Momentum Builds for NY Drug Law Reform

New York is one vote away from sweeping reforms to its three-decade-old Rockefeller drug laws, which require mandatory minimums for people convicted of drug crimes in the state. The Draconian laws led the way for a national trend toward harsh drug laws in the 1970s and 1980s. The time has come to admit failure and change direction.

Earlier this month, the State Assembly passed a bill essentially repealing the Rockefeller laws, and Gov. David Patterson (above left), who was once arrested for protests the laws, has proposed a compromise bill to bring Senate Republicans into the fold. His deal, however, may not go far enough.

Via Gothamist:

Last week the State Assembly passed a bill repealing the laws; Paterson's compromise will reportedly differ in the following ways:

* Paterson's bill won't be retroactive. Nearly 2,000 prisoners who might have been eligible for resentencing under the Assembly’s bill would remain in prison. The Governor's office says the cost of processing such a high volume of resentencing petitions in court would be too high.

* Also because of cost, Paterson’s plan would not mandate treatment for drug offenders in prison, nor help drug offenders after being released with so-called re-entry programs.

* The bill would also give judges the discretion to send offenders to treatment instead of prison, but require offenders to plead guilty before entering a rehabilitation program.

Last week, Russell Simmons and Drug Policy Alliance Policy Director Gabriel Sayegh wrote here on change.org that the Rockefeller Laws may finally be on their way out. There's a great conversation continuing in the comments of that post.

And in the media this week, we've heard from all sides that it's time to repeal the Rockefeller Laws. NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wrote about the failure of the laws:

By now it should be beyond debate that these laws have failed. One serious consequence: massive racial disparity in sentencing. According to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, the rate of drug use in America is generally 8.2% for whites, 7.2% for Latinos and 8.7% for African-Americans. Yet the Rockefeller laws have filled New York's prisons with tens of thousands of drug offenders, 90% of whom are African-American or Latino.

The laws have also failed to curb drug abuse. According to statistics from the National Survey on Drug Abuse conducted by the Health and Human Services Department, illicit drug use among New Yorkers has not abated since the passage of the drug laws in 1973.

And Families Against Mandatory Minimums President Julie Stewart wrote that voting for sentencing reform shouldn't be a no-no for policymakers:

Most sentencing reform efforts fail because legislators get sucked into the fear of being seen as soft on crime if they vote for change. In fact, voting for mandatory minimum reform is not the apocalyptic, career-ending event many legislators think it will be.

Finally, the NY Civil Liberties Union released a report outlining in no uncertain terms the failure of mandatory minimums and harsh drug laws in New York.

“The Rockefeller Drug Laws have failed by every measure. They tear apart families, waste tax dollars and create shocking racial disparities,” said Donna Lieberman, NYCLU executive director. “Yet, after 36 years of failure, our state continues locking up the wrong people for the wrong reasons. Justice and common sense require comprehensive reform.”