Pubdate: Thu,  6 Jun 2002
Source: Times Union (Albany, NY)
Copyright: 2002 Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation
Contact:  http://www.timesunion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/452
Author: Elizabeth Benjamin, Capitol bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?140 (Rockefeller Drug Laws)

ASSEMBLY ACTS ON DRUG LAWS

Albany-- Compromise Bill Yields To Gov. Pataki On Some Key Aspects Of 
Reforming Statutes

In a possible breakthrough after years of efforts to modify the 
strict Rockefeller Drug Laws, the Democrat-controlled Assembly issued 
a compromise reform bill on Wednesday that offers significant 
concessions to Republican Gov. George Pataki.

The plan adopts several key aspects of a reform framework Pataki 
proposed in early May. It allows district attorneys to choose which 
nonviolent drug offenders are eligible for treatment rather than 
prison, but gives judges the power to overrule. The Assembly 
originally wanted full sentencing discretion for judges.

The Assembly would also eliminate parole for high-level drug 
offenders convicted of class A1 and A2 felonies, as Pataki has 
sought. Parole would remain an option under the Assembly plan for 
almost all lower-level drug offenders -- including those convicted of 
most B-class felonies and all C, D and E felonies.

Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, called the measure "our last, 
best hope to getting the governor to the negotiating table'' on the 
1973 laws, which mandate long sentences, up to life, for selling or 
possessing relatively small amounts of narcotics.

Pataki spokeswoman Caroline Quartararo called the Assembly's bill "a 
good step.''

Sources close to the negotiations said Silver's refusal to end parole 
for all drug felons could be a sticking point. Reform failed in 1999 
amid Pataki's insistence that it be tied to abolishing parole.

Both the Assembly and Pataki would end life sentences for A1 and A2 
drug offenders and increase funding for treatment to accommodate an 
increase in patients. More offenders now incarcerated under the drug 
laws could appeal their sentences under the Assembly's plan, but the 
number is fewer than in an earlier proposal.

Robert Gangi, director of the Correctional Association of New York, a 
prison watchdog group, said the Assembly bill is "a potential step 
forward.'' But he questioned the virtue of limiting the number of 
offenders eligible for treatment or retroactive appeals.

"These exclusions are not made based on substantive rationales, but 
on political considerations,'' said Gangi, whose organization favors 
full repeal of the drug laws.

John Tunney, president of the New York State District Attorneys 
Association, said reform is unnecessary because many people already 
get addiction treatment.

Meanwhile, some questioned why Silver was willing to bend in an election year.

Reaching a deal before the end of this legislative session could help 
Pataki appeal to traditionally Democratic minority voters, who 
advocates say have been disproportionately affected by the drug laws. 
Silver's compromise may rob the two Democratic  candidates -- state Comptroller H. Carl 
McCall and former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo -- of a potent 
weapon against Pataki, political observers said.

But Silver insisted reform "isn't about elections.''

"We're here to do something that impacts people, people who are 
suffering,'' he said. "People who, but for the availability of 
treatment, are forced into a life of prison, a life of recidivism.''
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