The AWEARNESS Blog provides daily updates under four
socially-aware pillars of discussion: Social Rights, Well-Being, Political
Landscape and Hard Times.
New York
governors come and go (some more swiftly than others). State lawmakers tend to
hang around longer, but most of them eventually move on as well. For true
endurance, the statutes known as the Rockefeller-era drug laws are hard to beat.
The same may be said about attempts to scrap those laws, which came into being
in 1973, so long ago that disco was just beginning to be hot.
Nelson A. Rockefeller was governor then. Drug criminals had New York by the
throat in one of the city’s periodic heart-of-darkness phases. Rockefeller
wanted to show he could be tough as nails with dope dealers. The result was
statutes that eternally bear his name in common idiom. Their essence was to send
drug felons to prison for very long stretches, with sentences made mandatory and
leniency rendered unacceptable even for first-time offenders.
The laws were amended in 2004 and 2005, to ease some of the most
severe sentences. By then, they had been deemed overly harsh by most New
Yorkers, save perhaps those with portraits of Torquemada on their walls.
Occasional polls, like one for this newspaper in 2002, show that New Yorkers
overwhelmingly would grant judges more of a free hand in sentencing. That
includes a chance to send drug-addicted small fry into treatment rather than to
prison.
We are now in a moment when the laws are being scrutinized again,
in public hearings organized by a consortium of six New York State Assembly
committees. A first round was held in Manhattan last Thursday, on the 35th
anniversary of the laws’ signing by Rockefeller, and a second round is planned
for Rochester on Thursday.
Judging from the remarks of Assembly members at last week’s
session, they want major change, in particular to expand “judicial discretion”
over the fate of convicted drug offenders. “We’re on the precipice of real
Rockefeller law reform,” said Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol, a Brooklyn Democrat.
Mr. Lentol is among half a dozen lawmakers who were in the Legislature back in
1973. He voted against the laws then, and doesn’t like them any better now.
But it is far from clear what, if anything, lies beneath that
precipice. The State Senate, dominated by Republicans, albeit with a weakened
grip, has not been eager to join the Democratic-led Assembly in tossing the
Rockefeller laws over the edge.
Indeed, positions have shifted little over the years.
Those who raise cries of “drop the Rock” say that mandatory
sentences are mindless and unfair to nonviolent offenders, that they give too
much power to prosecutors and not enough to neutral judges, that they steer too
many low-level schnooks away from relatively inexpensive rehab that would serve
them (and the state treasury) well, and that they are directed
disproportionately hard toward African-Americans and Latinos.
A leading critic of the laws, the Correctional Association of New
York, says that their effect is to give elected officials from 35 years ago,
many of them dead, more power over today’s narcotics cases “than the judges who
currently sit on the bench and hear all the evidence presented.”
In the same camp, you would probably find the present governor,
David A. Paterson. He has not spoken up on the subject of late, but he got
himself arrested in an anti-Rock protest six years ago, when he was a state
senator.
On the other side are those, including many of the state’s district
attorneys, who say that the threat of tough sentences is enough to induce some
addicted drug violators to seek treatment. And don’t kid yourself, prosecutors
say; street-corner dealers, even if not necessarily “drug kingpins,” are
violence-breeding menaces. Neighborhoods, they say, are well rid of these
lowlifes.
On the laws’ 35th anniversary, each side went to the hearing armed
with anecdotes and statistics. A figure that stood out, though, was one that
went unmentioned.
Bridget G. Brennan, the special narcotics prosecutor for New York
City, noted that in 1970 there were 1,146 homicides in the city. (Police records
put the number at 1,117, but that’s not the point.) In 2007, that figure had
been sliced to 496. The implication was that we could thank the Rockefeller laws
for this marvelous result.
Unmentioned was another number: 2,245. That’s how many homicides
the city recorded in 1990, our most blood-soaked year.
So for 17 years, starting with 1973, the murder rate grew and
stayed implacably high, even with the Rockefeller laws. Then, over the next 18
years, the rate dropped sharply. The roller-coaster statistical ride is enough
to make one wonder, at least in regard to murder, if the Rock really had
anything to do with the numbers going up or down.
E-mail: haberman@nytimes.com
Flash! May 8th 35th Anniversary of the Rockefeller Drug
laws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhYUZ5o9dx8
Anthony Papa interview on RNN /Rockefeller Drug Laws
Anthony Papa
Communication Specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance on RNN talking
about the 35th anniversary of the Rockefeller Drug Laws...RockefellerDrugLaw
DrugPolicyAlliance cocaine drugwar ondcp mandatorysentencing
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=3&aid=81357
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Politics
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State Assembly Reexamines Drug Policy
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May
08, 2008
The State Assembly explored a public health approach to drug policy
on the 35th anniversary of the Rockefeller Drug Laws Thursday.
As the Assembly members were meeting, opponents to the laws gathered
in Lower Manhattan to protest the current system and asked for
reform.
"For major crimes like murders, judges have the final say. When it
comes to drug cases, he has to defer to the district attorney. What
kind of justice is that?" said Brooklyn Democratic Assemblyman
Joseph Lentol.
They say the legislation prevented thousands from getting drug
treatment, instead putting them behind bars.
One such man was Bronx resident and former heroin addict Juan
Jordan, who refers his 12-and-a-half years in jail as "lost years."
"They could have helped me to address my problem. Instead, they sent
me to jail," said Jordan, who was caught selling drugs in the early
1980s and sold drugs once he left prison. "I was selling drugs to
support my habit. And that was everything that I knew to do."
Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed the bills stiffening punishment
for drug crimes on May 8, 1973. The laws made New York safer, but
some legal experts say it was at a huge cost.
"Thirty-five years of Rockefeller drug laws means that tens of
thousands of people's lives have been wasted," said Ethan Nadelmann
of the Drug Policy Alliance. "People who have might justly have
served two or three or four years went behind for 12 or 13 or 14
years."
Once New York survived a heroin scourge and crack epidemic, drug
crimes fell dramatically. In 1996, there were more than 23,000 drug
felons in state prisons -- compared to just 13,000 this year.
There have been some changes, most recently in 2005, but to many,
those do not go far enough.
"Maybe 35 years ago when the Rockefeller laws were passed, they
could say we didn't know enough about treatment," said State Senator
Eric Schneiderman. "But it is absolutely clear we have evidence
about what works and what doesn't work and it's clear that throwing
people in jail for long periods of time doesn't reduce drug use and
doesn't reduce crime."
New York's special narcotics prosecutor criticized the recent
changes, which she said aided high-level traffickers.
"We also don't want to start to see crime escalate in neighborhoods
in the city that are still overrun with drug dealing," said Special
Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.
Experts say any changes proposed by the Assembly are likely to have
the support of Governor David Paterson, who was arrested at a 2002
rally when he was a state senator. However, the current State Senate
may not share his desire for reform.
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Regional News Network (RNN
TV)
Rockefeller Drug Laws:
Marking 35 Years
Interview with Anthony Papa:
Rockefeller Drug Laws: Marking 35 Years
Capital News 9
www.capitalnews9.com
Re-examining Rockefeller drug laws
Updated: 05/08/2008
09:08 PM
By: Josh Robin
NEW YORK
STATE -- Juan Jordan calls them lost years.
"They could have helped me to address my
problem. Instead they sent me to jail," Jordan said.
Hooked on heroin, the Bronx man was caught
selling drugs in the early ‘80s. As soon as he got out, he would be back
dealing again, serving in all 12-and-a-half years.
“I was selling drugs to support my habit. And
that was everything that I know to do,” Jordan said.” I was a heroin
addict."
His travails mirror many since May 8th, 1973,
when Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed bills stiffening punishment for drug
crimes. It made New York safer, but at a huge cost, say those marking the
anniversary.
"Thirty-five years of Rockefeller drug laws means that tens of thousands of
people's lives have been wasted. People who have might justly have served
two or three or four years went behind for 12 or 13 or 14 years," said Ethan
Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance.
And it's been years of protests, as
Thursday members of the state Assembly pressed for further changes to untie
judges in drug cases.
"For major crimes like murders, judges have
the final say. When it comes to drug cases, he has to defer to the district
attorney. What kind of justice is that?" asked Joe Lentol.
Governor Paterson is a strong opponent of the
laws, even getting arrested at a 2002 rally when he was a state senator. He
and State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno deferred to a commission
examining the state's sentencing.
But despite all of the passion, critics pose a
question -- how much reform is actually needed?
"When you're looking at the Rockefeller drug
laws, keep in mind the problems that they were looking to address and they
were very successful and addressing those problems," said Bridget Brennan, a
special narcotics prosecutor.
That was a scourge of heroin, followed by
crack.
Drug crimes are now dropping. From more than
23,000 state inmates in 1996 to a little more than 13,000 thousand this
year. It’s the lowers it has been in 20 years and only accounts for a fifth
of the prison population
New York's special narcotics
prosecutor criticizes recent changes in the last few years, which she says
aided high-level traffickers.
"We also don't want to start to see crime
escalate in neighborhoods in the city that are still overrun with drug
dealing," Brennan said.
She advocates drug treatment for addicts, a
goal also pushed by those opposing the law.
Copyright ©2007 TWEAN News Channel of Albany, L.L.C d.b.a. Capital News 9
http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20080509-6.html
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Empire
State News: NYCLU claims Rockefeller Drug Laws cause racial
disparities, huge taxpayer burden |
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NEW YORK
- At a legislative hearing held in Manhattan, the New York
Civil Liberties Union presented testimony illustrating the stark
racial disparities and enormous financial burden generated by
the Rockefeller Drug Laws in New York City.
Robert Perry, the
NYCLU’s legislative director, testified at the joint hearing of
the State Assembly’s standing committees on codes, judiciary,
correction, health, alcoholism and drug abuse, and social
services.
“We urge you, as
legislative leaders, to advance the critique of a sentencing
structure that ties the hands of judges, grants prosecutors
enormous and essentially unreviewable powers, and results in the
routine miscarriage of justice,” Perry said.
Using maps created by the NYCLU and Justice Mapping Center,
Perry showed legislators that 25 percent of adults sent to
prison from the city come from areas, black and Latino
communities, with only 4 percent of the city’s adult
population. More than half are incarcerated on drug offenses
and 97 percent are black or Latino.
A second map
showed that state taxpayers will spend more than $1.1 billion to
imprison New York City residents convicted of drug offenses in
2006 over the course of their prison terms. Drug offenses will
account for more than 40 percent of prison costs for all city
residents sent to prison that year.
“The Rockefeller
Drug Laws are unjust, inhumane and ineffective,” said NYCLU
Executive Director Donna Lieberman, who did not testify. “Our
lawmakers can end this chronic injustice. They must muster the
courage to restore judicial discretion to drug sentencing and
explore alternatives to incarceration that treat non-violent
drug offenders instead of locking them away for years.”
Enacted in 1973,
the Rockefeller Drug Laws mandate extremely harsh prison terms
for the possession or sale of relatively small amounts of drugs.
Supposedly intended to target drug kingpins, most of the people
incarcerated under these laws are convicted of low-level,
nonviolent offenses, and many of them have no prior criminal
record.
Despite modest
reforms in 2004 and 2005, NYCLU says the Rockefeller Drug Laws
continue to deny people serving under harsh sentences the
ability to apply for shorter terms, and restrict the power of
judges to place addicts into treatment programs.
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Newsday.com
Views vary at hearing on state drug laws
BY
ZACHARY R. DOWDY
zachary.dowdy@newsday.com
May
9, 2008
As
spectators booed and cheered, defense attorneys, prosecutors, treatment
providers and reformers testified before state lawmakers yesterday about the
ongoing battle of approaches in enforcing drug laws and rehabilitating
offenders.
The daylong hearing in Manhattan marked to the day the 35th anniversary of
the enactment of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, a set of mandatory sentencing
measures that made New York one of the most punitive states.
Speakers urged the panel to build on amendments to the laws in 2004 and
2005, with most calling for a more public-health based approach over a
criminal justice strategy. Those alterations lifted the most draconian
elements of the laws, such as lifetime incarceration for the most severe
offenses.
The hearing is part of a process to determine what else should be done.
"The city bar believes more should be done," said Robert Gottlieb, an
attorney in Commack and Manhattan, speaking for the criminal justice council
of the bar association of New York. "Allow them into drug treatment, not
prison."
Judy Whiting, of the city bar's corrections committee, said the Rockefeller
Drug Laws have wreaked "collateral consequences" on people convicted of drug
offenses and their families and communities.
"People convicted of drug-related felonies face really serious obstacles to
joining society once they are released," she said.
Lisa Schreibersdorf, president of the state Association of Criminal Defense
Attorneys, said legislators should adopt laws to "wipe away" a first-time
offender's record for minor drug offenses.
Bridget G. Brennan, special narcotics prosecutor for New York City, said
reforms to the drug laws have reduced the amount of time people serve in
prison and the number of inmates in for drug offenses without lifting the
threat of incarceration that motivated many to kick the habit.
"The threat of incarceration is critical to the success of our programs -
and it is a critical element in the success of our efforts to keep dealers
from taking over buildings, blocks and neighborhoods," she said.
Brennan echoed prosecutor Rhonda Ferdinand, who runs alternatives to
incarceration (ATI) programs for the city. "The plain and unvarnished truth
is that for the ATI process, the harsh sentences of the Rockefeller Drug
Laws was the backbone of our success," she said, drawing hisses and boos in
response.
"Drug cases are on the wane, so somebody's doing something right," said
Assemb. Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn). "The answer may lie somewhere in
between" reducing penalties and giving incentives for treatment and curbing
the drug trade.
Copyright © 2008,
Newsday Inc.
