NEW YORK GOV. GEORGE PATAKI RELEASES PROPOSED CHANGES TO ROCKEFELLER-ERA
DRUG LAWS

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Gov. Pataki has proposed giving more discretion to
judges sentencing drug cases and offering defendants more drug treatment
options, a plan that would roll back many of the strict drug laws
implemented by former Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.

While Pataki portrayed the proposals as a compromise designed to meet
legislative objections to earlier plans, the initiative was immediately
panned by critics who said the Republican governor is still not going far
enough to ease the drug laws.

Pataki said his plan would allow more people into drug treatment by
expanding the categories of drug offenders eligible for such referrals.
Eligible defendants, though, cannot have a violent record.

The governor said he'd also give more discretion to judges when sentencing
nonviolent drug felons and reduce some sentence lengths. For Class A-1 drug
felons who are now subject to a minimum of 15 years to life in prison for a
conviction, Pataki said his proposal would reduce their sentences to as
little as 7 years and 2 months in prison.

Pataki's plan also would increase sentences for violent and major drug
traffickers. People who arm themselves while selling marijuana or narcotics
would be subject to a five-year mandatory sentence, whether they use the
firearm or not, and be considered a violent felon ineligible for diversion
to a drug treatment program.

Chauncey Parker, Pataki's criminal justice services coordinator, said the
governor's plan was developed over the last four months in discussions with
prosecutors, the Bar Association, prison reform groups and other interested
organizations. The Republican-controlled state Senate quickly endorsed
Pataki's proposal Friday. Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said it "strikes the
right balance" between treatment for nonviolent addicts and tougher
penalties for hardened criminals.

A spokeswoman for Democrats in the state Assembly said Pataki's proposal
"is not moving this issue forward." An Assembly proposal backed by
Democrats gives judges more sentencing discretion than the governor favors
and would lessen the power of prosecutors to block addiction treatment for
certain defendants.

The harshest of the Rockefeller drug laws date to 1973 and 1974.
Rockefeller insisted on their adoption at a time when narcotics, especially
heroin, was plaguing inner-city neighborhoods around the state.