A JOB LEFT UNDONE: ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAW REFORMS

Another year has come and nearly gone, and still Albany has done nothing to
remedy the injustice of mandatory prison sentences for drug crimes.

Reform of the 1973 Rockefeller drug laws has been held hostage over the
years to the state's dysfunctional budget process, election posturing,
inertia and, this year, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In the meantime,
mandatory sentences have dealt many defendants inappropriately harsh prison
terms and have cost the state billions of dollars for building and
operating prisons. They should be repealed.

One-size-fits-all justice is often no justice at all. The state's toughest
mandatory drug sentences rival those for murder, kidnapping and rape, and
too often they ensnare first offenders and minor drug- crime participants.
The authority to impose sentences that fit individual crimes and individual
defendants should be returned to the state's judges. Exercising judgment in
the pursuit of justice is the job New York citizens pay them to do.

Prosecutors are the staunchest remaining foes of reform. Mandatory
sentences make them the most powerful players in the adjudication of drug
crimes because they can dictate the punishment when they decide what charge
to bring against a defendant. District attorneys will not surrender that
power gladly.

Recognition of the need for reform is widespread. Polls have consistently
reflected public support for less knee-jerk incarceration and more
treatment for nonviolent drug offenders. State court officials have
proposed reform. So have Republican Gov. George Pataki and Assembly
Democrats. They all want to do something. The question is what that
something should be.

Both Pataki and Assembly Democrats would reduce the current mandatory
15-year-to-life sentences for possession of four or more ounces of a
controlled substance. Both would give judges more discretion in the less
serious cases.

But Pataki's reforms would cover few offenders. The Democratic proposal,
which passed the Assembly last summer, is preferable because it would make
more people eligible for treatment and provide money to pay for that treatment.

It's an enlightened policy that will save money, reduce crime and save
lives otherwise lost to drugs.