Source: Times Union (NY)
Copyright: 1999, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation
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Author: James M. Odato, Capitol Bureau

BRUNO SEEKING PARDONS FOR 4 WOMEN

Albany -- Move to release four convicted on minor drug counts comes at
the request of talk show host

The leader of New York's Republican-dominated Senate, a body
cultivating a reputation for being tough on crime, is seeking pardons
for as many as four women doing time in prison for minor drug violations.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said Wednesday that he intends to
write a letter to Gov. George Pataki on behalf of the drug law violators.

The action comes at the request of Charles Grodin, the cable
television talk show host and actor. Grodin, who has urged scaling
back the nation's toughest drug laws, met privately with Bruno and
convinced him to do something for the women.

Bruno said he doesn't expect reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws this
year, partly because of the reluctance of the Assembly Democrats, whom
he described as "soft on crime.''

Grodin said he met with about 10 senators at the Fort Orange Club
about six weeks ago to call for help in releasing four women at
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.

The women he is campaigning for -- Leah Bundy, Elaine Bartlett, Jan
Warren and Arlene Oberg -- are being held under the state's
26-year-old drug sentencing measure, which requires lengthy prison
terms for even minor drug violators.

Grodin said he has met the women, and they shouldn't be behind bars
any longer.

"It's an American tragedy,'' he said, referring to the prisoners, all
of whom had no prior convictions and were mothers of young children
when they entered prison. "None of the women are disputing that they
have to pay a penalty ... but many have been sitting there for years.
... All the times I've been on television I've never seen anything so
blatant. ... As the Senate Republican leader said: 'Enough is enough.'
''

At the heart of the dispute is whether New York's 26-year-old
sentencing mandates, created under Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, are
sending nonviolent offenders to prison for disproportionately long
terms. Under the drug laws, a person with no prior record and no
history of violence who is convicted of possessing 4 ounces or selling
2 ounces of an illegal narcotic faces a mandatory minimum sentence of
15 years to life.

No other state has such a tough law, nor does the federal
government.

Bruno said the term requirements are responsible for "four people in
prison unjustly.'' While the Legislature and Pataki study reforming
the Rockefeller laws, Bruno said, clemency for the women is prudent.
He said he intends to write to Pataki about letting the individuals
out of prison.

Although he didn't name the prisoners, Bruno's staff said Grodin
brought the names up at a private meeting. Bruno's staff has checked
the backgrounds of the four, and three of the prisoners clearly had no
prior records and should be considered for clemency. One, Bruno said,
is a model prisoner who has served 15 years of a 25-year sentence.

Bruno spokesman John McArdle said the four persons named by Grodin
appear to have been "mules,'' couriers of drugs, as opposed to pushers.

"This is really a Band-Aid approach to a very serious problem,'' said
Barbara Bartoletti, legislative director for the League of Women
Voters. The group is part of a coalition seeking reforms of drug
sentencing laws.

"Not that we don't doubt his sincerity and -- for those four people
that would be wonderful -- but this is a long-term problem that needs
to be addressed by some comprehensive legislation,'' she said.