MOVE COULD LESSEN DRUG CRIME PENALTY

Lawmakers advanced measures Thursday that would ease the sentences
imposed on some people convicted of drug crimes and help ex-convicts
get government jobs or professional licenses.

The Senate voted 33-0 for a bill, also approved Thursday by the
Assembly Judiciary Committee, that grants courts discretion to lessen
the financial penalties for some drug offenses and let some people
perform "reformative service" to pay some of the debt.

Also, the Senate budget committee endorsed creating a certificate of
rehabilitation for some felons who convince a judge or the State
Parole Board they have made efforts to reform themselves.

Both proposals are due for final legislative consideration Monday.

"The problem we face with crime today, especially gangs -- you can't
just arrest the problem away," said Stephan Finkel, an assistant
attorney general and the Office of the Attorney General's director of
legislative affairs.

"Enforcement is necessary, but you also need to have prevention, you
need to have reentry measures, so people who make a mistake and get
caught and go to prison, their lives aren't over. They have to come
back and be able to reintegrate into society and not go back into
jail. We have to stop the revolving door," Finkel said.

People convicted of drug crimes are assessed fines, on top of the
other details of their sentences, of $500 to $3,000 per offense,
depending on the seriousness of the offense. The bill allows judges
to impose a single penalty for the highest-degree offense, rather
than penalties for each count, to foster a defendant's rehabilitation.

As an alternative to pay off up to half of those penalties -- which
are deposited into the Drug Enforcement and Demand Reduction Fund to
support drug and alcohol abuse prevention and treatment programs --
defendants can propose a plan of "reformative service" intended to
help their rehabilitation.

Such service would focus on training, education or work, covering
things such as substance abuse treatment, educational or vocational
services, employment training or services, family counseling,
community service and volunteer work.

A judge, with input from prosecutors, would decide whether to accept
such a plan.

"Some people just are not going to be able to pay, and that inability
to pay puts them at a disadvantage, maybe encourages them to engage
in new crimes, get into selling drugs," Finkel said.

The rehabilitation certificate would not be available to violent
offenders, those who targeted children, those convicted of corruption
charges and those with multiple prior convictions or pending charges.

Certificates would show that the holder is presumed rehabilitated of
the crime, enabling them to obtain public employment from which they
might otherwise be barred. Employers generally wouldn't be allowed to
deny certificate holders a job.

Holders of such certificates could also use it to qualify for
state-issued professional licenses and certifications for various
occupations and businesses and their qualifying exams, except for
lawyers, law-enforcement officers and emergency management positions.

The bill doesn't apply to private employers.