HOY Nueva York
Contra Ley Rockefeller
Piden tratamiento médico a cambio de una celda
Alexandra Ochoa / Alexandra.ochoa@hoynyc.com |
2008-05-09
|Hoy
Nueva York
Luego de 35
años de la aplicación de las leyes Rockefeller, ayer la Asamblea Estatal de
Nueva York sostuvo la primera audiencia, de dos, con miras a cambiar los
castigos excesivos por una política de salud pública para los ofensores por
narcóticos.
Un grupo de
manifestantes, entre activistas, políticos electos, ex convictos y sus
familias sostuvieron ayer una protesta frente a las oficinas de la Asamblea
para apoyar una reforma a las leyes que durante décadas ha enviado a miles
de adictos a las cárceles por porte de dosis mínimas en lugar de ofrecerles
un tratamiento para superar su adicción.
"Estar en
la cárcel fue una pesadilla que pude superar por mi fe en Dios", dijo
Anthony Papa, quien estuvo 12 años en prisión por llevar 4 onzas de cocaína
en 1985. "Yo se que estar en la cárcel no le ayuda a nadie a dejar las
drogas por eso estamos pidiendo un acercamiento diferente al problema".
Según los
números de Drug Policy Alliance, un 90% de los presos por asuntos de drogas
son afro americanos y latinos.
Un proyecto
de ley introducido por el líder de la minoría del senado estatal el año
pasado, Eric Schneiderman, se encuentra en estudio.
"La guerra
contra las drogas ha sido sin duda la política social más devastadora y
disfuncional desde la esclavitud", dijo Jack Cole, director de Law
Enforcement Against Prohibition.
Journal News editorial
May 8, 2008
Happy
anniversary - not!
New York
state is as conflicted as they come when it comes to drug crime and
punishment. Policy-makers loathe drug dealers but pursue anti-drug
strategies that do little to reduce the number of users; they lament the
inefficiencies associated with maintaining half-empty state prisons, but
worry more about the job losses and lost political clout that would come
with consolidating prisons; many acknowledge the unfairness of our so-called
Rockefeller drug laws, which are responsible for imprisoning thousands upon
thousands of relatively minor offenders, but fail to muster the political
will to untangle the 35-year-old mess. Our drug laws not only are
ineffective, but also hinder efforts to pursue policies that might
rehabilitate people and whole communities.
Today marks the 35th anniversary
of the drug laws passed on then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller's watch, but there
will be no celebrations, just Assembly hearings in Manhattan on their
ineffectiveness, 10 a.m. in the Assembly Hearing Room, 250 Broadway, Room
1923. Long-touted legislative reforms enacted in 2004, with an eye toward
shortening the sentences of the nonviolent offenders serving the longest
mandatory sentences, resulted in freedom for just 400 offenders. Much more
should be done to fix drug laws that Robert Gangi, executive director of the
Correctional Association of New York, calls "outdated, wasteful, ineffective
and marked by racial bias."
Long prison
terms
The hallmark of the Rockefeller
measures was long, mandatory sentences for those arrested for even small
amounts of illegal drugs, curtailing the discretion exercised by judges.
Possession of just 4 ounces of cocaine would bring sentences of 15 years to
life in prison. The New York measures were among a spate of mandatory drug
laws enacted across the nation in the 1970s, spurred in large part by
rampant drug violence. Such related crime, though creeping up in some
communities, has subsided in New York; what hasn't is the number of drug
arrests, which have more than doubled since 1980, with the overwhelming
number of arrests for possession, not distribution.
Over the years, several studies
have pointed to racial disparities inherent in the measures, which have
tended to mete out harsher punishment for offenders caught with small
amounts of drugs like crack, more prevalent in minority communities, than
even larger amounts of drugs like cocaine, more prevalent among white
offenders. About 14,000 people are currently serving time in New York
prisons for drug offenses, nearly 40 percent of the prison population, at an
annual cost of approximately $36,000 per inmate. The imprisoned are
disproportionately racial minorities.
Resisting
change
More and more states, due to
widespread fiscal problems, are looking to save money by reducing their
prison populations. To the extent that those efforts divert at least some of
the savings to treatment, communities will gain. But other interests come
into play in New York; in some struggling upstate communities, the prisons
are the local economy.
Additionally, were it not for the prison populations in some upstate
Republican Senate districts, there would be insufficient numbers of people
to constitute a Senate district. No wonder Republicans, whose majority in
the Senate survives by the barest of margins, haven't been clamoring for
change. But that is what must come.
New York
should celebrate the 36th anniversary of the Rockefeller drug laws with a
drug policy that serves taxpayers, people and communities.
Ithaca Journal
Groups renew
push to ax Rockefeller drug statutes
By Jay Gallagher
May 6, 2008
ALBANY — Five and a half years ago, David Paterson, then a state senator,
was arrested for blocking the entrance to then-Gov. George Pataki's office
in Manhattan in protest over inaction in changing the state's harsh
Rockefeller drug laws.
Now Paterson is governor, and
advocates of overhauling the statutes are hoping he has retained his passion
to alter them. So far, however, he has been mum on the issue, and a
spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment Monday.
“He now has an opportunity to
exercise the kind of leadership he was advocating for then,” Robert Gangi,
executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, said Monday.
In advance of Thursday's 35th
anniversary of the enactment of the laws, Gangi's group Monday issued a
report claiming that despite some changes made to the laws in 2004, they
still unjustly imprison thousands of mostly poor and minority men while
doing little to fight the problem of illegal drugs.
The laws, adopted in 1973, were
championed by then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller as a way to fight the rapid rise
of the use of illegal drugs.
The statutes mandated that
anyone caught, for example, with as little as 4 ounces of cocaine would be
sentenced to 15-years-to-life in prison, with the judge being given no
discretion. The sentences were set according to how much drugs a person was
caught with.
“The Rockefeller Drug Laws are
outdated, wasteful, ineffective, and marked by racial bias,” Gangi said.
“They distort law enforcement practices and foster imbalance in the
adjudication of drug cases. It is time that Governor Paterson and
legislative leaders achieved the long overdue objective of removing the
35-year-old stain of these statutes from New York's penal code.”
About 14,000 people are
currently serving time in New York prisons for drug offenses — about 38
percent of the prison population. The state spends about $36,000 per inmate
in state prison.
The law enacted in 2004 has
allowed almost 400 hundred people serving the long mandatory minimum
sentences to be freed.
It also raised the weight of
cocaine that would spark the maximum sentence from 4 ounces to 8 ounces, and
cut the minimum sentence to eight years. But it still left thousands more
behind bars who ought to be freed, Gangi said.
The major changes still needed
would restore discretion to judges about whether a drug criminal should go
to prison and end the practice of having the weight of drugs in a person's
possession — rather than his or her role in the transaction — as the sole
factor in a sentence, he said.
But Senate Codes Committee
Chairman Dale Volker, R-Depew, Erie County, doesn't think the laws should be
tinkered with any further.
“The trouble with giving judges
discretion in New York City is they'd just let everybody out,” he said. “I
don't think that's a good idea at all.”
Flash!
Byrne Justice
Assistance Grant Program Must Go!!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-papa/anti-drug-task-force-fund_b_99219.html
Huffington Post
by Anthony Papa
Anti-Drug Task Force Funding Leads to Police Corruption and Destruction of
Lives
Posted April 29, 2008
In early March, a federally-funded
narcotics task force struggling to increase its fiscal support carried out a
crime sweep in 41 states. The sweep resulted in 4,200 arrests, with police
seizing large amounts of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine. Why a
massive raid? Was it the aim of the task force to eliminate street narcotics
in the name of a drug-free society? Nope. The cops were merely trying to
protect their bottom line.
The operation, called the "Byrne
Blitz," was carried out, mostly, to show the importance of the Byrne Justice
Assistance Grant Program. Byrne grants fund more than 4,000 police officers
and prosecutors that support 750 drug enforcement task forces in 50 states.
Fifty-six Attorneys-General joined twelve law enforcement groups, including
the Fraternal Order of Police, to lead the charge for increased funding and
gather support on Capitol Hill.The program's funds were drastically reduced
by Congress in 2008 to $170 million--more than two-thirds of its 2007
funding and significantly lower than its 2002 budget of nearly $900 million.
The Byrne grant program has its
critics, including the White House whose officials were quoted in the
New York Times as saying
that the program has not demonstrated results. I agree with the White House.
In fact, I would take it a step further -- the Byrne program should not be
funded at all. Dozens of major scandals exist, showing the pitfalls of the
program that has clearly wasted billions of dollars and perpetuated racial
disparities, police corruption, and civil rights abuses.
The most notorious example occurred
in 1999 in Tulia, TX. Residents of this sleepy Texas town felt a mini
version of a "Byrne Blitz" when 46 people were scooped up and arrested in a
sting operation funded by the Byrne program. Tom Coleman, an undercover cop,
conducted an 18-month, racially motivated sting that eventually earned him
the "Outstanding Lawman of the Year" award from the Attorney General of
Texas. The drug bust incarcerated almost 15 percent of the black population
in Tulia, sentencing them to a total of 750 years in prison. Coleman was
eventually discredited and found guilty of perjury. He was sentenced to 10
years probation. Thirty five of those arrested by Coleman were pardoned in
2003 by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and a $5 million settlement from an eventual
civil suit was awarded to those arrested in the Texas sting.
In 2002, a report issued by the ACLU
of Texas named 17 scandals involving Byrne-funded, anti-drug forces in
Texas. The tainted cases were rife with instances of falsifying government
records, fabricating evidence and other abuses of power. Recent scandals in
other states include the misuse of millions of dollars in federal grant
money in Kentucky and Massachusetts, and false convictions based on police
perjury in Missouri. The list goes on with additional abuses in Alabama,
Arkansas, Georgia, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The Byrne grant program has been
criticized for wasting tax dollars and failing to reduce crime. Several
leading conservative groups, such as the American Conservative Union and
Citizens Against Government Waste, have called on Congress to completely
eliminate the Byrne program because it has been proven to be an ineffective
and inefficient use of resources.
The original intent of the Byrne
program was to provide financial support to state and local governments to
make communities safe and improve criminal justice systems. This surely is
not the case, based on its history of corruption and the destruction of
human lives. In this struggling economy, misguided policies from the federal
government need to be eliminated, not supported.
Anthony Papa is author of
15 To Life:
How I Painted my Way to Freedom,
and a communications specialist for Drug Policy Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org).
______________________________
Flash: April 24, 2008:
Assembly Hearings on Rockefeller—May 8 in NYC, May 15 in Rochester
Dear Friends,
An
important development has emerged in the last few days related to the
Rockefeller Drug Laws. This email contains important information about this
development and some potential next steps. Please read down, including the
invitation to a conference call next Wednesday, April 30, at 2 p.m.
Over the
course of the last year, many of us have worked together to advance a public
health approach to drug policy in New York. We have generally agreed that
getting rid of the failed Rockefeller Drug Laws is not enough—New York needs
a coordinated drug policy guided by public health principles, not prison
politics.
The
Assembly has heeded our call. On Monday, the Assembly announced an
invitation-only hearing held by six Assembly Committees: Codes, Corrections,
Judiciary, Health, Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, and Social Services. I don’t
know when there has been a six-committee joint hearing in the Assembly
before, making this an unprecedented opportunity for us to advance our
cause.
We have
worked hard over the last many months to develop consensus on a range of
critical issues related to real reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. People
on this email list represent groups working in ATI’s, re-entry, drug
treatment, sentencing reform, direct services, mental health, civil
liberties, harm reduction, families and friends of the incarcerated,
formerly incarcerated people, community members, and more. We make a
remarkable team. The legislation we’ve crafted together will no doubt
receive a significant boost as a result of these hearings. And the hearings
are an opportunity to transform the way our drug policies are discussed,
crafted, implemented, measured and evaluated. I believe this is a real
chance for us to re-frame the issue—move it outside of the criminal justice
paradigm, and into a public health paradigm. Put another way, this is an
opportunity for us to change the game.
It is
important that we all sign up to testify at the committee hearings—and it is
equally important that we coordinate our efforts so that our collective
message is loud and clear, and that our individual voices can ring strong.
Next Wednesday, April 30, we will hold a conference call to discuss the
Hearings, coordinate a strategy for our testimonies, and make sure we’re
hitting all the right points. Can you join us on the call?
Conference Call
Wednesday, April 30 2 – 3 p.m. Conference Call in number: 877-306-8255
Conference ID 3297365
This call
will be to:
·
discuss the Assembly hearings
·
coordinate our testimonies,
to ensure that the Committee Chairs at the hearings hear about the need for
a new paradigm in New York.
·
Identify key action steps for
May 8 and May 15, including media messaging.
·
Coordinate follow up steps
post-hearings.
I will be
following up with most of you in advance of the call. I imagine there might
be many questions, so please feel free to call me directly on my cell phone
at 646-335-2264 if you’d like to talk. ~gabriel sayegh
Enclosed is
the Assembly announcement. The Hearing dates are on Thursday May 8 in NYC—on
the 35th anniversary of the Rockefeller Drug Laws—and on May 15
in Rochester.
ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON CODES
ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON CORRECTION
ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE
ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL SERVICES
NOTICE OF JOINT PUBLIC HEARING
Oral Testimony by Invitation
Only
SUBJECT:
The Rockefeller Drug Laws – 35 Years Later.
