NCJ Number
155100
Date Published
Unknown
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The New York State Corrections Commissioner presents his views regarding the laws known as the Rockefeller drug laws and argues that the drug laws should be substantially changed.
Abstract
Although the laws have been used to lock up the right people for long periods of time, they have also been used to lock up the wrong people for the wrong reasons. As of May 25, 1993, the State's prisons housed 64,000 inmates, including 2,000 living in double bunks added as an emergency response to a bed shortage. Prison space is a finite resource and should be used for violent predators and repeat offenders. Drug addiction affecting street- level addicts can be far more successfully treated in community settings instead of prison. The State should provide initial diversion from the prison system to community-based treatment for street-level addicts. However, a nearly insurmountable political paralysis exists regarding sentencing reform. Drug prices have fallen so far that the Rockefeller laws have lost any deterrent effect they might once have had. Changes proposed by the Governor's Executive Budget recognize the difference between a drug dealer and a drug addict, and give discretion to the sentencing judge. Such changes are needed: violent rapists now receive the same sentence as the seller of a dollar's worth of cocaine