THE $250,000 JOINT

In 1992 Anthony Williams, now known as Amir Varick Amma, was sentenced
to 25 years to life for a non-violent drug offense under the
Rockefeller Drug Laws. Amir was convicted of two felonies, the worst
of which was the sale of 2 ounces of cocaine in Albany County. Amir
was badly assaulted by the police when he refused to give up his
accomplices. His refusal to cooperate guided Judge Keegan to sentence
him to 12 and a half years to life on each charge, meaning he had to
serve 25 years. Most judges would have incorporated the two charges
together, resulting in a 12-and-a-half-year sentence. But Keegan was a
"hang 'em high" judge, part of a tightly knit crew of upstate judges
that dished out extraordinary sentences for drug offenders.

Amir challenged his conviction, but lost every legal challenge he
pursued. On the outside, Amir's greatest supporter was his mother
Queen Nazimova Varick. Over the years she fought tooth and nail to get
her son out of prison. She joined the Mothers of the NY Disappeared, a
leading activist group that fought the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws
for many years. She was suffering from several ailments, including
cancer, but she never gave up hope that her son would return home to
her, although his continued incarceration made her healing process all
the more difficult.

In 2004, the legislature passed some incremental Rockefeller reforms
that would help individuals like Amir who were sentenced to
extraordinary amounts of time. Amir filed an application only to be
denied. The judge could not even address his motion because he had
been busted for smoking a joint while in prison. For this they gave
Amir 60 days in solitary confinement and took away his merit time,
rendering him ineligible for judicial relief under the new reforms of
2004.

Activists quickly rallied together to seek justice for Amir, but to no
avail. Amir then filed for executive clemency, but his application was
denied by Gov. Paterson. Amir did not give up hope. In 2009, under the
new Rockefeller reforms that were championed by Gov. Paterson, Amir
was finally granted his freedom.

On March 23, 2010, after 19 years in prison, Amir was released. He
came by my office and I hugged him. I shared a laugh with him when he
showed me a check he had received, issued by the prison from their
parole release funds in the amount of 83 cents. What the hell was he
suppose to do with that check, I asked. When I telephoned Albany
County District attorney David Soares and asked him his opinion of
Amir's case, he described it as a travesty of justice.

In this time of economic crisis in New York State, when politicians
are looking for solutions to reduce the budget deficit, they need look
no further than the state's correctional system. That single joint
Amir smoked cost him an additional 5 years in prison, and taxpayers
roughly $250,000. Was it worth keeping him in prison and punishing him
for an additional 5 years after serving 14 years for a first time
non-violent crime? How many other Amirs are wasting away in our gulags?

To reduce the budget deficit, law makers need to take a good look at
our criminal justice system and how punitive methods of incarceration
waste not only billions of dollars, but also human lives.