PURPOSE:
To explore the impact of the “Rockefeller Drug Laws” on drug addiction,
drug-related health problems and drug-related crime; to examine the impact of
the 2004 and 2005 reforms of these drug laws in addressing drug abuse and the
illegal drug trade; to examine the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment
services as an alternative to incarceration and as a means to address offender
recidivism; to determine the adequacy and effectiveness of existing substance
abuse treatment services and resources; to explore whether the current criminal
sentence structure should be continued or whether judges should have additional
discretion to divert drug abusers into treatment as an alternative to
incarceration; to examine access and barriers to social services for persons
with a history of substance abuse released from incarceration.
|
DATE |
LOCATION |
TIME |
|
Thursday, May 8, 2008 |
Assembly Hearing
Room
250 Broadway, Room
1923, 19th Floor
New York, New York |
10:00 A.M. |
|
Thursday, May 15, 2008 |
City Hall Council
Chambers
30 Church St., Room
302-A
Rochester, New York |
10:30 A.M. |
May 8,
2008, is the 35th anniversary of the enactment of New York’s
“Rockefeller Drug Laws.” The stated purpose of these laws was to deter the use
and sale of drugs by imposing harsh mandatory prison sentences on drug
offenders. There have been a number of amendments to those laws over the
years. Recently, in 2004, New York amended the drug laws recognizing that a
drug policy which focused purely on inflexible criminal sanctions was
ineffective. At the time, both the Executive and the Legislature recognized
that while significant, the 2004 reforms, as well as a 2005 amendment,
represented just a first step towards meaningful reform and that other major
changes to the drug laws were urgently needed. However, since 2004 only the
Assembly has passed legislation to further reform New York’s drug laws.
Despite
sentencing reforms, large numbers of drug offenders continue to be incarcerated
in New York State prisons. As of January 1, 2008, 13,425 drug offenders were in
state prison representing more than 21% of the male prison population and more
than 33% of the female population. Statistics show that a large majority of
this population has never been convicted of a violent offense and up to 40% are
incarcerated for drug possession rather than for selling drugs. Notably, the
Rockefeller Drug Laws have disproportionately impacted communities of color –
more than 90% of all drug offenders in New York State prisons are Black or
Latino.
After 35
years of a drug policy focused on punishment with concomitant spending of
billions of dollars to put people in prison, the question raised is whether the
effort has been worth it and if not, whether New York’s laws should be amended.
Indeed, many argue that it may be time to broaden New York’s approach to
addressing drug addiction.
Unquestionably, drug abuse is a serious public health problem that affects
families and almost every community. Each year, even under the current scheme
of drug law enforcement, drug abuse results in an estimated 40 million serious
illnesses or injuries in the United States. Drug addiction is a treatable
disease, so among issues raised is whether a system that focuses on preventing
and treating drug addiction rather than simply incarcerating individuals will
result in a reduction in the use and sale of drugs – something mandatory
imprisonment laws have failed to accomplish.
Persons
wishing to present pertinent testimony to the Committees at the joint public
hearing should complete and return the enclosed reply form as soon as possible.
It is important that the reply form be fully completed and returned so that
persons may be notified in the event of emergency postponement or cancellation.
Oral
testimony will be accepted by invitation
only and limited to ten (10) minutes’
duration. In preparing the order of witnesses, the Committees will attempt to
accommodate individual requests to speak at particular times in view of special
circumstances. These requests should be made on the attached reply form or
communicated to the Committees’ staff as early as possible.
Twenty
(20) copies of any
prepared testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk. The
Committees would appreciate advance receipt of prepared statements. In order to
further publicize these hearings, please inform interested parties and
organizations of the Committees’ interest in receiving testimony from all
sources.
In order
to meet the needs of those who may have a disability, the Assembly, in
accordance with its policy of non-discrimination on the basis of disability, as
well as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has made its facilities
and services available to all individuals with disabilities. For individuals
with disabilities, accommodations will be provided, upon reasonable request, to
afford such individuals access and admission to Assembly facilities and
activities.
|
JOSEPH R. LENTOL
Member of Assembly
Chair, Committee on Codes |
HELENE E. WEINSTEIN
Member of Assembly
Chair, Committee on Judiciary |
JEFFRION L. AUBRY
Member of Assembly
Chair, Committee on Correction |
|
RICHARD N. GOTTFRIED
Member of Assembly
Chair, Committee on Health |
FELIX ORTIZ
Member of Assembly
Chair, Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse |
KEITH L. T. WRIGHT
Member of Assembly
Chair, Committee on Social Services |
SELECTED ISSUES TO WHICH WITNESSES MAY DIRECT THEIR TESTIMONY:
1.
Has New York’s
drug policy over the last 35 years reduced drug use, drug-related health
problems, and drug-related criminal behavior? If not, how should it change to
more effectively reduce drug addiction and related problems?
2.
Are mandatory
sentences of imprisonment an effective part of a drug policy strategy? Should
judges have discretion to sentence class B or above drug offenders and second
felony drug offenders to drug treatment programs as an alternative to
incarceration? Would expanding the number of drug offenders eligible for court
ordered drug abuse treatment as a potential alternative to incarceration help
break the cycle of addiction and crime and make our streets, homes and
communities safer?
3.
How many drug
courts are currently operating in the state? Are there sufficient
community-based treatment programs available to serve individuals participating
in the drug court program? How are the community-based programs utilized by
drug courts funded and what additional resources, if any, are necessary? What
changes, if any, should New York’s court system make to better address drug
abuse and drug abuse related crime?
4.
What role should
prosecutors and judges play in determining which offenders are diverted into
alternative to incarceration programs?
5.
How effective is
substance abuse treatment at reducing the rate of recidivism among persons
convicted of crimes? What kinds of programs,
supervision and resources would most effectively reduce the incidence of drug
use and drug-related crime?
6.
How effective
have existing programs (for example, Drug Treatment Alternatives to Prison and
“Road to Recovery”) been in addressing substance abuse and dependency? Are
there other prosecutor-sponsored and non-prosecutor sponsored initiatives that
are as, or more effective?
7.
What substance
abuse treatment services exist within New York State’s prisons and jails and do
they sufficiently meet the needs of inmates with a history of drug and alcohol
abuse?
8.
What pre-release
procedures used by the Department of Correctional Services and the Division of
Parole help ensure successful community integration of persons released from
prison who have a history of substance abuse? What steps are taken to ensure
that there is a continuity of treatment between prison and community substance
abuse treatment?
9.
What substance
abuse treatment programs and resources are currently available in the community
for persons released from jail and prison, and do they adequately meet the needs
of the tens of thousands of persons released from jail and prison in New York
each year?
10.
What are the
barriers faced by formerly incarcerated individuals with a history of substance
abuse in obtaining public benefits, medical assistance, and affordable, suitable
and stable housing? Is specific legislation needed to improve the process and
assist these individuals in applying for and obtaining public benefits? Are
employment, training, and/or educational programs available through local
Departments of Social Services for formerly incarcerated individuals with a
history of substance abuse? What impact do such programs have on drug abuse
relapse and recidivism? What can be done to improve employment and training
opportunities for this population?
11.
What is the cost
to taxpayers of the current mandatory incarceration laws? Are there potential
cost savings that can be derived from diverting more defendants into substance
abuse treatment as a potential alternative to incarceration?
12.
Two proposals
have been offered recently that proponents say are designed to encourage
addicted persons to seek treatment. One would decriminalize the possession of a
small, residual amount of a controlled substance in a hypodermic syringe when
the syringe is given to an authorized needle exchange program pursuant to
section 3381 (1) of the Public Health Law (A.6337). A second proposal would
encourage addicted persons and others to seek emergency assistance for persons
seriously ill from a drug overdose (A.8740). This proposal would restrict the
use in criminal court of evidence concerning the possession of a controlled
substance when such evidence is obtained as a result of the person seeking or
receiving health care services. Are these proposals meritorious?
_____________________
Flash: March 28, 2008
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080328/NEWS01/803280350/1002/NEWS01
ALBANY
— Advocates at the Capitol Thursday asked lawmakers to overturn the mandatory
sentences required by the Rockefeller-era drug laws and instead let judges
decide how long offenders should stay in prison.
Under current
law, drug offenders are sent to prison when they would benefit more from drug
treatment, which would also save the state money, said Robert Gangi, executive
director of the Correctional Association.
Would you rather
run into a drug user on the street who has been in a treatment facility for the
last three years or that has done three years in Attica (prison)?” he said.
Members of the Correctional Association and other groups in the Drop the Rock
coalition were among many advocates who took their issues to the Capitol in a
last-minute effort to get their agendas reflected in the state budget. Lawmakers
are supposed to have a spending plan before the new fiscal year begins — April 1
— but they are behind schedule.
Environmental
advocates pushed for passage of the “bigger better bottle bill,” which would
require non-carbonated beverages — water and juices — to carry the same 5-cent
deposit as soda and beer containers. They also pushed for congestion pricing for
New York City — an additional tax on those who drive into parts of Manhattan
during peak travel hours during the week. The goal of the measure would be to
discourage car use in the city, improve the environment and encourage more to
use mass transportation.
Education
advocates urged lawmakers to increase the income tax for people who earn $1
million or more a year to help fund the state's education system.
The
Rockefeller-era drug laws, enacted in 1973, require long prison terms for the
possession or sale of a relatively small amount of drugs, Gangi said.
Drop the Rock
members said that reforms to the drug laws in 2004 and 2005 did not go far
enough. Prison terms for non-violent offenders who don't buy or sell large
amounts of drugs should be shortened, and the state should increase money for
drug treatment and other alternatives to incarceration, they said.
There are about
13,400 drug offenders in state prisons at a cost of $500 million per year, or
almost $37,000 per inmate per year, Gangi said.
The state should
invest in alternative drug treatment, he said.
An outpatient
drug treatment service can cost between $2,700 and $4,500 per person per year,
and residential drug treatment centers can cost between $17,000 and $21,000 per
person per year, Gangi said.
The number of
drug offenders in prison is declining, according to the state Department of
Correctional Services.
“For the 11th
year in a row the number of drug felons under custody has been reduced,”
correction department spokeswoman Linda Foglia said. “There were 10,084 fewer
drug offenders
under custody
than there were in 1996 when the number peaked at 23,511 drug offenders - that's
a 43 percent reduction.”
However, there
has been a recent spike in newly incarcerated inmates with drug charges, jumping
from 5,657 in 2004 to 6,148 in 2007, she said.
Assembly
Corrections Committee Chairman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, has proposed a bill
that would effectively dissolve the mandatory minimum sentencing laws and
replace them with new, suggested sentencing guidelines for judges to follow when
sentencing drug offenders.
Sen. Dale
Volker, R-Depew, Erie County, said he thinks sentencing guidelines are a good
idea but could allow too many dangerous offenders to slip through unpunished.
Many drug offenders could benefit more from treatment than jail time, he said.
“I believe in
treatment, I believe that we should not send low-level offenders to jail unless
under extreme circumstances,” such as if they are repeat offenders, he said.
“Very, very few
people go to jail under the Rockefeller Drug Laws,” Volker said, only the
biggest drug dealers.
“It is the
re-offenders, not the new offenders, that are creating the problems with
prisons,” he said.
dosburn@nycap.rr.com
Flash: march 5, 2008 :russell simmons
might finish what he started in 2003
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=3&aid=79139
Governor Responds To
Hip Hop Moguls Demand For Drug Law Reform
March 05, 2008
The governor
responded Wednesday to some very heated language used by hip hop mogul Russell
Simmons to describe his stance on the Rockefeller drug laws. Speaking out on
NY1's "Inside City Hall" Tuesday, Simmons said Eliot Spitzer is failing to live
up to promises to reform the state's strict drug laws. Political reporter Josh
Robin filed the following report. “I'm very disappointed in the governor. I
should say that the hip hop is getting ready to get in his ass,” Russell Simmons
said on Tuesday night’s “Inside City Hall.”
Simmons says Governor
Eliot Spitzer as a candidate talked a good game about reforming the Rockefeller
drug laws. But 14 months after inauguration, some feel cheated. "He promised all
of us that he would do something about this prison reform issue,” said Simmons.
The fiery issue is a
set of laws among the strictest in the nation, demanding sentences for the sale
or possession of drugs. African Americans and Latinos are hit especially hard,
making up 91 percent of those behind bars. The laws account for 21 percent of
the prison population, costing a half billion dollars a year.
Running for office,
Spitzer impressed advocates. "As a candidate, Eliot Spitzer was enthusiastically
in favor of reform of Rockefeller,” said Assemblyman Jeffion Aubry. “I will
continue to support efforts to reform these laws," he said in a survey. It’s a
position he reiterated Wednesday, but now with a caveat.
"We're trying to come
up with something that is reasoned that will maintain safety. People should not
forget, we have seen a dramatic drop in crime over the years in New York State,”
said Spitzer. “And that's because – I can say this as a prosecutor – we
prosecute crimes, we're tough, we lock up those that are guilty. And so we have
to be very measured and reasoned in what we do.”
A recent spike in the
release of violent criminals has Spitzer on the defensive, although aides noted
a majority of the parole board's appointees are carryovers from the Pataki
administration. Spitzer did set up a commission that recommended in some cases
alternatives to prison, but only with the agreement of the court, the defense
and the prosecution.
Some feel no real
reforms will happen until the State Senate is stripped of its Republican control
– a margin now at just one seat.
"We're really
counting on 2009 when hopefully there will be the leadership in Albany across
the board to push for major Rockefeller reform together, with a comprehensive
reform of New York's drug policies,” said Ethan Nadelmann of Drug Policy
Alliance, an advocacy group against the nation’s war on drugs.
