Pubdate: Sun, 29 Jul 2001
Source: New York Times (NY)
Section: Editorial/Op-Ed
Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company
Contact:  http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Authors: John R. Dunne, Robert Gangi
Note: Dunne is a former state senator and official in the Justice 
Department of former President Bush, is chairman, Campaign for Effective 
Criminal Justice.

NEW DRUG-LAW PLAN STILL NEEDS WORK

An Improved Drug Plan In Albany (July 25, 2001)

To the Editor:

Re "An Improved Drug Plan in Albany" (editorial, July 25):

Gov. George E. Pataki's most recent proposal to revise New York's drug laws 
falls short of meaningful reform for nonviolent drug offenders. Rather than 
diverting offenders into community-based treatment, the proposal needlessly 
requires that the offender, even to be admitted to treatment, must first 
plead guilty and be conditionally sentenced to a disproportionately long 4 
to 16 years in prison.

This most recent modest step by Mr. Pataki is a signal to legislative 
leaders that the time is now for all parties to engage in good-faith 
negotiations to resolve this long neglected issue.

JOHN R. DUNNE
Albany
July 25, 2001

To the Editor:

While Gov. George E. Pataki's new drug-laws proposal (news article, July 
24) apparently offers a treatment option to several thousand drug 
offenders, the treatment will take place in prison rather than in 
community-based settings, where the services provided are likely to be less 
expensive and more effective.

Moreover, the plan does not restore judicial authority in all drug cases. 
For example, judges will have no discretion in cases involving certain 
weights of narcotics, cases where the drug offender has violence in his or 
her background and cases involving young people.

Since prosecutors have authority over the indictment process, these 
exceptions will enable them to maintain control over the outcome of far too 
many drug cases. Unless the Legislature fully repeals the Rockefeller drug 
laws, district attorneys will have the ability to undermine the intent of 
any reform plan.

ROBERT GANGI
Executive Director, Correctional Association of New York
New York
July 24, 2001
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth