THE PEOPLE'S PROSECUTOR

It may be hard to imagine that someone could defeat a district attorney by
insisting he is too tough on crime, but that's exactly what happened last
week in Albany County. Throughout the summer and into the fall, a
little-known lawyer named David Soares waged a relentless attack against
his former boss, District Attorney Paul Clyne, by pounding away at a single
idea: Democrats should vote out Clyne because he does not support reforming
the state's harsh drug laws.

Four-color flyers filled Albany County mailboxes, delivering the message:

"Paul Clyne supports the failed Rockefeller Drug Laws that cost taxpayers
$550 million every year."

"Paul Clyne supports the Rockefeller Drug Laws that cost young people their
futures."

"Paul Clyne supports the Rockefeller Drug Laws that lock up first-time
non-violent substance abusers and have not cut crime."

Soares's stance on the drug laws has made him very popular among
anti-Rockefeller activists. For them, his victory in the September 14
Democratic primary represents a major coup. They have been trying for years
to convince state legislators to change the drug laws, without success. In
this lobbying battle, their main opponent has been the state's District
Attorneys Association, of which Clyne is a vice president.

If Soares prevails in November, he will be the first district attorney in
New York State to get elected with a campaign platform advocating drug law
reform. First, though, he must defeat Clyne once again. Clyne is running in
the general election on the Independence Party line, while another
candidate has the Republican line. Soares, however, is expected to win.
Already, his primary victory has begun redefining the dynamics of the
state's Rockefeller drug law debate.

"It's the first time a political candidate has been defeated primarily
because of their overzealous support of the drug laws," says Ethan
Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which endorsed
Soares. "It's significant because it happened in a district that's majority
white and suburban, and Clyne lost in [almost] every neighborhood there.
For D.A.'s in other parts of the state, I'm sure it was a little wake-up
call to them on Wednesday morning. These guys have been bloated with their
power. I think they're going to realize that there's a cost to their
promotion of the drug laws and their resistance to change."

The name Clyne may not mean anything to people in New York City, but in
Albany County it has long been synonymous with political power--and with
strict enforcement of the state's drug laws. John Clyne, Paul's father, had
a reputation as one of the state's toughest judges in the 1970s and early
1980s, when he sat on the State Supreme Court bench. His penchant for
handing out long sentences earned him the moniker "Maximum John."

Since becoming Albany County district attorney in 2001, Paul Clyne, 44, has
been one of the most outspoken supporters of the Rockefeller drug laws.
Enacted by then governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1973, New York's drug laws
are among the most punitive in the nation. Anyone convicted of selling two
or more ounces of cocaine receives at least 15 years in prison. Prosecutors
typically like these laws because the lengthy mandatory sentences give
defendants a powerful incentive to plead guilty.

In Albany, Clyne was known for aggressively prosecuting drug cases, even as
his constituents' views about these laws appear to have been changing,
perhaps because the Times Union and other Albany media outlets have covered
the drug law debate extensively. In a recent poll done by the Drug Policy
Alliance, 70 percent of Democratic voters said they oppose the laws. And,
when deciding which candidate to vote for, they said they cared more about
this issue than any other.

Soares understands why. The 34-year-old Cornell grad attended Albany Law
School, then joined Clyne's office. After two years, he says, "I realized
that I was just becoming a case processor, especially working under this
particular regime. And I realized my efforts were not having any sort of
impact on the community I was supposed to be serving. . . . One of our
biggest problems is the absolute focus on the low-level non-violent
offender. It was really a factory."

On June 3 at 2:07 p.m., Soares told his boss that he was going to run
against him. Clyne laughed. Then, at 2:14 p.m., Clyne fired him.

In the weeks before the election, Clyne's campaign mailed out flyers
attacking Soares for being "unqualified" and for his support from the Drug
Policy Alliance. A Clyne flyer with the headline "DON'T BE FOOLED"
declared: "A New York City drug legalization group is trying to buy the
Albany County District Attorney's Office." The Drug Policy Alliance, which
is partly funded by billionaire George Soros, has financed campaigns in
eight states to legalize medical marijuana.

This summer, the Drug Policy Alliance contributed $81,500 to the Working
Families Party, which supported Soares. The Albany County Democratic Party
brought a lawsuit against the Working Families Party and won a temporary
court order a few days before the election, blocking it from spending money
to help Soares. (Soares has the WFP line in the November election, but
state election law prohibits one party from trying to influence another
party's primary.) After Soares won, the leader of the county Democratic
Party announced that she was planning to drop the suit.

In this primary contest, both the Soares and Clyne campaigns spent more
than $100,000, but Soares had the more aggressive field operation. About
500 volunteers worked on his behalf, making calls or knocking on doors. In
the weeks leading up to the primary, volunteers spoke with more than 20,000
voters. On election day, a 10-car caravan snaked through the county,
blaring messages of support from local politicians. Soares visited Albany's
housing projects, starting on the 12th floor of each building and working
his way down, urging people on every floor to get out and vote.

When the results were announced later that evening, Soares had 14,030 votes
and Clyne had 8,684.

Thedistrict attorneys in Manhattan and Brooklyn are up for re-election next
year, and the Rockefeller drug laws are likely to be an issue in these
races too.

Leslie Crocker Snyder, who is challenging Manhattan D.A. Robert Morgenthau,
has talked publicly about her support for reform. (Last year, Penn, Schoen
& Berland Associates, Inc. conducted a survey on her behalf, which found:
"By far the most effective message seems to be the Rockefeller drug laws
message.") Senator John Sampson was the only state senator to endorse
Soares. He is expected to challenge Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes; after
Soares won, Sampson called him and they discussed campaign tactics.

Meanwhile, Soares was still limping around three days after the primary,
his feet sore from all his last-minute running. When he talks about his
victory, he almost sounds like he can't quite believe it himself. About
campaigning, he says, "I've never done this in my life. I never even ran
for school president or student council. And here I am taking on the machine."

When the conversation turns to the Rockefeller drug laws, however, he is
emphatic. "It is unquestionable that from this November on forward, the
days of this antiquated statute are numbered," he says. "The fact that the
most vociferous, inflexible member of the New York State D.A.'s Association
is in jeopardy of losing his position--and primarily on the issue of the
Rockefeller drug laws--is a moment for pause for every single elected
official in the state of New York."