Pubdate: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 Source: Newsday (NY) Copyright: 2007 Newsday Inc. Contact: http://www.newsday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/308 Author: Michael Amon Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?140 (Rockefeller Drug Laws) PROTESTERS: DRUG LAWS HURTING MINORITIES Village of Hempstead officials teamed up with churches, civic activists and educators yesterday to call for the repeal of New York's Rockefeller drug laws. The Rev. Sedgwick Easley, of Union Baptist Church in Hempstead, said the laws have hurt minority communities such as Hempstead, which recently has seen a spike in crime related to turf wars between youths. The laws, though well intended, have kept many minority men in prison for too long, leaving their children fatherless and creating a cycle of violence, activists said. "We're here to hold politicians' feet to the fire," Easley said at a meeting of more than 100 at the church. "The drug laws affect this community," Easley said, "because the drug laws discriminate against people of color and this is a community of color." The meeting was the first in a series of crime prevention forums organized by Village of Hempstead Mayor Wayne Hall. The drug laws were passed in 1973 in response to a heroin epidemic and named after then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. The laws imposed minimum sentences of 15 years to life for those convicted of possessing more than 2 ounces of heroin or cocaine. Hall said the laws should be changed to put more offenders into community-based rehab programs. The current system has destroyed families and misplaced resources, he said. Supporters of the laws contend that incarcerating drug dealers for long periods takes them out of communities and allows neighborhoods to be rebuilt. More than 90 percent of the prisoners behind bars under the Rockefeller statutes are minorities, according to The Correctional Association of New York, a group advocating changes. After steady criticism, the minimum sentences for the most serious felony drug offenses were lowered by the State Legislature, but drug treatment advocates say the changes weren't enough. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman