Bavisotto, 50, served 18 years of his minimum 20-to-life sentence. He
tutored inmates in math and electrical work, taught himself computer
science and completed his first year of college.

Warren, 47, earned an associate degree from Mercy College and began work on
her bachelor's degree from Marymount College while at Bedford Hills. Warren
served 12 years of her 15-to-life sentence.

Oberg, 33, earned her high school equivalency degree and her associate
degree and is working toward her bachelor's degree. She gave birth to her
daughter, Lisa, while serving 11 years of her 20-to-life sentence at
Bedford Hills. Now 11, Lisa met with Bruno last year to ask for her
mother's release.

Bartlett, who served 16 years of her 20-to-life sentence, earned her
bachelor's degree and is working toward a master's. She volunteered as a
child care aide and in Bedford Hills' literacy program.

For the immediate future, "she just wants to spend a lot of time with us,''
Robert Bartlett said. "We've only been able to see her once every other
month.''