Pubdate: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 Source: Times Union (NY) Copyright: 1999, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation Contact: http://www.timesunion.com/ Author: Lara Jakes - Capitol Bureau GOP LAWMAKER SEEKS TO REFORM DRUG SENTENCING Albany -- Bill would allow judges to reduce prison terms for low-level dealers Non-violent, low-level drug dealers could get more lenient prison sentences under a measure to reform the state's Rockefeller laws announced Friday by a conservative Republican lawmaker. In the most recent effort to change the strict sentencing mandates of the 26-year-old laws, Sen. John DeFrancisco of Syracuse would increase the quantity of drugs that would have to be sold or possessed before the tougher terms kick in. Currently, an offender convicted of selling two ounces or possessing four ounces of a narcotic faces a mandatory minimum term of 15 years to life. DeFrancisco's bill would double the weight minimums before the mandatory term applied. The result: Sentencing judges would not be required to impose lengthy prison sentences on first-time offenders, DeFrancisco said. "Individuals should be sentenced on an individual basis and not be fit into a certain class,'' he said. "Every case is different and every individual is different. This is not 'soft on crime,' and sentencing judges still would have the discretion to give the maximum if the particular case warrants it.'' DeFrancisco is the newest Republican to join the ranks of a growing group of lawmakers, advocates and judges calling for change to the drug laws. For more than a decade, many liberals and conservatives have been pushing for reforms, but 1999 could be the year that the laws -- widely considered a failure at diminishing either the demand or supply of narcotics -- are changed. Many observers believe reforms could be implemented this year if used as a bargaining chip with Gov. George Pataki as he pushes his own legislative agenda in a year when he is gearing up for a possible run at national office. In the beginning of his first term, Pataki called for drug law reforms, but he has failed to address the issue since. His aides, however, believe the governor will revisit the idea of reforms after the budget is passed this year. Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye also made Rockefeller reforms the focus of her State of the Judiciary address earlier this month, proposing that appellate-level judges be given the authority to reduce by up to two-thirds sentences now mandated for high-level drug felonies. She also proposed allowing judges, with the consent of prosecutors, to divert some low-level drug felons to treatment programs. DeFrancisco, however, said Kaye's plan doesn't go far enough and puts too much authority in the hands of appeals judges. "It makes more sense to leave sentencing where it should be: with the sentencing judge,'' he said. "When these laws were imposed, the concept was: 'You throw the key away and the world is rid of drugs.' I don't think anyone would agree that this has happened.'' DeFrancisco's bill is the first piece of legislation on Rockefeller reforms to be filed this session. The Democratic-led Assembly has long supported some kind of change, but a spokesman for Speaker Sheldon Silver said Friday that Pataki must make the first move. "We're waiting to see the governor's program bill,'' said Silver spokesman Charles "Skip'' Carrier, declining to comment further. Likewise, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, is "open'' to reviewing the laws, but most likely only in the context of approving other criminal justice initiatives, said his spokesman, John McArdle. "We will do it in totality, and not just in individual pieces,'' McArdle said. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea