REPEAL ROCKY'S DRUG LAWS

Gov. Pataki Didn't Go Far Enough In Commuting Sentences Of Three Convicts

As is the case each holiday season, New York's governor commutes the
sentences of prisoners whose conduct behind bars has proved them worthy of
early release. This year, Gov. Pataki used the occasion to grant clemency
to three prisoners who had been serving long terms under New York state's
tough Rockefeller drug laws. By so doing, Mr. Pataki followed in the
footsteps of Governors Cuomo and Carey before him.

But he should lead instead of follow. There was a time, early in his
administration, when Mr. Pataki seemed poised to do just that and push for
reform of these draconian laws laws that have, over time, added
needlessly to prison overcrowding and run up huge costs to taxpayers.
Rightly and compassionately, Mr. Pataki criticized the statutes as a relic
of another era, when hard time seemed the best way to stop a rising
incidence of drug crime.

Yet since those days, drug crime hasn't diminished. If anything, time has
proved that tough punishment isn't the beall answer it was supposed to
have been. Yet Mr. Pataki isn't even hinting at reform these days. Even as
he announced the clemencies, he was careful to avoid raising speculation
that he might appeal to the Legislature for change. "While I remain firmly
committed to continuing our successful effort to fight crime, these
individuals worked hard to earn a second chance,'' the governor said in
releasing the names of the prisoners chosen for early parole.

Those prisoners like so many others sentenced under the Rockefeller drug
law mandates were not the bigmoney pushers the statutes were supposed
to get off the streets. Instead, they were typical of the hundreds of minor
offenders who were sentenced under laws that leave judges no choice in
tailoring punishment to fit the crime.

For example, Angela Thompson, one of the three prisoners named by Gov.
Pataki, was convicted in 1989 at age 17 for selling two ounces of cocaine
at the behest of her uncle, a known drug dealer. The judge didn't want to
impose such a harsh sentence, but she had no choice. The two other
prisoners receiving clemency also were firsttime offenders. All were
serving a mandatory 15 years to life.

Time has proved the Rockefeller laws as ineffective largely because
bigtime dealers have the money and resources to escape arrest and
prosecution. If they are captured and tried, they have the cash to pay for
the best legal defense team available. It's the lowerlevel, firsttime
offenders who more often than not wind up serving the hard time.

Meanwhile, the Rockefeller drug laws have led to an explosion in the
state's prison population. According to the Correctional Association of New
York, the state's prison population has increased five times since the drug
laws were enacted a quarter century ago, forcing New Yorkers to build
nearly 40,000 new beds at a cost of $4 billion. The association also notes
that the majority of the drug inmates are nonviolent offenders a total
of 22,000 of the 70,000 prisoners now incarcerated statewide.

That's a huge expense for inmates who, in most cases, would likely benefit
more from drug treatment than extended prison time. When this issue was
raised during the 1997 legislative session, there was reason to hope the
governor would join the call for change. Now that he has chosen to keep his
distance, others in the Legislature must pick up the challenge and push
hard for reform.