CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FAULTS INQUIRY INTO RAP PRODUCER

ALBANY, July 16 -- The New York Civil Liberties Union is questioning
the state lobbying commission's decision to investigate Russell
Simmons, Andrew M. Cuomo and others who have been pushing to soften
the state's Rockefeller-era drug laws.

In a letter sent today to the Temporary State Commission on Lobbying,
the civil liberties group said the commission had been overly
aggressive in its inquiry into the activists' public rallies and
broadcasts. It called them core First Amendment activities that were
not subject to lobbying regulation.

In addition, civil liberties officials said the commission had been
confrontational in its inquiry and needed to distinguish between the
scrutiny of citizens who came forward to speak their minds and paid,
professional lobbyists, or those who spent at least $2,000 to directly
communicate with legislators.

"The manner in which the lobbying commission has behaved raises
serious concerns about whether this is selective enforcement," said
Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the civil liberties group,
"whether it is retaliation for a viewpoint it doesn't like, and
whether it is designed to chill and intimidate people who are not
professional lobbyists from seeking to change unjust laws."

David M. Grandeau, the lobbying commission's executive director,
rebutted the civil liberties group's allegations. In a letter, he said
the commission had never acted in a confrontational manner nor pursued
an investigation based upon the content of a group's position.

"Such a baseless accusation is at best offensive and at worst
actionable," Mr. Grandeau wrote.

The exchange of letters was set off by the lobbying commission's
decision to open an investigation into the actions of Mr. Simmons, the
rap impresario, businessman and chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action
Network, as well as others in a group known as the Coalition for Fairness.

Mr. Simmons and others held rallies, flew to Albany to meet with
lawmakers and engaged in prolonged meetings to try to push for a
change in the state laws affecting the mandatory sentencing of
low-level drug offenders. The lobbying commission was investigating
whether the advocates broke state laws by failing to register as lobbyists.

State lobbying law says that anyone who spends or is paid more than
$2,000 a year (or expects to be) to influence the passage or defeat of
legislation, or the governor's signing of a bill, must register as a
lobbyist and make financial disclosures, about his expenses, fees or
payments, every two months.

The civil liberties group's letter raised broader questions about what
kind of activity can be considered lobbying and what lobbyists are.

Blair Horner, the legislative director for the New York Public
Interest Research Group, said that the definitions have been modified
over time but that ultimately a court might have to weigh in on the
questions.

Arthur N. Eisenberg, the legal director of the civil liberties group,
said the heart of the concern was an impression that the commission
was overreaching by interpreting the lobbying law in a way that was
inconsistent with constitutional limitations. He said only direct
communications with lawmakers, not rallies, could be regulated,
according to a 1954 decision by the Supreme Court.

Mr. Grandeau, however, said the commission was well within its rights.
"If the N.Y.C.L.U. thinks differently, the right place to have that
discussion is in a courtroom, not in a battle of letters," he said.

Mr. Grandeau said Mr. Simmons's activities warranted questioning.
"There was legislation pending; if his spending was directed at that
legislation, then he's a lobbyist," Mr. Grandeau said. "I mean, there
were radio ads, there were rallies, all those things are lobbying. The
question is, who paid for it?"

Mr. Grandeau said he read about the drug law reform activities in
newspapers and followed up with letters to Mr. Simmons; Mr. Cuomo;
Randy Credico, an organizer of Mothers of the New York Disappeared,
which wants the laws repealed; and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., the
former executive director of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, asking them to explain their activities.

He also wrote to Tom Golisano, a former candidate for governor, and
inquired about a $50,000 donation he made to the Hip-Hop Research and
Education Fund. Mr. Cuomo's political committee also sent a $50,000
donation to the fund.

In response, Mr. Chavis submitted the coalition's registration
statement with the state, saying it accrued $299,982 in expenses
related to its activities, Mr. Grandeau said.

Mr. Chavis said today that the coalition was not lobbying but was
"raising public awareness" in line with its constitutional rights, and
only filed its finances in the interest of full disclosure.

In an interview on Monday, Mr. Simmons said that he was hesitant to
comment on the matter. Yet he posed the question "Who is a lobbyist?"
invoking the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960's.

"I don't know if the Reverend King was a lobbyist when he challenged
some laws," Mr. Simmons said. "I think that educating people is all of
our rights."