As for Simmons'
remarks, Spitzer still calls him a friend. – Josh Robin
__________________________
HUFFINGTON POST
Posted March 4, 2008 | 06:25 PM (EST)
by Anthony
Papa
Does former President Bill Clinton
want to become a drug policy reform advocate? On its face, it would seem
that way following President Clinton's keynote speech at the University of
Pennsylvania last week commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Kerner
Commission report that addressed the causes of racial disturbances in the
1960s. Clinton admitted his administration's failure to end the racial
disparities in sentencing of powder and crack cocaine offenses. He said he
regretted not doing more about it, and that he would be prepared to spend a
significant portion of his life trying to make amends.
President Clinton's comments came on
the heels of historic changes recently enacted by the U.S. Sentencing
Commission that gives judges the ability to retroactively reduce the
sentences of 20,000 crack cocaine offenders. The law went into effect on
March 4, 2008 when 1,600 offenders became immediately eligible for release
and thousands of others would be eligible in years to follow. Criminal
penalties for possession and sales of cocaine are severe. But the penalties
for crack cocaine are more severe, despite the fact that pharmacologically
they are identical. Under federal law, 500 grams of powdered cocaine is
equivalent to five grams of crack cocaine. Despite the majority of users
being whites or Hispanic, the majority of those incarcerated for crack
cocaine crimes are black. The 100-to-1 sentencing disparity has been
condemned by a wide array of criminal justice and civil rights groups for
its racially discriminatory impact.
Some critics would be quick to say
Clinton's statement is nothing more than a political ploy to generate
support for his wife's presidential run and his new-found concern is too
little too late. I would give Clinton the benefit of the doubt and welcome
him to tackle the tough drug policy issues that exist. This includes
battling the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws, which incarcerate a majority
of blacks excessively long sentences. Out of the 12,000 or so drug prisoners
in the state of New York, 91 percent are black and Latino. It makes sense
for him to take interest in this issue since the Clintons live in Chappaqua,
New York, not far from two maximum security prisons, Bedford Hills
Correctional Facility and Sing Sing. Additionally, Clinton has his office
headquartered in Harlem, a community heavily affected by these drug laws.
Clinton
should read the recently released report by Pew's Public Safety Performance
Project on incarceration rates. It found that one in 15 black adults is
incarcerated and also one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34 is
finding his way into our gulags. Clinton can be a valuable asset to the drug
policy reform movement and help dismantle unfair drug laws that waste
valuable tax dollars and destroy lives. Let's give him a chance to do right
by New York's communities of color.
Anthony Papa is a communications
specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance Network.
h
http://timesunion.com/TUNews/author/AuthorPage.aspx?AuthorNum=58
Flash! Governor Spitzer Grants No Clemencies in 2007!
Albany Times Union
Spitzer puts clemency in cooler
Advocates for inmates expected governor to show more compassion
By PAUL GRONDAHL Staff writer
First published: Saturday, December 29, 2007
ALBANY -- Going against gubernatorial tradition and the practice of his
predecessors, Gov. Eliot Spitzer has not granted any executive clemencies this
holiday season.
That's prompted criticism from prisoner advocates, who said he missed an
opportunity to improve his plummeting approval ratings by showing mercy and
letting worthy inmates out of prison early after they've served many years
behind bars.
"He's behaving like Ebenezer Scrooge," said Robert Gangi, executive director
of the Correctional Association of New York State. "We expected mercy and a big
heart from him, with so many prisoners awaiting clemency. It's very
disappointing."
A total of 333 of the 63,500 inmates in the state prison system met the
requirements this year to apply for executive clemency, also known as a
commutation of sentence. That power was granted to the governor in the state
constitution of 1777.
Spitzer did grant a pardon last week, to Frederick Lake, a Jamaican immigrant
who spent six years in prison for robbery. Lake has lived in Brooklyn with his
wife and sons since 1997, and Spitzer's pardon spared Lake from deportation.
By comparison, the three previous governors, each of whom served multiple
terms, used the clemency power freely: Pataki, 32 times; Cuomo, 37 times; and
Carey, 155 times.
Spitzer does not have a formal policy on the practice, said Jennifer Givner,
a spokeswoman. "We carefully review clemency and pardon requests on a
case-by-case basis," she said.
Anthony Papa is disappointed by Spitzer's dearth of clemencies and pardons.
He was granted clemency on Dec. 23, 1996, by Pataki, who was cast as a
law-and-order Republican after winning election with a call to reinstate the
death penalty.
Papa, who's now a prisoner advocate, said the conventional wisdom was that
Spitzer, a Democrat, would be a kinder, gentler governor on matters of crime and
punishment.
"It totally floored me that Spitzer didn't show some compassion and give
clemencies," said Papa, who served 12 years of his 15-to-life sentence for a
drug conviction.
"Spitzer could be countering his downward spiral in the polls by showing some
mercy with clemencies. Instead, he's playing it safe politically," said Papa,
author of a memoir, "15 to Life." He's a communications specialist for the Drug
Policy Alliance, a national group headquartered in New York that is working to
repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
The director of Prison Families of New York, based in Albany was also
disappointed.
"The governor knows there are many cases that were overly sentenced and this
is his opportunity to make a political statement," said Alison Coleman.
Exercising the power of executive clemency carries a political risk,
especially for those with presidential aspirations, as Cuomo and governors of
other states discovered.
"The use of the pardoning power of a governor of a state is constantly
subject to severe criticism from many sources," Edward G. Griffin, counsel to
Gov. Al Smith, wrote in 1928.
When Smith ran for president that year, he was attacked for his record number
of clemencies in 1924: 92 pardons and 79 commutations of sentences.
Gangi said Spitzer's approach is particularly vexing to prison advocates who
applauded his campaign platform of repealing the Rockefeller Drug Laws and
reforming Pataki's harsh stance on parole.
"We applaud the governor for appointing progressive people to key criminal
justice positions in his administration," Gangi said. "But that has not yet
translated into his taking progressive positions, and I hope this doesn't signal
that he's taking a hard-line stance on criminal justice issues."
There are other avenues for inmates; Cheri O'Donoghue tried several ways on
behalf of her son, Ashley, 24, who was denied clemency by Spitzer after serving
four years of a 7-to-21-year sentence on a cocaine sale conviction while he was
a student at Hamilton College.
"It's a shame because I expected a whole lot more out of Governor Spitzer
based on his inaugural speech about Day One," said O'Donoghue, of Manhattan, who
volunteers as a prisoner advocate.
Her son applied and was accepted for a work-release program. He'll be
transferred in February to a Manhattan facility that allows furloughs and other
privileges as a reward for good behavior.
"Luckily, we didn't pin all our hopes on Governor Spitzer because he's not
the savior that prison families expected after all those years of Pataki," she
said. Grondahl can be reached at 454-5623 or by e-mail at
pgrondahl@timesunion.com.
__________________________
New York Daily News
The Daily Politics
Spitzer = Scrooge? (Updated)
By Elizabeth Benjamin
December 28, 2007
Drug law reform activists are furious at Gov. Eliot Spitzer for declining to
grant any clemencies during his first year in office, saying that flies in the
face of a promise his made during the 2006 campaign to "continue to support
efforts to reform these laws."
"This is a cold-heart, hard-line approach to sentencing issues that we hope
does not reflect whatever posture he ultimately takes on the drug laws," said
Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, an
organization chartered by the Legislature to monitor conditions in the state’s
prisons and issue reports on prison-related issues.
Gangi compared Spitzer to Ebenezer Scrooge before he’s visited by the ghost
of Jacob Marley."
That position that is shared by the George Soros-funded Drug Policy Alliance,
which issued a press release yesterday that included quotes from Anthony Papa <
http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/anothervoice/story/238256.html>
, a drug-offender-turned-activist who was granted clemency by former Gov. George
Pataki in 1996.
"I know first-hand how meaningful a holiday clemency can be," Papa said. "For
the last ten years, I’ve been a productive member of society instead of being
locked in a cage for a first-time, nonviolent offense, costing taxpayers nearly
half a million dollars. The governor, with one stroke of his pen, can allow
others to have the same opportunity that I had."
Spitzer did grant a single pardon this year <
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2007/12/spitzers-christmas-pardon.html>
to Frederick Lake, a Brooklyn man who faced deportation back to his native
Jamaica due to his criminal record. The governor stressed that he had acted in
this case in the interest of preventing Lake from being forced to return home -
not because he believed Lake’s claim of innocence, thereby injecting himself
into an immigration debate (which didn’t work so well the last time <http://gothamist.com/2007/11/14/steamrolled_spi.php>
).
Unlike a pardon, which erases a conviction from the records, a clemency
merely reduces an offender’s sentence. The Parole Board must sign off on
clemencies, but historically it has rarely opposed a governor’s wishes.
According to Spitzer spokeman Errol Cockfield, who confirmed the governor
does not intend to grant any clemencies this year, the Spitzer administration
received some 333 clemency requests as of Nov. 1, 2007.
NOTE: That number is updated with information from the state Division of
Parole, which is the entry point for these applications.
"We review each clemency application carefully and come to a decision on a
case by case basis," Cockfield said, noting that applicants must meet basic
criteria such as having served a minimum of one year in prison and not already
being eligible for parole.
Drug law advocates were particularly concerned about Spitzer’s failure to
issue any clemencies because it comes on the heels of a preliminary report from
his Commission on Sentencing Reform that included no drug law reform
recommendations.
The governor could have "sent a message" by granting clememcy to one or more
offenders serving time under the drug laws, Gangi said, but his decision not to,
coupled with his virtual silence on the topic in general and the commission’s
decision to bypass it, does not bode well for this issue in the future.
UPDATE2: The administration also helpfully provided some stats on clemencies
past, which appear after the jump.
1990 1 1991 2 1992 2 1993 2 1994 4 1995 2 1996 7 1997 4 1998 0 1999 5 2000 5
2001 3 2002 4 2003 1 2004 0 2005 1 2006 0
The above are all commutation of sentence
2003 1 posthumous pardon (use of foul language in a public forum, given to
comedian Lenny Bruce by former Gov. George Pataki).
_________________________
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/29/opinion/lweb29pardon.html?ref=opinion
The New York Times
A Lone Pardon This Year
By Anthony Papa December 29, 2007
To the Editor:
Re "Spitzer Pardons Ex-Convict to Spare Him Deportation" (news article, Dec.
22):
Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s attempt to show compassion this holiday season fell way
off the mark. Mr. Spitzer’s single pardon to an individual set free 10 years
ago, coupled with the fact that he did not grant one clemency, was nothing more
than a safe political move.
There are many nonviolent Rockefeller drug law offenders who have already
served lengthy sentences but are stuck in prison because of a continuing
political quagmire. Traditionally, these offenders have been granted clemency at
Christmastime.
Former Gov. George Pataki, who was known for his toughness on crime, granted
clemencies to 28 of them, including me. To give none of those offenders who
applied for clemency a chance to be united with their families is a crying
shame.
Anthony Papa
New York, Dec. 24, 2007
The writer is a communications specialist at the Drug Policy Alliance.
_________________________
http://www.buffalonews.com/149/story/238256.html
Another Voice / Drug laws
Spitzer could recoup with an act of
compassion
By Anthony Papa
Updated: 12/28/07 6:55 AM
Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer’s approval
rating is at an all-time low of 36 percent, according to a survey by
the Siena College Research Institute. This is a far cry from his 69
percent approval rating when he took office. The survey polled about
1,000 voters in December, of which 47 percent said the governor
should become a “kinder, gentler governor.” But 41 percent of
Republicans said they doubt whether the transformation can be made.
The question I pose is: “How can
Spitzer counter his downward spiral and start winning back the
voters of New York State?” One answer is to show the citizens of New
York that, despite the negativity generated from the trials and
tribulations of his governorship, he is still an individual who
shows compassion for others. Compassion, a virtue found in many
great leaders, is said to be not sentiment but the act of making
justice through works of mercy.
This holiday season, I recommend that
Spitzer go on a personal rescue mission and grant executive clemency
to the large number of Rockefeller Drug Law prisoners who have fully
rehabilitated themselves and already have served large amounts of
time behind bars under the draconian provisions of mandatory minimum
sentencing.
In granting a record number of
clemencies, Spitzer would be following in the wake of recent trends
that favor reducing racial disparities precipitated by the War on
Drugs. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court returned to judges
their discretion over following the rigid structure of federal
sentencing guidelines in drug cases, and the U.S. Sentencing
Commission created changes in crack cocaine sentencing that would
retroactively set free 20,000 prisoners.
Traditionally, at Christmas time New
York’s governor grants executive clemency to a number of
individuals. Former Republican Gov. George E. Pataki granted 32 in
his career, with 28 of them being Rockefeller Drug Law prisoners
(point of disclosure: I was one of them). Gov. Mario Cuomo granted
33 and Gov. Hugh Carey gave out 155.
If granted clemency, a prisoner
immediately becomes eligible for parole. Although parole is not
guaranteed, the New York State Parole Board has released the
majority of prisoners whose sentences were commuted.
Today there are almost 14,000
individuals imprisoned under the Rockefeller Drug Laws; 90 percent
of them are black and Latino. Despite two minor reforms in 2004 and
2005, a welcomed first step, the majority of Rockefeller prisoners
were not touched by the changes. For many who have fallen through
the cracks, their only hope to regain their freedom is through the
act of executive clemency.
There will be many families praying
this holiday season that Spitzer shows his compassion for those who
have taken it upon themselves to improve their lives and are ready
to re-enter society as productive citizens.
