DRUG LAWS THAT DON'T WORK

New York state's chief judge adds her voice to a growing chorus seeking
reform of Rockefeller statutes

By adding her prestige and wisdom to the drug law debate, Chief Judge
Judith Kaye has given state legislators added reason to make reform a top
priority this session. She deserves praise not only for that contribution
to drug law sanity, but also for her leadership in urging that
rehabilitation be as much a part of the war on drugs as incarceration.

Judge Kaye isn't the first member of the state Court of Appeals to fault
the draconian laws enacted during the Rockefeller era, when harsh
punishment was seen as the only effective antidote to drug dealing and
substance abuse. Readers of this page will recall that Judge Kaye's
colleague, Judge Joseph W. Bellacosa, also has expressed serious
reservations about the effectiveness of these statutes. But she is clearly
in a position to make up minds on the matter. If the state's chief judge
has little confidence in the rallying cry of being "tough on crime,'' and
urges instead that New York be "very smart on crime,'' then politicians are
bound to take notice.

The Rockefeller drug laws were supposed to take big-time drug dealers off
the streets for many years. But that isn't what has happened over the
years. More often than not, it's the low-level users who winds up doing the
most time behind bars. They don't have the funds to hire the best defense
attorneys available, as drug pushers do. And even judges who are
sympathetic to their plight have little leeway under the law to grant
leniency.

Ironically, no one knows this better than Governor Pataki. Not only did he
suggest the need for reform in the past, but he also has granted clemency
to drug offenders sentenced under the Rockefeller laws. Ironically, Mr.
Pataki has come under fire recently over parole policy that allowed foreign
drug king-pins to escape long years of hard time in U.S. prisons by being
deported to their homelands. The outcry has caused the governor to review
the program, but not before critics pointed out, correctly, that it is just
one more example of a crazy patchwork of drug justice that desperately
needs reform.

Judge Kaye sensibly suggests rehabilitation as one of those reforms, based
on the success of eight drug courts already established in the state. These
courts steer nonviolent addicts toward court-monitored treatment, and have
amassed an impressive record of success. For example, the Rochester drug
court, which is the oldest in the state at three years, has handled 200
cases, with only 10 percent recidivism. That compares with the statewide
rate of 70 percent.

Then there's the escalating cost of the Rockefeller drug laws, in the form
of more and more prison cells that have cost taxpayers $4 billion over the
last 25 years. One group, the Correctional Association of New York,
estimates that more than 20 percent of New York's prison population of
70,000 have been sentenced under the Rockefeller drug laws. But why spend
so much for a 70 percent recidivism rate when rehabilitation can yield far
better results for far less?