VOTE ON DRUG LAW LEADS TO CRITICISM

Albany-- Bill passed by Senate scales back mandatory sentences only
slightly, and some say it falls short of true reform

Jump-starting stalled reforms on the Rockefeller Drug Laws, the Senate
passed a bill Wednesday to scale back the harsh sentencing mandates only
slightly while eliminating parole for all felons.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, later echoed by a chorus of advocates,
charged that the changes -- first proposed by GOP Gov. George Pataki in
April -- fell short of real reform to the 26-year-old laws.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, called the bill a "first
step'' toward further changes. Silver has so far refused to allow a vote on
Rockefeller reforms in the Assembly this session, resurrecting memories of
the fight over passage of Jenna's Law in 1998.

"We're going to do that bill because we believe it's a start in the right
direction, and we think it's better to start than to not do anything at
all,'' Bruno said. "And I'm still disappointed that the Assembly is refusing
to get engaged in doing anything about reforming the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
So we think this is the right message that we pass this bill.''

The measure would allow a midlevel appeals court to review and reduce
mandatory sentences by one-third for first-time offenders who are caught
possessing or transporting drugs. It is part of a massive bill that would
require all felony offenders to serve at least six-sevenths of their prison
terms, effectively eliminating early release by the Parole Board.

Bruno later said that he is open to linking the drug law reforms to another
criminal justice issue, such as passage of the DNA database, in order to
separate it from the so-called "truth in sentencing'' measure -- the
legislative roadblock preventing Assembly action.

The Rockefeller reforms and determinate sentencing mandates passed the
GOP-controlled Senate after a lengthy debate by a vote of 52-4 Wednesday
evening.

The Rockefeller Drug Laws mandate minimum prison terms of 15 years to life
for relatively small amounts of narcotics possessed and sold. They were
enacted in 1973 by then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller in, by many accounts, an
unsuccessful attempt to curb the drug trade in New York. No other state in
the nation has such harsh drug laws, nor does the federal government.

The Democratic-led Assembly for years has pushed for changes to the
Rockefeller laws. This year, however, Silver has pulled back from endorsing
any reforms because of what his spokeswoman said was a concern that his
membership would appear soft on crime in the November 2000 election.

With its mandatory link to the determinate sentencing clause, Silver
maintained Wednesday that the Senate bill offered no true reforms.

"I would suggest to you that when the governor puts real reform out, that
has no poison pill, no strings attached, this house will be very receptive
to that kind of legislation,'' Silver said. "We are in the last day of a
very lengthy session, and a one-house (bill) exercise is totally irrelevant
at this time.''

Silver's refusal to address Rockefeller reforms throughout the 1999 session
has conjured comparisons of his stonewalling Jenna's Law last summer. That
bill, which limits parole for violent felons and was named after a murdered
Albany nursing student, was blocked by Silver until late summer, when his
membership demanded its passage during a special session.

Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, who chairs the chamber's corrections
committee, said Silver could at least attempt to compromise with the
governor's plan. Aubry is sponsor of a bill that would repeal the prison
terms set under the Rockefeller laws and give trial judges more discretion.

"It's my hope -- and we've communicated that to the speaker -- that there
would be a process established that would at least see if we could come to
some agreement,'' Aubry said Wednesday. "I don't guarantee that an agreement
is possible; it's just a sign that you want an agreement. We're still
looking for that sign.''

Still, many lawmakers and most reform advocates were less than pleased with
the Senate bill, charging it does not go far enough to scale back the laws
that often are described as "draconian.'' The bill passed Wednesday, if
enacted, would only affect about 300 inmates of the more than 9,200
incarcerated on Rockefeller drug charges.

"Clearly, this bill does nothing,'' said David Mickenberg, spokesman for the
Lindesmith Center, a leading advocate for Rockefeller reforms. "If this is a
first salvo in a series of negotiations, then that's a good thing. But of
this is where it ends, then we're not satisfied.''