PASS PATAKI DRUG LAW

Reform of the so-called Rockefeller drug laws is one of those political
issues that seems never to go away in New York state. Even though more or
less everybody is in favor of some kind of reform, it never (so far) comes
to pass.

Even the New York State District Attorneys Association is in favor of
reforming the law to give judges more discretion in sentencing A1 drug
felons, who now get 15 years to life. In rare cases, low-level "mules"
might end up being sentenced to such a term, which almost everyone agrees
would be excessive. The Association also calls for "statewide availability
of drug treatment" as a potential alternative to incarceration.

However, as the Association points out, some proponents of reform have
greatly exaggerated the harshness of the Rockefeller laws. And radically
reforming them, as the Assembly bill would do, would reduce DAs' leverage
against both drug dealers and violent criminals, making it harder to
convict them.

While the Association is not prepared to endorse the reforms proposed by
Gov. George Pataki and passed by the Senate, saying they go too far, it
greatly prefers them to the Assembly bill. Schenectady County District
Attorney Bob Carney, a Democrat who is former president of the statewide
Association, says the judicial discretion provisions of the Pataki bill
might not have as much impact upstate as in New York City, where judges
tend to be more liberal.

The Assembly should settle for something rather than nothing, and pass the
Senate bill.