Rockefeller Drug Laws: Open Letter to New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform

August 28, 2007

Dear Members of the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform:

New York State is at a critical juncture in the evolution of criminal justice policy. As members of the Commission, you have a historic opportunity to help reverse the profoundly negative effects of injustice, racial bias, and inefficiency stemming from the state’s drug sentencing laws.

The Rockefeller Drug Laws mandate extremely harsh prison terms for the possession or sale of relatively small amounts of illegal drugs. Intended to target major drug traffickers, the drug laws have instead led to the large-scale incarceration of low-level, nonviolent drug users. In practice, the laws have produced unconscionable racial disparities: Blacks and Hispanics comprise over 90 percent of those currently incarcerated for drug felonies -- a figure which is far out of proportion to their actual involvement with drugs. The laws have neither curbed drug use nor enhanced public safety. Instead, they have destroyed thousands of lives and wasted limited tax dollars.

As representative of the undersigned organizations, we are united in calling for a complete overhaul of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. We submit to the Commission four recommendations, each of which we believe is essential to instituting meaningful reform of the state’s drug sentencing laws. We urge you to give these proposals careful and serious consideration as you proceed with your deliberations:

1. Restoration of judicial discretion in all drug cases;
2. Expansion of community-based drug treatment and alternative-to-incarceration (ATI) programs;
3. Reductions in the length of sentences for all drug offenses;
4. Retroactive sentencing relief for all prisoners currently incarcerated under the Rockefeller Drug Laws.

1. Restore judicial discretion
The Rockefeller Drug Laws’ mandatory minimum sentencing scheme compels judges to hand out fixed sentences regardless of the circumstances surrounding an individual's arrest. The criterion for guilt is not the offender’s role in the drug transaction or whether the offender poses a genuine threat to others, but simply the quantity of drugs in his or her possession at the time of arrest. The discretion to impose sentences based upon the unique circumstances of each case and to divert nonviolent offenders into suitable alternative-to-incarceration programs should be returned to the judiciary in order to ensure fair and appropriate sentences.

2. Expand community based drug treatment and other alternative-to-incarceration programs
In 2000, the New York State Commission on Drugs and the Courts recommended the expansion of ATI programs “to every corner of New York State.” We agree with the Commission: the use of community-based drug treatment and other ATI programs should be greatly expanded. A multitude of studies demonstrate that drug treatment is effective in reducing levels of drug use and criminal activity. ATI programs do not compromise public safety, but they do increase the likelihood that participants will become contributing members of society. By implementing comprehensive drug treatment and rehabilitation programs, New York State can save taxpayer money, reduce recidivism, and help rebuild families and communities.

3. Reduce penalties for all drug offenses
The Legislature’s changes to the sentencing laws in 2004 and 2005 have not altered the fact that the penalties mandated by the RDLs are exceptionally harsh. In 2004, then Senate Minority Leader David Paterson issued a report whose central finding is as true today as it was then: New York State has, by far, the harshest drug-sentencing statute in the entire country for a low-level drug seller with a prior non-violent felony conviction. New York is out of step with the many states that have in recent years enacted appropriate sentencing reforms for low-level users and sellers.

4. Provide retroactive sentencing relief
Sentencing reform should be retroactive so that the thousands of individuals who are currently serving excessive prison terms can petition the courts to have their sentences reconsidered under fair standards. Retroactivity will help reduce enormous prison costs, deliver fairness in sentencing, and enable individuals to return to their families and communities.

We urge that the New York State Commission on Sentencing Reform issue a clear directive to eliminate the stark inequities that plague our criminal justice system. Overhauling the Rockefeller Drug Laws is a prerequisite for moving towards a system of justice that is both fair and protective of public safety.

Signed:

Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Providers of New York State, Inc.
Bronx Defenders
Campaign for Effective Criminal Justice
Center for Community Alternatives
Citizen Action
Correctional Association of New York
Cures not Wars
Drug Policy Alliance
Exponents
Housing + Solutions
Institute for Collaborative Education
Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Reentry and Employment (ICARE)
Legal Action Center
National Advocates for Pregnant Women
New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)
New York State Senator Jose M. Serrano
NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN)
Prison & Community Outreach
Prison Families of New York, Inc.
Ricci Greene Associates
Rockland Council on Alcoholism
STEPS OF EMPOWERMENT, INC.
The Isaiah Project
Voices of Women Organizing Project
WESPAC Foundation
Women of Substance Ministry

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