Anthony Papa is
the author of “15 to Life”and a communications specialist for
theDrug Policy Alliance. |
FLASH!!!! December 19, 2007 A Call to governor
spitzer to grant executive clemency to rockefeller offenders who have fallen in
the cracks of a political Quagmire
Letters to the editor
December 14 2007
A first change in drug sentencing
Re "Justices OK latitude on sentencing," Dec. 11
Finally, the Supreme Court has positively reacted to the cruelty of a bad
sentencing law that has been tossed around between legislatures and the courts
for 20 years. In that time, an alarming number of people's lives have been
destroyed by racially discriminatory crack-cocaine laws that disproportionately
sentenced people of color. However, the decision to give judges more power to
use sentencing discretion is only a first step in correcting these clearly
draconian laws that were constructed because of the politics of the drug war. I
hope it sends a clear message to prosecutors that mandatory minimum sentences
are a part of an archaic judicial structure that needs to be overhauled in the
name of justice.
Anthony Papa
Communications Specialist
Drug Policy Alliance
New York
12/11/07
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=446&Itemid=1
The U.S. Sentencing Commission has
acknowledged the obvious: that penalties for possession of "crack" cocaine, as
opposed to the powdered kind, amount to racist law designed to
disproportionately incarcerate African Americans. Despite the Sentencing
Commission's recommendation that Congress repeal its racist crack cocaine
laws, the U.S. Justice Department resists righting the historical wrong, warning
that release of crack offenders would open "the flood gates of hell." Rather,
Bush's demonic bureaucrats rush to defend the citadels of the American Black
Prison Gulag, an abomination unmatched on the planet - slavery's incarnation in
the 21st Century.
Change Racist Crack Cocaine Laws
by Anthony Papa
"Only the U.S. Congress can
eliminate the racist sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine."
This article previously appeared in
Counterpunch.
Does the number 1 equal 100? In common
math it does not, but when you are talking federal drug sentencing it
unfortunately does. If you distribute just five grams of crack, it carries a
minimum five-year federal prison sentence. If you distribute 500 grams of powder
cocaine, it carries the same sentence. This 100:1 sentencing disparity has been
condemned for its racially discriminatory impact by a wide array of criminal
justice and civil rights groups. Hispanics and whites make up the majority of
crack cocaine users, but the majority of those convicted under crack cocaine
offenses are African Americans.
After
many years of heated debate over the issue of crack vs. powder cocaine
sentencing disparities, the
U.S. Sentencing Commission decided to ease the penalties for crack on
November 1, 2007. A hearing was held on November 13 to determine whether or not
to apply retroactively recommended revisions to the federal guidelines that
lowered the minimum sentences for crack cocaine-related offenses. If
recommended, about 4,000 prisoners will be released this year by shaving an
average of two years off their sentences, with almost 16,000 to follow. In
theory, it would be the largest single act to reduce the sentences of federal
prisoners.
"The Justice Department quickly
put out a statement saying that the proposed changes to the law would put
thousands of violent criminals back on the streets."
Critics
were quick to exploit the age-old defensive argument that the flood gates of
hell would be opened if such an action were to become law. The Justice
Department quickly put out a statement saying that the proposed changes to the
law would put thousands of violent criminals back on the streets. The National
Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys warned that by freeing thousands of
prisoners it would overburden prosecutors. Advocates rebutted saying that if
the law is passed it will be a small step towards mitigating the sentence
disparity between crack and powder cocaine, which disproportionately affects
people of color. Even federal judges like Chief Justice Robert Pratt of Iowa,
has said that talk of a sudden large amount of freed prisoners was inflated, and
that workloads should not prevent creating fair sentencing in crack cocaine
cases that serves the interests of justice.
Some say
that Congress probably did not set out to pass racially discriminatory crack
cocaine laws some twenty years ago. Whether or not these laws were created with
the intention of targeting African Americans, let's make no mistake about it: it
has. Jasmine Tyler, deputy director of national affairs for the Drug Policy
Alliance, said, "We are encouraged by the U.S. Sentencing Commission's
commitment to do what is in their power to address harsh crack cocaine
sentences, and we are hopeful that the Commission will apply this relief
retroactively. However, only the U.S. Congress can eliminate the racist
sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine sentences and we implore
them to do so now."
"Pharmacologically they are the
same drug."
The
unfair sentencing that is in effect was enacted based on the many myths that
surround crack use. These included media stories that told of a "crack baby"
epidemic in the 1980s, stories now found to be greatly exaggerated or flat-out
lies. Research now shows that factors such as smoking and drinking,
malnutrition, inadequate sleep, and poverty are responsible for the many
pre-natal ailments associated with crack use. Criminal penalties for possession
and sales of cocaine are severe. But the penalties for crack cocaine are much
more severe, despite the fact that pharmacologically they are the same drug. If
these suggested changes, take affect and are applied retroactively, it will do a
lot to balance the scales of justice in reforming a bad law that has dished out
unfair sentences to people convicted of crack cocaine offenses.
Anthony Papa is the author of "15
to Life" and a communications specialist for the
Drug Policy Alliance. He can be contacted at
tpapa@drugpolicy.org
This e-mail address is being
protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
____________
http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/inthemeantime/contentview.asp?c=204651
http://www.blackathlete.net/artman2/publish/Commentary_1/Barry_Bonds_And_The_Drug_War.shtml
Barry
Bonds And The Drug War
A Different Look At The BALCO
Scandalby Anthony Papa, tpapa@drugpolicy.org
POSTED: Nov 27, 2007
NEW YORK
-- What does the war on drugs have to do with baseball? Just
ask Barry Bonds who was just indicted by federal prosecutors
on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.
Bonds is now facing up to 30
years in prison if convicted. Anti-doping advocates,
including America’s deputy drug czar, are calling for jail
time for baseball players who use steroids saying that it
may be the only effective deterrent for curbing illegal use.
Let’s face it, while Bonds’s
indictment for lying to a grand jury may have legal basis,
the real underlying reason for this federal indictment four
years after the BALCO investigation is their failure to get
Bonds to admit he had used steroids or any other
performance-enhancing drugs.
In that case a business named
Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) was alleged to be
distributing illegal performance -- enhancing drugs was
investigated by several governmental agencies. This
resulted in a huge scandal which involved many major league
baseball players and led to Major League Baseball initiating
penalties for players caught using steroids in 2004.
Well now the government is
ready to take down the home-run king along with the entire
sport of baseball by pushing their personal agenda of a zero
tolerance for drug use.
Travis Tygart, head of the
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency thinks that Major League Baseball’s
rules concerning the use of performance-enhancing drugs such
as steroids don’t pack enough of a wallop in terms of
functioning as a real deterrent. He is rooting for Bonds to
be imprisoned so it sends a clear message.
Imprisonment of
record-breaking hitters like Bonds will not solve baseball’s
problem. I know this is true because of the failed war on
drugs. The United States has the highest incarceration rate
in the world.
It has 5% of the world’s
population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners, with more than
2.3 million citizens sitting behind bars, a rate of one in
every 136 U.S. residents.
About 55% of all federal and
over 20% of all state prisoners are convicted of drug-law
violations with many of them serving mandatory-minimum
sentences for simple possession offences. And despite all
of the incarceration drug use and drug availability are as
prevalent as ever. Are we now going to add major league
players to drug war statistics?
For the sake of argument, what
if Bonds did use steroids? Does he belong in jail? He is
not the first athlete to use them and he will not be the
last. The pursuit for athletic superiority through the use
of chemicals has been around a long time. Before steroids
were officially banned in the early 1970’s, almost 70% of
all Olympic athletes had used them.
Is it ethical and morally
right to sentence someone to a lengthy prison term for
putting substances in their own bodies? The premise for
prosecuting the other war with no exit strategy – the drug
war -- has slowly but surely infiltrated the public’s eye
through different vehicles.
Now the feds attempt to bring
their message through the sport of baseball. Bonds joins
the ranks of the demonized including medical marijuana
users, pain sufferers and their doctors who prescribe opioid
analgesics, and students who are forced to urinate in cups.
All of this in the name of a drug-free America without
concern for individuals’ rights.
At one time baseball was our
obsession. It was a sport that walked hand and hand with
the American dream full of heroes of whom we could all be
proud.
Now the federal government,
with its crusade against any and all drug use, has begun a
new mission to alter our way of thinking no matter what the
cost or how many lives are ruined. I say no to the
government for trying to destroy our national past time and
no to imprisoning a baseball king.
Anthony Papa
is a communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance
and the author of “15 to Life”.
Flash! 11/20/2207
Putting Pressure on the Sentencing Commission/ The op-ed below was
published in the three cities where the sentencing commission held public
hearings sending them a message to address Rockefeller Drug Law reform
Buffalo NY/ Albany NY/ NYC!
chambers’ arrest highlights need for further reforms
Buffalo News, United States -
Nov 14, 2007
by anthony papa robert chambers spent 15 years in prison
for the notorious murder of jennifer levin, whom he claimed he accidentally
strangled during rough ...
no time to waste in sentencing issue
Albany Times Union, NY - Nov
10, 2007
... details of his 1986 slaying case will have no
sympathy for chambers. what's most outrageous about this case, though, is that
chambers faces more time ...
http://www.nysun.com/article/65937
'Isn't It Ironic, Don't You Think?'
BY ANTHONY PAPA
November 6, 2007
There has been an onslaught of press attention following the arrest of
"Preppy Killer" Robert Chambers due to, this time, selling cocaine. One fact
that has been omitted from the coverage is that Chambers now faces more time for
selling drugs under the Rockefeller Drug Laws than he did for the murder he
committed in 1986.
Chambers served 15 years in prison for the notorious murder of Jennifer
Levin. He claimed that he accidentally strangled Levin during rough sex. Despite
his horrific crime, Chambers was allowed to plead guilty to first-degree
manslaughter instead of second-degree murder and was sentenced to serve between
five and 15 years in prison. He wound up serving 15 years because of bad
behavior, which included smuggling and selling drugs while in prison.
Now, 21 years later, Chambers has been arrested again, this time for selling
cocaine to undercover officers. He faces top felony counts that can mean life in
prison. As the case unfolds, it is evident that Chambers, along with his
girlfriend, Shawn Kovell, who also was arrested, are both heavily addicted to
drugs. They were described as "crackheads" by detectives who searched their
disheveled Upper East Side apartment.
Despite significant evidence against him, Chambers has pleaded not guilty to
multiple charges of selling cocaine that can land him sentences of between 15
and 30 years for each of the highest counts under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. So,
if he is found guilty of the multiple charges, he could be spending the rest of
his life in prison.
Those who remember the details of his 1986 case will have no sympathy for
Chambers who has a history of drug addiction. A year after his release in 2003,
he was arrested again while driving with a suspended license. Officers found
drug residue in his car. He pled guilty to the charges and served 100 days on a
misdemeanor charge. The most outrageous fact of all of Chambers's cases is that
he faces more time for a drug offense under the Rockefeller Drug Laws than he
did for taking Levin's life.
Despite two minor reforms made by the legislature in 2004 and 2005 that
slightly reduced the length of most drug sentences, there are 14,000 individuals
in prison sentenced under the Rockefeller drug laws. Many of them are nonviolent
offenders and are serving longer sentences than people who commit rape or
murder. There is something very wrong with this equation.
For example, Ashley O'Donoghue, a first time non-violent offender sold a
small amount of drugs to two students at Hamilton College in upstate New York in
2003. The students got arrested, but worked out a deal with prosecutors that
gave them probation. O'Donoghue, however, is serving a seven to 21-year
sentence.
The reforms by the legislature, though, did not provide the needed relief for
the vast majority of Rockefeller offenders. For example it reduced the highest
sentences from 15 years to life to between eight and 20 years. The reforms also
made some long-term drug offenders eligible for retroactive relief.
Since 1973 when the Rockefeller Laws were enacted, we have witnessed the
creation of a drug-law gulag fed by a poorly conceived law that incarcerated
many drug offenders from the inner city neighborhoods of New York. This helped
to create smart upstate politicians who saw the Rockefeller Drug Laws as a tool
to make the business of imprisonment a major industry in their districts
— creating a
disincentive in the legislature to reform these laws.
The recent reform did not provide funding to increase the availability of
community based drug treatment. It did not increase the power of judges to place
addicts into treatment programs. It also did not provide relief for the 4,000
B-drug felons: Out of the 1,000 individuals that became eligible for retroactive
relief, only about 350 individuals have been freed to date because of procedural
road blocks created by district attorneys.
Governor Spitzer recently put together a panel to study the disparity of
sentencing guidelines in New York State. One of the issues was the Rockefeller
Drug Laws. But in its recently released preliminary report, the commission
failed even to address the issue of Rockefeller Drug Law reform. State
commissioner of criminal justice services and chairwoman of the Commission on
Sentencing Reform, Denise O'Donnell, said the issue would be addressed next
time. The final report is due in March of 2008.
But the evidence is already in, and the issue does not need any more studies.
It needs political will and action. The Spitzer panel must consider the families
of those incarcerated, and the precious tax dollars being wasted on the court's
archaic sentencing structure. Hundreds of nonviolent Rockefeller offenders in
prison are serving longer sentences than those of convicted murderers.
Something is fundamentally wrong with a system that advocates serving more
time for a nonviolent drug offense then for a hideous crime committed by a
sociopath like Robert Chambers. On November 13, individuals affected by the
Rockefeller Drug Laws will come together to speak at a public hearing conducted
by the sentencing commission at the New York City Bar Association. Their message
to the commission will be this: the problem needs to be fixed now
— not "next time."
Mr. Papa, the author of "15 to Life," is a communications specialist for the
Drug Policy Alliance.
_________________
Commission Urges
Lawmakers to Appeal Sentencing Laws
by Patricia Willens
http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/88822
Commission
Urges Lawmakers to Appeal Sentencing Laws
by Patricia Willens
NEW YORK, NY
November 13, 2007 —Former inmates and prison reformers were on hand today as the
New York Sentencing Reform Commission held a hearing on possibly reforming the
so-called Rockefeller drug laws.
