New York’s Harsh Drug Laws Set to Fall

The New York state legislature is poised to repeal its Rockefeller-era drug laws, sweeping away the last of a set of harsh mandatory sentences in place since the 1970s, the New York Times reported March 1.

The state Assembly is expected to approve a measure this week to return sentencing discretion to judges and allow jurists to send low-level drug offenders to addiction treatment programs rather than prison. Thousands of inmates previously convicted of drug offenses also would be given a pathway to reducing or commuting their sentences.

Gov. David A. Paterson — an early backer of repealing the Rockefeller laws — is also drafting legislation on judicial discretion, and the Senate may vote on sentencing reform in the coming weeks. “When we take away those mandatory minimums and restore judicial discretion, that’s when you can say Rockefeller is no longer there,” said Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry.

In 2004, state lawmakers eliminated some aspects of the law, including ending life sentences for drug crimes and trimming other sentences. But some mandatory sentencing provisions remain, which has limited the ability of judges to divert offenders to treatment.

“I think any bill that doesn’t provide that diversion option is really not something that’s significant reform, plain and simple,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. “There is nothing else at this point that would be meaningful in terms of reform.”

Some, however, still resist the notion of giving judges full discretion over sentencing. “The district attorney’s input would be taken out of the equation,” said Bridget G. Brennan, special narcotics prosecutor for New York City. “When I look at cases, I want to have the discretion as gatekeeper, to make sure that somebody I put back out in the community is not going to pose a public-safety threat. A district attorney has a much clearer picture of a community’s concerns.”

The need for quality treatment programs remains a challenge, just as it was in the 1970s. “We can give judges more latitude, but we have to make sure there’s someplace for drug felons to go, and that they don’t just walk out,” said state Sen. Dale Volker. “There are a lot of questions to be answered: How will these people stay in treatment? Will they just end up back on the street?”

Sen. Eric T. Schneiderman called the proposed reforms “an opportunity to shift the framework of drug policy in America from a model centered on incarceration.”