CRITICS LAUNCH AD CAMPAIGN OPPOSING ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A bipartisan coalition opposing New York's Rockefeller
drug laws launched radio advertisements Sunday calling for an overhaul of
the rigid 25-year-old sentencing guidelines.

The 60-second radio spots tell the true stories of people unable to be with
their families over the holidays because they are serving lengthy prison
sentences for relatively low-level drug offenses under the New York laws,
which are among the harshest in the nation.

The ads will run in Buffalo, Rochester and on Long Island through the end
of the year.

"Lucy Brady wished she too could be with her family. But she can't. Not
this year. Maybe not for many years to come," one of the ads said. "Her
crime? She was just there, young, in an apartment where drugs were sold.
Her sentence? 15 years to life."

Lobbying against the Rockefeller drug laws, which mandate 15-years-to-life
for possessing 4 ounces of a drug or selling 2 ounces, is nothing new. But
the radio ad campaign turns up the pressure at a time when the Pataki
administration is said to be seriously weighing giving the laws a second look.

Patrick McCarthy, a spokesman for Gov. George Pataki, would say only that
the governor was considering a host of crime-related issues for the coming
legislative session. But some sources say high-level talks are taking place
on reforming the Rockefeller drug laws.

Many say Pataki has the tough-on-crime credentials to make changes to the
laws.

"It is widely recognized that this is the political moment to do it," said
Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association of New
York State.

He said that polls and editorial boards showed widespread support for the
changes. The fact that it is a non-election year is also helpful, he added.

"No political figure will defend them," Gangi said. "The political climate
is ready."

Indeed, among those on the coalition calling for changes to the laws are
one of its original sponsors, former state Sen. H. Douglas Barclay, of
Syracuse. Also on board is Warren Anderson, who was state Senate Majority
Leader when the laws were enacted in 1973.

Also involved in the campaign is John Dunne, a former state senator and a
former assistant U.S. attorney general, and former the Rev. Floyd Flake, a
former New York City congressman. All are on the Campaign For Effective
Criminal Justice, which comprises conservative criminal justice experts,
religious leaders, former judges as well as activists in minority and
women's issues.

The ads are also sponsored by Reconsider, a not-for-profit group concerned
with the national drug policies.

The ads come after Pataki for the first time announced that he would not be
granting any clemencies this year. Of the 13 prison sentences Pataki has
handed down since taking office in 1994, 11 have been for those convicted
under the Rockefeller drug laws.

Some, disappointed with his failure to do so again this year, were hopeful
he might instead be prepared to make changes to the law itself.

"It is my hope that something good will come of this," said Deborah Small,
of Research ad Policy Reform Inc. "It is long past time to move in a new
direction."

Checked-by: Richard Lake