ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS

To the Editor:

Re "New York State Votes to Reduce Drug Sentences" (front page, Dec. 8):

Despite the fanfare, the Rockefeller drug law modifications approved by New
York lawmakers do not amount to real reform. The harsh aspects of these
laws are still on the books: Mandatory sentencing provisions remain intact,
meaning that judges still do not have discretion in deciding appropriate
penalties. Prison terms, though reduced, remain unduly long, meaning that
thousands of minor drug offenders will still be incarcerated for excessive
lengths of time.

And the main criterion for guilt remains the amount of drugs in a person's
possession at arrest and not a person's actual role in the drug
transaction, meaning that the major profiteers who rarely carry drugs will
escape the laws' sanctions.

Lawmakers indicated that the approved amendments were just the first steps.
Let's hope that they keep their promise and adopt measures in the near
future that abolish these unjust, ineffective and wasteful laws.

Robert Gangi

Executive Director, Correctional Assn. of New York