'ISN'T IT IRONIC, DON'T YOU THINK?'

There has been an onslaught of press attention following the arrest of
"Preppy Killer" Robert Chambers due to, this time, selling cocaine.
One fact that has been omitted from the coverage is that Chambers now
faces more time for selling drugs under the Rockefeller Drug Laws than
he did for the murder he committed in 1986.

Chambers served 15 years in prison for the notorious murder of
Jennifer Levin. He claimed that he accidentally strangled Levin during
rough sex. Despite his horrific crime, Chambers was allowed to plead
guilty to first-degree manslaughter instead of second-degree murder
and was sentenced to serve between five and 15 years in prison. He
wound up serving 15 years because of bad behavior, which included
smuggling and selling drugs while in prison.

Now, 21 years later, Chambers has been arrested again, this time for
selling cocaine to undercover officers. He faces top felony counts
that can mean life in prison. As the case unfolds, it is evident that
Chambers, along with his girlfriend, Shawn Kovell, who also was
arrested, are both heavily addicted to drugs. They were described as
"crackheads" by detectives who searched their disheveled Upper East
Side apartment.

Despite significant evidence against him, Chambers has pleaded not
guilty to multiple charges of selling cocaine that can land him
sentences of between 15 and 30 years for each of the highest counts
under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. So, if he is found guilty of the
multiple charges, he could be spending the rest of his life in prison.

Those who remember the details of his 1986 case will have no sympathy
for Chambers who has a history of drug addiction. A year after his
release in 2003, he was arrested again while driving with a suspended
license. Officers found drug residue in his car. He pled guilty to the
charges and served 100 days on a misdemeanor charge. The most
outrageous fact of all of Chambers's cases is that he faces more time
for a drug offense under the Rockefeller Drug Laws than he did for
taking Levin's life.

Despite two minor reforms made by the legislature in 2004 and 2005
that slightly reduced the length of most drug sentences, there are
14,000 individuals in prison sentenced under the Rockefeller drug
laws. Many of them are nonviolent offenders and are serving longer
sentences than people who commit rape or murder. There is something
very wrong with this equation.

For example, Ashley O'Donoghue, a first time non-violent offender sold
a small amount of drugs to two students at Hamilton College in upstate
New York in 2003. The students got arrested, but worked out a deal
with prosecutors that gave them probation. O'Donoghue, however, is
serving a seven to 21-year sentence.

The reforms by the legislature, though, did not provide the needed
relief for the vast majority of Rockefeller offenders. For example it
reduced the highest sentences from 15 years to life to between eight
and 20 years. The reforms also made some long-term drug offenders
eligible for retroactive relief.

Since 1973 when the Rockefeller Laws were enacted, we have witnessed
the creation of a drug-law gulag fed by a poorly conceived law that
incarcerated many drug offenders from the inner city neighborhoods of
New York. This helped to create smart upstate politicians who saw the
Rockefeller Drug Laws as a tool to make the business of imprisonment a
major industry in their districts -- creating a disincentive in the
legislature to reform these laws.

The recent reform did not provide funding to increase the availability
of community based drug treatment. It did not increase the power of
judges to place addicts into treatment programs. It also did not
provide relief for the 4,000 B-drug felons: Out of the 1,000
individuals that became eligible for retroactive relief, only about
350 individuals have been freed to date because of procedural road
blocks created by district attorneys.

Governor Spitzer recently put together a panel to study the disparity
of sentencing guidelines in New York State. One of the issues was the
Rockefeller Drug Laws. But in its recently released preliminary
report, the commission failed even to address the issue of Rockefeller
Drug Law reform. State commissioner of criminal justice services and
chairwoman of the Commission on Sentencing Reform, Denise O'Donnell,
said the issue would be addressed next time. The final report is due
in March of 2008.

But the evidence is already in, and the issue does not need any more
studies. It needs political will and action. The Spitzer panel must
consider the families of those incarcerated, and the precious tax
dollars being wasted on the court's archaic sentencing structure.
Hundreds of nonviolent Rockefeller offenders in prison are serving
longer sentences than those of convicted murderers.

Something is fundamentally wrong with a system that advocates serving
more time for a nonviolent drug offense then for a hideous crime
committed by a sociopath like Robert Chambers. On November 13,
individuals affected by the Rockefeller Drug Laws will come together
to speak at a public hearing conducted by the sentencing commission at
the New York City Bar Association. Their message to the commission
will be this: the problem needs to be fixed now -- not "next time."