REPORTER: The
state has stiff sentencing rules that don't allow judges flexibility and put
many people behind bars, who might be better served in treatment programs.
Anthony Papa
speaks from experience. He says he was behind bars for 12 years for carrying 4
ounces of cocaine
PAPA: These laws
don't work, they incarcerate too many blacks and latinos. It's costly,
ineffective, treatment has been shown to be better and we need to change these
laws.
REPORTER: There
are two more hearings on sentencing reform in the state. They're in Albany and
Buffalo over the next week. The Commission is tasked with making recommendations
to the governor in the spring. There are nearly 14,000 people jailed for drug
offenses in New York State prisons. They represent about 38 percent of the
prison population.
____________________________
Albany Times Union
Time
is now for drug sentencing reform
Wednesday, October 24,
2007
In response to
your Oct. 15 editorial, "This time, real reform":
The state
commission's preliminary report failed to address the issue of Rockefeller
Drug Law reform. Denise O'Donnell, state commissioner of criminal justice
services and chairwoman of the Commission on Sentencing Reform, said the
issue would be addressed next time.
I am an activist
who has been involved in fighting for reform since 1985, when I was
convicted of a nonviolent drug offense and sentenced to 15 years to life. I
have heard the same story from several governors and the Legislature for
many years.
The evidence is
in. The issue does not need any more studies. It needs political will and
action. The panel must consider the families of those incarcerated, those
rotting away in prison and the valuable tax dollars being wasted on its
archaic sentencing structure. We are tired of hearing "next time."
ANTHONY
PAPA
New York
The writer is author of "15 to Life."
_______________
Flash! October 17,
2007 Sentencing Commission fails to address the Rockefeller
Drug Laws!
The state commission’s
preliminary report failed to address the issue of Rockefeller drug reform.
Denise O'Donnell, state
commissioner of criminal justice services and chairwoman of the Commission on
Sentencing Reform said that the issue would be addressed next time. I am an
activist who has been involved in fighting for reform since 1985 when I was
convicted of a non-violent drug offense and sentenced to 15 years to life. I
have heard the same story from several governors and the legislature for many
years. The evidence is in, the issue does not need any more studies, it needs
political will and action. The panel must consider the families of those
incarcerated, those rotting away in prison and the valuable tax dollars being
wasted on its archaic sentencing structure. We are tried of hearing
“next time”.
_________
Poughkeepsie Journal (New York)
October 17, 2007 Wednesday
Panel: Streamline sentencing laws
BYLINE: Cara Matthews
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2A
LENGTH: 591 words
ALBANY - New York needs to simplify its "virtually unintelligible"
sentencing system and should permit community treatment rather than prison terms
for certain non-violent felony drug offenders, a state sentencing-reform panel
recommended Tuesday.
Sentencing laws have not received a thorough review and revision in more
than 40 years and have developed into an "overly complex, Byzantine system that
is fraught with opportunities for injustice," said Denise O'Donnell, state
commissioner of criminal justice services and chairwoman of the Commission on
Sentencing Reform.
O'Donnell said in the report the system has become "virtually
unintelligible"
in many cases to judges, attorneys, defendants and victims.
"We could perform a significant service to the criminal-justice system if
we could arrive at a consensus about how we could simplify the sentencing
structure," she said Tuesday.
Spitzer formed the 11-member panel this year to study whether punishments
fit the crimes and protect public safety in New York. Besides prison sentences,
the panel has been reviewing community supervision, alternatives to
incarceration and other parts of the criminal-justice system.
The report said the current system is the result of decades of "piecemeal
amendments arising more often from political than criminal justice policy
considerations." The complicated sentencing laws, the mix of determinate, or
fixed, and indeterminate, or variable, sentences, and "back-door early release
mechanisms" all contribute to the problem, it said.
The commission report released Tuesday is preliminary. The panel will hold
public hearings before issuing a final report March 1. Any significant change
would need legislative approval.
Recommendations include:
* End indeterminate sentencing for more than 200 non-violent felonies.
With fixed sentences, a judge imposes a prison term with a minimum and maximum
and the parole board decides when the offender is released.
* Allow courts to send certain non-violent drug-addicted felony offenders
to community-based treatment instead of state prison if the judge, prosecutor
and defendant agree.
* Consider a broader use of "graduated sanctions" - curfew, home
confinement and electronic monitoring, for example - rather than prison for
certain parolees who violate one or more conditions of release but don't commit
a new crime.
* Pass new laws and step up enforcement of existing statutes to further
protect crime victims.
* Help reduce recidivism and increase public safety by expanding
educational and vocational training and improving employment and housing
opportunities for offenders.
* Establish a permanent sentencing commission to advise the legislative
and executive branches.
O'Donnell, Spitzer's assistant secretary for criminal justice, said the
commission is mindful of the financial impact of its proposals. "I believe we
are all operating on the understanding that if we could reduce recidivism,
continue to reduce the prison population," then the state could invest money
into other programs to help offenders, she said.
Gabriel Sayegh, program director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said his
group is disappointed the report does not include any "substantive
recommendations" on the Rockefeller-era drug laws.
The laws, which many people have called harsh and unreasonable, were
passed in 1973 under then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. The Legislature made some
changes to them in 2004 and 2005, but the Drug Policy Alliance and other groups
have said lawmakers did not go far enough.
Reach Cara Matthews at clmatthe@gannett.com
____________________
http://www.counterpunch.org/papa09252007.html
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/63662/
Will Drug Lord Do Less Time Than the Average American
Nonviolent Drug Offender?
By
Anthony Papa,
AlterNet. Posted
September 27, 2007.
Why Colombia's top drug lord may get off easier than small-time offenders in the
U.S.
The U.S. government recently praised the arrest of Colombia's top drug lord
Diego Montoya when he was captured earlier this month. Law enforcement and
military officials say it was a powerful blow to Colombia's most powerful drug
cartel, comparing it to the capture of Al Capone during Prohibition.
Montoya, who had been on the FBI's top ten most wanted list, is said to be
responsible for providing as much as 70 percent of all the cocaine in the United
States. In 1999, a $5 million bounty for his capture and extradition was offered
after he was indicted in a federal court in Miami.
There is much talk about how this capture will affect the drug trade and the
flow of drugs into the United States. But the question on my mind is how much
time will he serve when he is brought to the United States to stand trial for
the death and destruction he has caused? I would be willing to bet that he will
get less time than many Americans who are now serving extraordinarily long
sentences, many for low-level, nonviolent drug law violations under the
notorious mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Some would ask how would I come to
this conclusion.
If you look at the recently completed federal sentence of former Panamanian
dictator Manuel Noriega, who served a 17-year federal sentence for drug
trafficking, it might give you a hint what is in store for Montoya. In Noriega's
case the U.S. attorney negotiated deals with 26 high-level drug dealers,
including drug lord Carlos Lehder. They in turn received a package of perks that
included leniency and cash payments, and were allowed to keep their drug
earnings in return for testimony against the infamous general who was once a
strong United States ally before he fell from grace in 1989, when the U.S.
invaded Panama.
There are many Americans in prison that are serving sentences of more than 17
years in prison for simple drug crimes. These are marginalized offenders that
don't have the bargaining chips to establish deals. For example, Elaine
Bartlett, a mother of four, served a 20-to-life sentence under the Rockefeller
Drug Laws for seven ounces of cocaine. Her husband, Nathan Brooks, was sentenced
to 25 years to life. The list goes on and on. There are an estimated 500,000
Americans locked up because of the drug war. Many of them are serving lengthy
sentences because of a 30-year government campaign to demonize illicit drug use
and implement mandatory minimum sentencing.
In 1986, mandatory minimum sentencing laws were enacted by Congress, which
compelled judges to deliver fixed sentences to individuals convicted of certain
crimes, regardless of mitigating factors or culpability. Federal mandatory drug
sentences are determined based on three factors: the type of drug, weight of the
drug mixture (or alleged weight in conspiracy cases), and the number of prior
convictions. Judges are unable to consider other important factors, such as the
offender's role, motivation and the likelihood of recidivism.
The push to incarcerate drug offenders has been further exacerbated through
the current federal sentencing law that punishes crack cocaine offenders much
more severely than offenders possessing other types of drugs, for example,
powder cocaine. Distributing just five grams of crack carries a minimum
five-year federal prison sentence while distributing 500 grams of powder cocaine
carries the same sentence. This 100:1 sentencing disparity has been almost
universally criticized for its racially discriminatory impact by a wide variety
of criminal justice and civil rights groups, and in Congress. Although whites
and Hispanics form the majority of crack users, the vast majority of those
convicted for crack cocaine offenses are African Americans.
Because of the war on drugs, which mandates mandatory minimum sentencing,
average drug offenders are routinely elevated to kingpin status and condemned to
serve out long prison sentences that should be reserved only for actual drug
kingpins, not individuals that are fabricated to that level. It's time to end
these draconian laws and implement a sentencing structure that promotes fairness
and justice.
http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Group_wants_Rockefeller_law_reforms/9833.html
Metro
New York
Group wants Rockefeller law
reforms
by amy zimmer / metro new
york AUG 29, 2007
MANHATTAN.
Cheri O’Dono-ghue hopes Gov. Eliot Spitzer will make good on his campaign
pledge to reform the state’s prison sentencing laws.
Her son Ashley already served
four years of his seven-to-21-year sentence after being caught in a sting
operation delivering roughly five ounces of cocaine to two Hamilton College
students. O’Donoghue believes his sentence — meted out under the so-called
Rockefeller drug laws — was excessive for the nonviolent crime of her
20-year-old, who had no record.
Spitzer established the New York
State Commission on Sentencing Reform last March to review sentencing
policies and study alternatives to incarceration. Examining the Rockefeller
laws are high on its list for a closed-door meeting this week on a first
round of recommendations it will make public in October. The final report is
expected in March 2008.
“I am totally for a major
overhaul because these laws are inhumane,” O’Donoghue said during a
conference call yesterday with members of the Real Reform Coalition, a group
of advocates, academics and families fighting to repeal the laws. “They
destroy the lives of many New Yorkers, like my family.”
The coalition sent an open
letter to the sentencing reform commission yesterday calling for restoration
of judges’ discretion in drug cases rather than mandatory minimum
sentencing. They want reduction in drug offense sentences, retroactive
sentencing relief for prisoners locked up under Rockefeller laws and more
community-based treatment and alternative-to-incarceration programs.
“Ashley is someone who deserves
a second chance,” O’Donoghue said. “Certainly the two Hamilton College boys”
— who were enlisted in the sting after getting caught buying 2.6 ounces of
cocaine — “got a second chance.” Police asked them to buy twice that amount,
she believes, so they could make a “trumped up charge.”
Many prosecutors oppose changing
the laws, saying they’ve helped reduce crime and that many homicides are
related to drug sales. They worry that any repeals could release kingpins to
the streets.
“Drug kingpins will rarely carry
drugs,” said Bob Gangi, executive director of the Correction Association of
New York watchdog group, “whereas a teenage mother employed by a kingpin
will carry a relatively small amount of drugs and will likely serve a long
prison sentence.”
The breakdown
Since the Rockefeller drug laws
were enacted in 1973, more than 14,000 people have been sent to prison —
roughly 38 percent of the prison population. Some reforms were made in 2004
and 2005, and nearly 350 drug offenders were released.
Democrat and Chronicle
August 29, 2007
Advocates seek reform
in 'unjust' drug laws
State panel meets
today to work on proposed changes to Rockefeller rules
Cara Matthews
Albany bureau
ALBANY — As a state commission deliberates
how to update New York's sentencing practices, a coalition of civil
liberties and drug treatment and policy groups Tuesday asked for shorter
terms and more community-based programs to help offenders.
The organizations, which include the Drug
Policy Alliance and the New York Civil Liberties Union, said changes to
the Rockefeller-era drug laws in 2004 and 2005 to reduce sentences and
parole did not go far enough.
"They're unfair, unjust and cruel," Donna
Lieberman, head of the Civil Liberties Union, said of the drug laws.
"And ... they destroy lives rather than rehabilitating them. They are
enforced with blatant racial and ethnic bias."
More than 14,000 people are in prison for
drug crimes, 38 percent of the prison population. Black and Hispanic
people comprise more than 90 percent of people current in prison for
drug felonies, the groups said.
The state Commission on Sentencing Reform,
formed earlier this year by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, is reviewing whether
punishments fit the crimes and protect public safety in New York. The
panel is also looking at community supervision, alternatives to prison
and other aspects of the criminal-justice system.
The panel meets today to start hashing out
recommendations of its subcommittees. Its preliminary report is due Oct.
1, and the final report, March 1.
"The sentencing commission is the best
chance in many years to address the unfairness, inequity and outright
incoherence of our current sentencing structure," said Sen. Eric
Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, a member of the commission.
Schneiderman said he wants the state to
expand judges' ability to order treatments proven to be effective for
drug offenders and other non-violent offenders.
Members of the Real Reform Coalition,
which submitted an open letter to the commission Tuesday, said they are
hoping the panel will come up with significant recommendations on drug
laws. They were passed in 1973 under then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to
shut down drug "kingpins," but most people incarcerated are convicted of
low-level, non-violent offenses. Many have no prior criminal records,
they said.
The groups want the following:
Restoration of judges' ability to decide the
length of sentences in drug cases, rather than go by mandatory minimum
sentencing guidelines, which don't allow consideration of a person's
special circumstances.
Expansion of alternative-to-incarceration
programs, including community-based treatment. Treatment funding has
been flat for two decades.
Reduction in the length of sentences for all drug
offenses.
