Pubdate: Wed, 02 May 2001 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2001 The New York Times Company Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298 TRENTON: SENTENCE REDUCTION SOUGHT A young black man who is suing former Gov. Christie Whitman for patting him down during a drug sweep in Camden in 1996 is asking the State Supreme Court to reduce a sentence he received for a subsequent drug conviction. In a case unrelated to the pat-down, a lawyer for the man, Sherron Rolax, told the court that the four-year sentence he received for a 1997 cocaine possession charge was inconsistent with statewide sentencing practices. The court did not issue a ruling in the case. A photograph of the pat-down showing a smiling Mrs. Whitman, now head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, was widely published last year. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe