Op-Ed
Rockefeller
Drug Laws
December
12, 2004
New
York Times
To
the Editor:
Re "New
York State Votes to Reduce Drug Sentences" (front
page, Dec. 8):
Despite
the fanfare, the Rockefeller drug law modifications
approved by New
York lawmakers
do not amount to real reform. The harsh aspects
of these laws are still on the books: Mandatory
sentencing provisions remain intact, meaning
that judges still do not have discretion
in deciding appropriate penalties. Prison
terms, though reduced, remain unduly long,
meaning that thousands of minor drug offenders
will still be incarcerated for excessive
lengths of time.
And
the main criterion for guilt remains the amount
of drugs in a person's possession at arrest and
not a person's actual role in the drug transaction,
meaning that the major profiteers who rarely carry
drugs will escape the laws' sanctions.
Lawmakers
indicated that the approved amendments
were just the first steps. Let's hope that they
keep their promise and adopt measures in
the near future that abolish these unjust,
ineffective and wasteful laws.
Robert
Gangi
Executive Director
Correctional Assn. of New York
New York , Dec. 8, 2004
read
Robert Gangi's op-ed about the Drug Laws in Newsday
|
