GOLISANO EXPECTED TO CALL FOR REPEAL OF ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Independence Party candidate for governor B. Thomas
Golisano on Monday called for repeal of the Rockefeller drug laws that
would replace mandatory minimum sentences with greater discretion by judges
and prosecutors.

"The goal is to really fix a dismal failure within New York's criminal
justice system that is ineffective, outdated and racially biased that has
served only to hurt New York families more than doing anything to eradicate
the drug problem," said Golisano spokesman Ernest Baynard.

Golisano's financial analysis released Monday states that the annual total
cost of incarcerating a prisoner including health and building costs is
$102,000. Successfully diverting one of these prisoners through a drug
treatment program would save the state up to 75 percent.

Golisano said Republican Gov. George Pataki and Democratic challenger H.
Carl McCall, the two-term state comptroller, have failed to reform the laws
because they are torn by special interest groups, a constant theme in
Golisano's third-party bid. McCall and Pataki have both said the laws
should be reformed.

"This proposal would give the sentence discretion back to the prosecutors
and judges and take it away from the politicians in Albany," Baynard said
Monday. "It would also place a much-needed emphasis on treatment as an
option for first-time offenders rather than merely locking everyone up."

Pataki has supported reforming the statutes, including expanding treatment
opportunities for nonviolent drug offenders. McCall, who also favors
reform, has accused Pataki of not doing enough to change the laws.

The Rockefeller drug laws bear the name of Nelson Rockefeller, who was
governor when the harshest statutes were approved in 1973 and 1974. The
laws can subject even first-time offenders to up to 15 years to life in
prison.

Many district attorneys statewide oppose overhauling the laws. They argue
that only a few hundred inmates have been sent to prison for the maximum
terms under the statutes and that the inmates serving the shorter mandatory
sentences have exhibited violence in their lives, even if they haven't been
convicted of violent offenses.

Golisano plans to begin broadcasting commercials this week featuring people
who were imprisoned under the laws, which impose mandatory-minimum
sentences on drug offenders, The New York Times reported Monday.

"Tom Golisano is the most conservative candidate in this race, and he is
acknowledging that the Rockefeller laws are harsh, ineffective and
expensive," Golisano's campaign adviser, Roger Stone, told The New York
Times in Monday's editions.

Spokesmen for McCall and Pataki didn't immediately respond to requests for
comment.