TOP NEW YORK JUDGE CALLS FOR EASING SOME DRUG LAWS

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York state's chief judge, Judith Kaye, proposed
several changes to the state's drug laws Monday that would reduce
sentences for some defendants found guilty of selling or possessing
narcotics.

New York's drug laws, commonly called the Rockefeller drug laws and
enacted in 1973 under Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, carry some of the
stiffest sentences in the country. For years, critics have contended
that the laws were too harsh, but the Republican-controlled state
Senate has resisted change. Someone convicted of selling more than two
ounces of cocaine, heroin or other controlled substances -- or
possessing more than four ounces -- must be sentenced to a minimum of
15 years in prison.

Judge Kaye proposed legislation that would permit state appellate
judges to reduce the 15-year sentence, on a case-by-case basis, when
the judges believed that such a long minimum sentence would represent
a "miscarriage of justice."

"The proposed statute would require the Appellate Division to consider
the nature and circumstances of the offense, the history and character
of the defendant and public safety concerns in determining whether an
injustice has occurred," Judge Kaye said in an annual speech on the
state's judicial system delivered in the ornate courtroom of New
York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, in Albany.

Under the proposal, the appellate courts could reduce the minimum
sentence to no less than five years in prison. Judge Kaye said only a
limited number of defendants would have their sentences adjusted. She
noted that in wading into a highly disputed area of the criminal law,
she was not asking the state Legislature for broad revisions in the
drug laws.

"We do not presume to take on the larger policy issues," Judge Kaye
said. "But we do seek to address aspects of the law that can work
unjustly, and to supplement the law with some of the lessons we in the
courts have learned over the past decade on effective responses to
drug-based crime."

The chief judge also proposed expanding experimental court programs
that allow nonviolent, drug-addicted defendants accused of low-level
drug violations to defer prosecution or to defer serving a prison
sentence by entering and completing drug-treatment programs.

Under her plan, people accused of possessing or selling very small
amounts of narcotics would be eligible for drug treatment instead of
prison terms, provided that both the trial judge and the prosecutor
agreed. As many as 10,000 low-level drug defendants a year could be
permitted to defer prosecution or jail time if the proposal became
law, court officials said.

Gov. George Pataki called the proposal thoughtful and intelligent.
"I'm not at this point prepared to endorse it, but it's certainly one
that warrants further review," the governor said.

John McArdle, a spokesman for the Senate majority leader, Joseph
Bruno, said Bruno was open to discussing the chief judge's ideas but
in the context of other proposed changes to the justice system,
including expansion of state prisons.

Patricia Lynch, a spokesman for the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver,
declined to comment. The Assembly, controlled by the Democrats,
traditionally has been the branch of the Legislature most critical of
the Rockefeller drug laws.