| As reported on Sunday, a bill in the New York State Assembly could be passed as early as today. The bill, A06085, will bring much needed reforms to the Rockefeller drug laws that have been considered "draconian" by many.
But do these reforms go far enough? While the New York Civil Liberties Union praises the Assembly bill as a "good first step", the NYCLU says that more needs to be done to realize true reforms.
In anticipation of the passage of a bill later today, the New York Civil Liberties Union applauded the State Assembly for taking the first significant step in dismantling the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.
"New York State is closer to justice today than we were yesterday," said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. "By passing this bill, our state's Assembly is letting go of 36 years of failure and moving toward meaningful reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws."
Enacted in 1973, the Rockefeller Drug Laws mandate extremely harsh prison terms for the possession or sale of relatively small amounts of drugs. Though intended to target drug kingpins, most of the people incarcerated are convicted of low-level, nonviolent offenses. Many of the thousands of New Yorkers in prison under these laws suffer from substance abuse problems; many others struggle with issues related to homelessness, mental illness or unemployment.
For decades, the NYCLU, criminal justice advocates and medical experts have fought to untie the hands of judges and allow addiction to be treated as a public health matter. As noted in the New York State Sentencing Commission's recent report, sentencing non-violent drug offenders to prison is ineffective and counterproductive, and has resulted in unconscionable racial disparities: Blacks and Hispanics comprise more than 90 percent of those currently incarcerated for drug felonies, though most people using illegal drugs are white.
"The Rockefeller drug laws have failed by every measure - cost, drug use, public safety,"said Robert Perry, NYCLU legislative director. "With the passage of Jeff Aubry's bill, the Assembly has acted on Governor Paterson's directive to fundamentally reform the state's failed drug policy. The bill shifts the paradigm, away from mass incarceration and toward a public health model."
The NYCLU found that the bill does "restore the authority of a judge to divert some people into substance abuse treatment or other community-based programs that best address the person's needs" and "provides for retroactive relief for those sentenced under the old Rockefeller sentencing scheme." The bill also provides re-entry assistance to those already in prison and establishes a "crime reduction fund" to help fund prevention and treatment services.
However, the NYCLU also found that the bill still leaves in place a sentencing system that allows for harsh and lengthy sentences for low-level, non-violent offenders. The bill also disqualifies people from treatment who might need it the most and "creates an unnecessarily burdensome procedure for sealing a criminal record after someone has completed a substance abuse program."
While there is a lot more that can still be done, this is a good starting point. Reforming the Rockefeller drug laws requires a few different approaches, so having a piece of legislation to lay the foundation for more is a good thing. That's what this bill has the potential to do. Hopefully, more can be done in the future. |
