By Courtney Dentch
The state Legislature is taking up the battle to reform the Rockefeller drug laws — which force judges to impose lengthy prison terms for even minor drug offense — again this year after it failed to reach a compromise last spring. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, who grew up in Hollis, led the charge during last year’s efforts, which included a marathon closed-door meeting with Gov. George Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer).
The GOP’s reform bill in the Senate, which was passed Monday, would allow judges to take past history and the nature of the crime into consideration during sentencing, and it would also allow for a retroactive sentence review.
Queens’ two Republican senators, Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) and Serphin Maltese (R-Glendale) could not be reached to discuss the GOP bill or the Democrats' version.
But Democrats contend the Republican bill would only help about 10 percent of the 20,000 people jailed under the current drug laws, according to state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone). It also does not provide additional means of rehabilitating prisoners addicted to drugs, she said.
“There’s no impact at all on 90 percent of the drug offenders,” she said. “And there’s no expansion of any drug treatment programs.”
Democrats have had their own reform bill for nearly two years. It was originally sponsored by Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry (D-Corona) and a similar bill was submitted by Democrats in the Senate, said Stavisky, who co-sponsored the Senate version.
In addition to relaxing mandatory sentence requirements, the Democratic bill provides more resources for drug treatment programs and an offender re-entry program that would let judges and the state Department of Corrections develop a probation plan to help prisoners reassimilate into society after serving prison time, Stavisky said.
The plan would help the ex-convicts secure identification documents, federal benefits such as Social Security and Medicaid as well as housing, employment job training, and health resources, she said. The offenders would graduate out of the program after a set amount of time, provided that they have met post-supervision requirements.
“This would be a program to help those communities where they’re going to reside,” Stavisky said. “It’s providing state aid for the prisoners so that the community is not overburdened. The community will benefit and the prisoners will become productive members of society.”
The Rockefeller laws mandate the minimum sentence a person who is convicted on drug charges must receive regardless of whether the crime was violent or if the defendant has a previous record.
“We cannot continue to allow these people to languish in jail for the amount of time they have been for seemingly minor offenses,” said state Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights).
The lengthy prison terms, which get worse with repeat offenses, have a disproportionate impact on black men and women in particular, said Assemblywoman Barbara Clark (D-Queens Village).
“Some of these women who are used as mules are arrested, they know about the Rockefeller drug laws and these long sentences that one can expect,” she said. “They will take a plea on a lower charge and walk away. If they happen to get arrested again, it’s considered a felony and they’re required to do time.”
And the cost of locking up non-violent drug offenders is overwhelming, Stavisky said. At nearly $35,000 a year, New York has the fourth largest cost per inmate per year in the country, and the state spends $5.4 million annually to incarcerate drug offenders, she said.
“That’s more than the price of college tuition,” she said of the annual cost. “We should be putting them into drug rehab. Residential drug treatment is much more affordable.”
It would cost between $2,700 and $5,400 to rehabilitate addicted defendants rather than jail them, Stavisky said.
Pataki has been pushing for a compromise to reform the Rockefeller drug laws.
“We need legislation that ensures that the penalty fits the crime, that deserving non-violent drug offenders serving unduly long sentences can be reunited with their families, and that our communities are protected from violent and predatory drug dealers,” he said in a statement.
The Assembly and the Senate members will meet in a conference committee over the next few weeks to review the two bills and see if they can be combined into one reform bill, Clark said.
“Frankly, I think there is too much power in the hands of the district attorneys,” she said. “A judge needs to be able to listen to the situation.”
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