Expansion of eligibility for current prisoners
convicted of drug offenses to ask the courts to review and potentially
reduce their terms.
"There are many, many people still serving
unconscionably long sentences with no opportunity for a retroactive
review," said Anita Marton of the Legal Action Center.
But Rockland County District Attorney
Michael Bongiorno said it would be a mistake to roll back penalties.
"The drug laws have been weakened enough. Any further weakening of the
drug laws will only serve to foster more drug dealing and endanger the
public," said Bongiorno, chairman of the board of directors for the
state District Attorneys Association.
Other points Bongiorno made include:
Prosecutors are in a better position than judges
to decide who should or shouldn't get drug treatment because they are
closer to the community.
Reducing sentences for the weight of drugs people
are arrested for has allowed drug dealers to run more drugs and receive
lower penalties. There has been an increase in the amount of drugs being
run upstate via the Thruway from New York City.
CLMATTHE@Gannett.com
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=615894
 |
| |
| |
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Justice reform should begin with drug laws
|
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By GABRIEL SAYEGH
First published: Wednesday, August 22, 2007
|
| While New York is focused
on other matters unfolding in Albany, an important process is
under way that could bring desperately needed changes to the
state's broken criminal justice system.
The state Commission on Sentencing Reform, established by
Gov. Eliot Spitzer, has an ambitious agenda focusing on criminal
justice reform.
At the top of this agenda are the infamous Rockefeller Drug
Laws. Over the next week, in non-public meetings, the commission
will receive and vote on a first round of recommendations, made
by a subcommittee. The commission will issue a preliminary
report in October; its final report is due in March.
The commission and its recommendations deserve intense
scrutiny by New Yorkers who care about effective and genuine
drug law reform.
Advocates working for real reform of the drug laws have
remained somewhat skeptical about the prospects for change under
the commission, and for good reason: Substantial evidence
backing "real reform" of drug laws already exists.
In 2004, then-Senate Democratic Leader David Paterson -- now
lieutenant governor -- released a report illustrating that New
York's drug laws were among the most draconian in the country.
The comprehensive report garnered the support of advocates,
academics and the media. Paterson introduced legislation to
enact report recommendations, but it died without even a public
hearing.
Over the last 34 years, numerous reports have been written
about the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The vast majority concluded
what most New Yorkers already know -- the laws are ineffective,
racist and unjust.
Almost all of the reports have recommended that the laws be
overhauled or repealed. Unfortunately, sound research and reason
have never been enough to compel Albany to act.
Perhaps this is why the governor established the commission
-- to build the bipartisan support needed to enact meaningful
reform. For this reason, despite our skepticism, drug law reform
advocates have provided testimony and research for the
commission.
The testimony highlighted four components that must be
included in any meaningful reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws:
Restoration of judicial discretion in drug cases: The
Rockefeller Drug Laws, which include the Second Felony Offender
Law, did not eliminate discretion; they simply shifted power
from judges to prosecutors.
Prosecutors have a vested interest in keeping these laws on
the books so they can garner information, seek assets forfeiture
and move cases expeditiously as a result of one-sided plea
negotiations conducted behind closed doors.
These actions help promote the severe racial disparities that
have become a hallmark of the laws: Over 91 percent of those
incarcerated under these laws are black and Latino, even though
whites use drugs at equal or slightly higher rates.
Sentencing reform: The half-step reforms of 2004 did not
affect the people most in need of a reform -- those convicted of
B-level offenses. Most individuals charged with B-level offenses
face mandatory prison sentences if convicted of selling or
possessing, with intent to sell, any amount of narcotic. The
probability of going to prison for such an offense is greater
than the probability of going to prison for a violent felony
offense.
Community-based drug treatment alternatives to incarceration:
In 2000, California voters passed a treatment-not-incarceration
initiative -- Proposition 36. Rather than being sent to prison,
more than 150,000 people have been placed in state-funded,
community-based drug treatment programs, saving state taxpayers
more than $1 billion.
Some prosecutors in New York argue that placing drug
offenders in tretment, rather than prison, will increase violent
crime. California's violent crime rate has dropped more than the
national average since the passage of Proposition 36.
Retroactivity: Nearly 14,000 people are incarcerated under the
Rockefeller Drug Laws. Most should be resentenced under an
equitable system that allows for treatment and rehabilitation.
These reforms fit into the commission's mandate, will protect
the public and will save the state money through better
management of our criminal justice resources.
If substantial drug sentencing reform is absent from the
commission's report, or if the recommendations are purely
cosmetic, the commission will have abdicated its responsibility
in favor of the failed status quo.
If the recommendations are worthwhile, but Albany again fails
to act, the report can serve New Yorkers in another way -- as a
very expensive paperweight.
Gabriel Sayegh is a project director at the Drug Policy
Alliance, a leading member of Real Reform New York.
|
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·
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1653862,00.html
Friday, Aug. 17, 2007
Mandatory Sentencing: Stalled Reform
By Madison Gray/New York
The most painful
thing to Cheri O'Donaghue about her son's incarceration on drug charges
is not the imprisonment itself, but that he is serving the sentence that
should go to a narcotics kingpin when all he committed, she says, was
the crime of a small-time pusher. Her son Ashley was found guilty of
delivering cocaine to two college students in upstate New York in 2003.
He was sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison, a penalty mandated by
New York's controversial Rockefeller Drug Laws. Ashley is among about
14,000 people sent to New York prisons under the Rockefeller laws, in
force since 1973, which impose harsh mandatory minimum terms on even
first time offenders — meaning they could get the same sentence as a
person convicted of second degree murder.
O'Donaghue once
had hope for a positive change in her son's situation. That was because
there was a movement to change the Rockefeller laws. The momentum behind
that reform, however, has now stagnated as prosecutors and legislators
fear that changes in the law are being used as loopholes to free drug
lords. With no light at the end of the tunnel, she and other activists
fighting for a repeal feel the laws may never change and many of the
state's imprisoned — her son included — continue to languish in jail.
"The movement is definitely stalled, and we're trying to gain some
momentum again, but it's very hard," said O'Donaghue. "I never would
have dreamed in the beginning of this that it would have taken this long
to get Ashley out."
Right now, the
only hope for a change is a prison sentencing reform committee set up by
Gov. Eliot Spitzer that has only recently begun to hold preliminary
meetings and whose final report is not expected until early 2008. The
activists remain committed in their cause, but for now can only deal
with the frustration of having a loved one jailed under what they feel
are unfair rules. Critics say that the law ignores major drug dealers
and only imprisons minor players in the drug trade. For this reason,
they argue, it incarcerates a disproportionate number of minorities.
Indeed, since the laws were enacted, more than 90% of those sentenced
have been black or Latino, according to the group Real Reform New York.
Over the last
decade, activists, ex-convicts, families, politicians and even
celebrities have become increasingly vocal about the laws. Reforms to
the sentencing structure were enacted with the 2004 Drug Law Reform Act,
which allows for reduced retroactive sentencing, and at first seemed to
bring the laws closer to repeal. But they have only applied to about
1,000 people and only 350 have been released, says Anthony Papa, an
official with the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group committed to
changing the nation's drug laws. The reforms, he says, were not enough
because the change applies to too few of the people currently serving
time.
"In my view as an
activist who experienced the law, this was sort of a buy off to satisfy
people who have been fighting for years," said Papa, who himself was
sentenced to 15 years to life after selling cocaine to undercover cops,
but granted clemency by then-Gov. George Pataki in 1997. "People saw it
was watered-down reform because it really destroyed the movement,
because now legislators have a tool they can use to say 'we have a law
now, lets move on. said Papa .
Instead of new
legislation, Gov. Spitzer's seven-member commission will conduct reviews
of the state's toughest sentencing practices, under which the
Rockefeller laws fall. But it is unlikely to bring about a full repeal
of the laws, leaving O'Donaghue to wonder if a change will ever come.
"These things keep carrying over and you just wonder when it's all going
to be done," O'Donaghue asked. "When we get the final report? After the
next legislative session?"
Activists like
O'Donaghue and Papa, argue the stiffest penalties should be reserved for
major narcotics traffickers, not small handlers. But the reason they
have gained little in their fight is that some state legislators believe
the changes in the law were enough and that many of those who have
already been released are really major drug traffickers who should still
be imprisoned, and further reform could prove dangerous.
"We did the reform
and as a result, we provided for discretion and reductions in
sentencing," said State Sen. George Winner, who explained that the
changes that already resulted in loopholes for people who once
controlled major drug operations. "I am not in favor of further
weakening the drug law sentencing provisions. I agree that the drug
kingpins should have the stiffest penalties, but some of them are using
the reforms to their advantage and getting out. As a result of these
things, I think we should go slow about it."
Bridget Brennan, a
special narcotics prosecutor in New York City has the same fear as
Winner that violent offenders and drug kingpins are beginning to win
reduced sentences. "There was a mythology about who is serving these
sentences," said Brennan, who was a homicide prosecutor during the
height of the city's crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s. "It was the
image of a woman forced to be a drug courier. But when we looked at
those applying to change their sentences, there were only two women: one
who supervised the shipment of 155 kilos of cocaine and the other had
more than a pound of cocaine in her apartment."
"There is no
statute to address the narcotics trafficker who we commonly see in New
York City," she said. "As a homicide prosecutor, 60% of my cases came
from drug sales. I don't want to see this city again the way it was."
Until they win a
change in sentencing guidelines, activists hope to win support for their
cause simply by spreading the word. They hope a planned wide release of
a documentary entitled Lockdown USA,
which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2006, will help restart
a push for reform. "The problem is that they are using a prison cell to
address what should be public health issue," says Gabriel Sayegh, a
project director at the Drug Policy Alliance. "This isn't the criminal
justice system we're supposed to have in this country."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-papa/country-in-distress-the-_b_59865.html
By
Anthony Papa
August 9, 2007
I am an American. I used to be a
proud one. This was before a realization that hit me hard concerning the
casualties of a dirty war. I am not talking about the war in Iraq. I am
talking about the other war -- the war on drugs. Every day, we see news
stories that expose the realities of drug use in America. From celebrities
to politicians to athletes and even ordinary people purchasing cold
medication, the drug war looms large.
Recently, I was invited to show my
art at
John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. The venue was
right up my alley. The two-day conference brought together art, music, film
and spoken-word performances centered on the theme, "A New Criminology for
the 21st century." I decided to create an art installation called, "The Drug
War."
The art installation was a
multimedia presentation of the most compelling drug war issues in the news.
Its use of visual narratives reminds us of the war on drugs that ravages our
communities. The installation began to take form, steeped in a motif of an
upside down American flag, which signifies the universal concept of the
state of distress during war. Several irate people stopped me to ask if I
had permission from the administration to "disgrace" the American flag. I
told them all I had a constitutional right to voice my opinion.
About two hours later a security
team approached me. The leader of the team said "Mr. Papa, you must
immediately take down the upside-down flags. I have been getting complaints
from faculty and students saying that you are disgracing the flag." I looked
at her and pointed out that I was doing nothing wrong. My art was not
disrespecting "old glory" because I displayed the upside-down flag for the
right reasons. According to the flag code section 36, U.S.C. chapter 10, I
was correct in my intentions of stating a signal of dire distress in
instances of extreme danger to
life or property. She looked at me with indifference while the four men
stood behind her standing in a military stance meant to intimidate me.
I immediately explained my position.
I told her about the 500,000 Americans who were behind bars because of the
war on drugs, and how this war ravages communities and destroys lives, all
in the name of a drug-free society. I explained how billions of dollars are
spent by the government to stop someone from putting substances in their
bodies.
I looked at her and then the guards
while pointing at the flags and said "I will not take the flags down."
The head of security huddled with
her crew while several sympathetic professors came to my aid. A meeting took
place and it was agreed that they had to take this to a higher authority. I
was asked to stop building my art installation while we waited for a verdict
from the president of the university. During that time, I had a flash back
to 12 years ago when something similar occurred in a maximum security prison
in New York when I was doing a 15-years-to-life sentence for passing an
envelope containing four ounces of cocaine in return for $500. My art was
confiscated by the prison guards, who told me I could not send out paintings
to the free world that depicted the atrocity of imprisonment.
My mind snapped back to the present
moment when one of the security guards tapped me on the shoulder. He said
that a decision was made and I was allowed to display the upside down flags.
I shook his hand and turned to the American flags and thought about the
greatness of our Constitution, which guarantees the freedom to express our
opinions, even if it meant turning the flag on its head to make a point.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007708010304
Wednesday,
August 01, 2007
Opinion
Drug
treatment isn't a silver bullet
Anthony Papa
OK, so you're rich and famous
and have a drug problem. You relapse and get arrested. What do you do?
It seems the latest trend in
countering your likely conviction is not hiring a "dream team" of legal
defenders but immediately enrolling in a rehab drug program.
Lindsay Lohan, the troubled
Hollywood starlet, joins a host of other high-profile celebrities, including
Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and the son of the former vice president, Al
Gore III, who have adopted this novel strategy.
Lohan's pal, Paris, just did a
brief stint in jail for driving with a suspended license after a previous
drunk-driving arrest.
Nicole Richie recently pleaded
guilty to driving under the influence from an incident where she was caught
driving the wrong way down a Los Angeles freeway last year. She was
sentenced to four days in jail and mandated to enter a drug and alcohol
program.
Gore was recently arrested for
speeding down a highway in his Prius at 100 miles per hour with a small
amount of marijuana and a pocket full of different prescription pills. He
pleaded guilty to two felony counts of drug possession, among others, and
was allowed to enter a drug diversion program. If Gore successfully
completes that program, the charges may be dropped.
The role of drugs and drug
addiction loom large over these individuals' criminal cases since each
enrolled in rehab quickly after their brushes with the law.
