N.Y. DRUG LAWS NEED OVERHAUL

When New York State enacted the Rockefeller Drug Laws in 1973, it was hoped
that a tough, no-nonsense approach would stem the spiraling rate of illegal
drug use and drive drug dealers from the streets.

I should know -- As a Republican state senator, I was a sponsor of the
legislation. I believed these laws would protect the public.

Instead, they've handcuffed our judges, contributed to filling our prisons
to dangerously crowded levels and denied sufficient drug treatment to
nonviolent addicted offenders.

The laws shifted sentencing power from judges to prosecutors, who then
could plea-bargain with defendants to obtain information on higher-level
dealers.

The laws also have forced judges to impose stiff prison sentences even on
low-level, nonviolent offenders. For example, judges are required to impose
a term of at least 15 years to life for anyone convicted of selling as
little as 2 ounces of narcotics, or possessing only 4 ounces.

Whether a person is a first-time or repeat offender is irrelevant. That
offender faces the same penalties as a murderer, arsonist or kidnapper. The
crimes of rape, sexual abuse of a child and armed robbery carry even lesser
sanctions.

The laws have been slightly modified over the years. But our prisons will
continue to be overcrowded until judges have their sentencing powers
restored and can divert nonviolent offenders who have drug problems to
mandatory treatment, where they would be better off.

There are now more than 22,300 state inmates incarcerated for drug
offenses. Unfortunately, recent proposals by Gov. Pataki and Chief Judge
Judith Kaye only half-heartedly support diverting drug offenders away from
prison by giving the district attorney veto power over who merits temporary
diversion.

As the principal protector of public's safety, the district attorney has a
legitimate stake in how criminal charges should be handled. But it's the
courts that have the ultimate responsibility to weigh all the circumstances
surrounding the crime and the criminal to achieve effective justice for the
entire community.

Too often, our drug laws result in the long-term imprisonment of minor
dealers or marginal players in the drug trade. And, generally, the laws
don't deter addicts, as drugs are an integral part of their lives and the
threat of imprisonment is irrelevant to them.

Nor do our drug laws have any significant effect on the profiteers, because
the profits are great and the risk of apprehension slight. Drug kingpins
are rarely foolish or reckless enough to be caught carrying narcotics, and,
if they are caught, they have more information to trade and can thereby cut
better deals with prosecutors.

Compounding the failure of the drug laws is their uneven enforcement: 94%
of those in prison for drug offenses are African-American or Latino. Yet
studies show that whites make up the vast majority of those who use drugs,
and evidence suggests that a majority of drug dealers are white.

Further, while about 70% of women now being sent to prison are committed
for drug crimes, a large percentage, including some 95% of those charged as
drug couriers, have no history of criminal involvement.

New York can no longer afford to build prisons for thousands of people for
whom imprisonment is unnecessary.

And social justice demands sentencing laws that not only protect the
public's safety, but are fair to drug offenders and their families whose
lives can be saved.