DRUG LAW REFORMS IN PLACE

Wednesday marked the first day that certain felony drug offenders
became eligible to apply for re-sentencing under reforms enacted in
April to the state's drug laws.

Those reforms give greater discretion to judges to sentence offenders
to treatment programs in lieu of former mandatory minimum sentences,
which had drawn the ire of many who argued for decades that the
state's Rockefeller Drug Laws were excessive and harsh.

Those sentenced to more than three years in prison for Class-B
non-violent drug felonies under the previous language of the law are
now eligible to apply for re-sentencing at the discretion of the court
that originally handed down the sentence, typically a county court, if
they are diagnosed as having a dependency problem.

More than 1,000 felons will be eligible to apply for re-sentencing
statewide under the new laws, including nine in Rensselaer County,
said District Attorney Richard McNally.

Rensselaer County Court Clerk Richard Reilly said his office received
eight or nine applications in advance of the reforms taking effect.
Only one was filed by an attorney, while the rest were directly from
inmates who may or may not be eligible, Reilly said. Those individuals
were assigned an attorney who could begin the process in earnest.

"We go through every one of them to see if they're eligible and let
them know," he said.

Gov. David Paterson, who has long been a proponent of drug law reform,
said that for too many years drug offenders were simply locked up at
great expense to taxpayers and detriment to families with no dent made
in their drug problems.

"The reforms that take effect today address those problems," Paterson
said in a statement Wednesday. "By returning judicial discretion to
the courtroom, we are reuniting families and fighting criminal
activity and addiction in our communities."

Some 177 drug courts are already in operation across the state to give
first-offense, low-level drug offenders treatment in lieu of hard
time. Rensselaer County's drug court, currently presided over by
county Judge Robert Jacon, was established in 1997 as the first in
Upstate New York.

As part of the recent reforms, additional state funds have been
allotted to bolster such programs.

McNally said that, while a new sentence is up to the judge's
discretion, his office will examine all of the applicable cases that
come through Rensselaer County.

"Going into this thing we're going to take a good, hard look," he
said. "We'll take a position just like any other sentencing."

McNally noted, however, that some of those who might be eligible
received a stiff sentence for a reason.

"There's a reason why they were sentenced to that kind of time," he
said. "Those kinds of sentences aren't handed out every day in this
county. People don't typically get five, six, seven years for a sale."

"That being said, we always have an open mind," McNally added.