Without question, rehab is an
essential tool on the road to recovery. It is a multi-tiered, long-term
process that enables changes to life patterns that typically trigger the
urge to get high. This requires time and effort by the participant.
Lohan was only out of rehab for
two weeks when she was busted again for driving under the influence and
cocaine possession. Her father, Michael, himself a former addict, was
recently released after serving a two-year sentence for a drunk-driving
incident. He said his daughter needs a long-term treatment plan to
successfully recover from her problems with alcohol and other drugs.
Many were quick to blame the
rehab center Lindsay attended, saying it failed her. But no rehab center can
produce miracles in such a short period of time.
What most fail to realize is
that relapse is an expected part of recovery. Treatment is valid for
fighting the demons of addiction and an effective tool in overcoming the
government's use of incarceration and punitive measures in response to
low-level, nonviolent drug law offenses stemming from addiction.
According to Justice Department
statistics, the United States holds a firm lead in maintaining the most
prisoners of any country in the world -- now at 2.2 million and rising, and
last year recorded the largest increase in the number of people in prisons
and jails since 2000. Criminal justice experts attribute the exploding U.S.
prison population to harsh sentencing laws and record numbers of drug law
offenders, many of whom have substance abuse problems.
Should we treat drug addiction
as a criminal matter or a medical problem? For most people, treatment is
much more effective than imprisonment for breaking their addictions, yet our
prisons are full of drug addicted individuals.
Nonviolent drug offenders should
be given an opportunity to receive treatment, not jail time, for their drug
use. This would be a more effective (not to mention much more affordable)
solution for the individual and the community.
Our 30-plus-year war on drugs
has stifled the open debate this country should be having about addiction
and how best to deal with it. It is time to treat addiction for what it is,
a medical problem, not a criminal one.Even for celebrities who rely on a
trend to bail them out and continue driving down that road to oblivion.
Anthony Papa
is a communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance (
www.drugpolicy.org), a New York group working to reduce the harms of
both drug misuse and drug prohibition. Please e-mail comments to
letters@detnews.com
Newsday
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-oppap305275288jun30,0,7254904.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines
Paris'
jail lessons could lead to helping others
BY ANTHONY PAPA
Anthony Papa is author of "15 To Life" and a communications specialist for
the Drug Policy Alliance, which describes itself as an organization working
to reduce the harms of both drugs and drug prohib
June 30, 2007
Paris Hilton is free. Hooray! Sometimes it takes a traumatic experience to
awaken the hidden self. The 23 days she spent at the Century Regional
Detention Facility was far short of doing "hard time."
But it did give her a taste of life in the gulag. In that short time, I
gather she felt the reality of what it's like to lose your life as you know
it. Sitting in a small cell can be a most existential existence - I'm sure
Hilton saw the light.
There is something mystical about spending time in a cage. Since there is
nowhere to go, you pace the perimeter of your cell. Back and forth or around
in circles, all the while reliving the crime you committed that brought you
there.
When it gets really bad, you start reading the Bible and praying to the Lord
for forgiveness. For sure, Hilton has learned her lesson - or has she?
The problem she will now face as an ex-con is one that all ex-cons
experience, and one that can lead them down the road to recidivism. For the
most part, when you are released you want to forget the prison experience.
You do your best to block it out. In her case, I would bet that in a week
those feelings she has built up inside her brought on by her longing for her
freedom will disappear.
How do I know? I did a 12-year stretch at Sing Sing, and the first day I got
out I almost completely forgot all the feelings I had. I forgot about how my
existence was reduced to daily routines and calculations. I forgot about
measuring time in reference to the day at hand and the functions associated
with it - the head counts and bells that the prison used to maintain
security and order.
So, for sure, those 23 days will not mean much unless she is doing something
to remind her of her experience.
Hilton should follow up with her talk that she wants to find meaning in her
life. Because her jail time came from her arrest on a charge of driving with
a suspended license after a previous drunk-driving arrest, it would be
appropriate if Hilton now explored the subject of drugs and addiction. She
would have a great opportunity to become a noted spokeswoman for those less
fortunate. Think of how many lives she could save.
But let's not kid ourselves too much. Hilton comes from the part of the
privileged class that most of the time has justice applied in a kinder
fashion. She probably will go back to her home and drown herself in its lush
surroundings and surely forget all about the time she did.
I just hope Hilton keeps a memory of the redemption and forgiveness she
sought while sitting in her cell. Maybe then it will compel her to use her
fame for the good of society.
Copyright
2007 Newsday Inc.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=590779
Set free prison
politics in New York state
By ANTHONY PAPA
Monday, May 21,
2007
Thousands of
parole petitioners are ready to return to society as productive citizens of
New York but remain stuck in prison because of the politics of
incarceration. This unwritten policy of former Gov. George Pataki persists
in spite of Gov. Eliot Spitzer's attempt to change the nature of the
criminal justice system.
Offenders who
commit crimes such as murder are actually less likely to return to jail than
nonviolent offenders. Nevertheless, after coming to terms with their crimes,
they are still wasting away in New York's prisons. Time and again, the
parole board fails to weigh all of the relevant statutory factors together
with the prisoner's positive accomplishments and productive behavior while
incarcerated. Instead, the parole board focuses almost entirely on the
nature of the petitioner's crime.
A case in point is
the story of John Valverde, a 36-year-old Queens man who recently was denied
parole for his third consecutive time. He has already served 15 years of a
10- to 30-year sentence for killing a freelance photographer, Joel
Schoenfeld, a 47-year-old Manhattan man with a history of enticing young
female models to his studio and sexually assaulting them. In 1991,
Schoenfeld raped John's 19-year-old girlfriend. After unsuccessfully seeking
help from the police -- powerless to act without the brutalized and
traumatized victim coming forward -- John Valverde, then a 21-year-old
student, confronted Schoenfeld. The ensuing argument turned violent and John
shot and killed Schoenfeld.
The single bullet
fired that night changed not only John's life forever but also that of his
family. His mother, brother and sister have fought endlessly to free John
and themselves from the nightmare of his continuing ordeal behind bars. John
regrets the act he committed ending the life of an individual who took the
honor away from his former girlfriend many years ago. I know this because I
was with John during his time of remorsefulness at Sing Sing prison when I
was serving a 15-to-life sentence under the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
In 1995, we both
graduated from the New York Theological Seminary. I left John behind when I
was granted executive clemency by Pataki in 1997. I became an activist
against the Rockefeller Drug Laws making many trips to Albany to meet with
state legislators to try and convince them to change the laws that had taken
away 12 years of my life.
In 1998, I
co-founded the Mothers of the New York Disappeared, a leading advocacy group
consisting of family members of those incarcerated under the Rockefeller
Drug Laws. We pleaded our case for years before those laws were partially
reformed in 2004. I have dedicated my life to reforming a system that has
been plagued by injustice. Our prisons are full of human beings like John
who have made mistakes and are ready to return to society as law-abiding
citizens, but are stuck there because of politics.
In denying John's
freedom for the third time, the parole board had reasoned that despite his
accomplishments as a model prisoner, the violence displayed by his crime
outweighed everything else. Why are violent offenders, who seem to be ready
to return to society, being hit by the parole board on a continuous basis?
The answer is
simple. Politicians and parole officials are reluctant to grant parole to
violent prisoners because they are afraid of falling from grace in the eyes
of the public. In 2003 Brion Travis, the New York parole commissioner, was
reassigned to another department by Pataki after causing an uproar with the
release of a high-profile offender involved in the murder of two upstate
police officers.
On April 20, about
50 supporters came to Albany to rally on John Valverde's behalf. John's
brother Frank stood close to his parents while he explained to the crowd how
they were all there to ask the court to overturn the parole board's latest
denial through an appeal. If the judge who heard the appeal decides to
overturn the denial, John would quickly receive another parole hearing,
giving him another chance for freedom.
It is time for the
parole board to free prisoners like him. We cannot minimize the seriousness
of the crime he committed but neither can we minimize the tragedy of his
plight to regain his freedom. He is just one of many individuals who have
paid their debt to society for the crimes they have committed but kept in
prison because of the politics of incarceration.
Anthony Papa is a
communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org
and author of the book "15 To Life."
http://www.counterpunch.org/papa06192007.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-papa/a-dying-wish-to-governor-_b_53019.html
Posted June 20, 2007
| 02:04 PM (EST)
On June 21, 2007 the
New York State legislative session is expected to end without any reform of
the Rockefeller Drug Laws. To most people it will not mean much. But to
Veronica Flournoy it will.
Veronica spent eight years in prison
for a first-time, nonviolent crime under New York's inhumane Rockefeller
Drug Laws. Tragically, at the age of 39, Veronica is now dying. A spot
discovered on her lung while in prison went untreated, which has led to
cancer that spread to her brain. She had a terrible drug addiction that
compelled her to deliver drugs for her boyfriend to fuel her habit. The
district attorney's office pressured her to provide evidence against her
boyfriend to help secure his conviction. Veronica was reluctant to cooperate
out of fear for the safety of her family. The system rewarded her refusal to
cooperate by throwing the book at her and handing her a sentence of
8-years-to-life.
She left behind her two-year-old
daughter, Candance, and, while serving her sentence, she gave birth to her
second daughter, Keyshana, who lived in the prison nursery until she was
13-months-old. Her elderly mother then cared for both children while
Veronica did hard time at the Bedford Correctional Facility for women in
upstate NY.
While in prison, Veronica overcame
her personal demons and received the treatment she needed to deal with her
drug addiction. Upon her release, Veronica reunited with her family and
became a central figure in the Rockefeller reform movement. She worked hard
to overturn the drug laws that had taken away her life as it had the many
others that shared the "scarlet letter of addiction." Although struggling
with her life as a single parent and having to bear the stigmatizing label
of "ex-addict" and "ex-felon," she became a true champion of those with
substance abuse problems who were sentenced to prison instead of treatment.
Her two daughters, now ages 10 and
12, along with her 84-year-old mother pray for a miracle. Their lives are in
shambles---unable to support themselves, watching the life ebb away from a
woman who was once so vibrant.
Just a few weeks ago, Veronica
appeared on camera for a moving public service announcement calling on Gov.
Spitzer to keep his word and deliver the reform
he promised while campaigning for his governorship. Spitzer, who
recently won his bid to become governor of New York, has sidestepped this
issue since ascending to office, in line with the legacy of his predecessor,
George Pataki, who danced around the issue of Rocky reform for more than
nine years.
Veronica's story reminds us of the
horrors of drug addiction. It destroys lives. But far worse is to condemn
those with drug addictions to imprisonment, while withholding the treatment
they so desperately need. Our prisons are filled with tens of thousands of
individuals with all kinds of drug addictions and psychological problems.
Addiction should not be treated as a criminal manner. Instead, we should
treat addiction as a medical problem. Gov. Elliot Spitzer who has been
silent on Rockefeller reform needs to address this issue now. No more
stalling. No dancing around the issue. It is the least he can do for a dying
woman, her heart-broken family, and the tens of thousands of others affected
by these laws.
El
Diario La Prensa
Rockefeller Drug Laws:
Still unfair, still inhumane
OPINION - 05/23/2007
BY ERIC T. SCHNEIDERMAN
The New York State Assembly just passed Bill
6663, introduced by Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, which if enacted into law
would substantially reform the Rockefeller drug laws. This bill, which I
have also introduced in the Senate (S4352), would end the use of mandatory
minimum sentences, increase judicial discretion, expand drug treatment
options for non violent drug offenders, and allow certain inmates serving
long sentences to apply for re-sentencing. This common sense legislation
should become law. But the problem, once again, lies in the Republican
majority in the State Senate, which for decades have closed their eyes and
ears to the obvious judicial, social and financial problems of these laws.
Legislation enacted in 2004 and 2005, which
many opponents of real reform would tell you solved the problem, was
is the equivalent of putting a temporary bandage over an open wound, instead
of curing the injury once and for all.
I voted for this legislation, unwilling to
turn down the opportunity to reduce mandatory minimum sentences from 15 to 8
years, and allow some offenders to return home to their families early. But
these “reforms” applied to a small minority of those incarcerated under the
Rockefeller Drug Laws, doing nothing to rectify the sentences of thousands
of non-violent drug offenders still serving long mandatory minimums. They
also failed to give judges reasonable power to apply sentences based on
individual circumstantial evidence or decrease recidivism by supporting
these individuals as they re-enter their communities. The disproportionate
effects of these laws on African Americans and Latinos make the need for
their reform even more urgent. Of the 15,500 people in prison, 92 percent
are people of color, while studies have shown that whites comprise 72
percent of illegal drug users in the nation.
For years, the Democratic Conference of the
State Senate has actively pursued a means to correct the damage of the
Rockefeller Drug Laws and put in place laws that will apply proportional
punishment to drug related crimes on an individual basis. I am calling on
our Republican colleagues to put partisanship aside and join us in doing the
right thing for all New Yorkers by enacting real reform of these shameful
laws.
Because they are focused on drug possession,
major drug traffickers can easily escape the hardship of the laws by using
other people as “mules” to carry their contraband. The ineffective laws also
target drug-addicts possessing small amounts of illegal substances.
In addition to being inhumane, the laws are
also disproportionately expensive in comparison with community and
professional alternatives, costing the state more than $500 million a year.
Credible cost analysis has estimated that even the most expensive non prison
alternative treatment will cost less than half that amount.
We can argue that back in 1973 governor
Nelson Rockefeller was well intentioned when proposing harsh penalties to
combat the illegal drug contraband, and its social consequences. But how can
we justify that decades later, despite studies and persuasive economic
arguments to the contrary? We can not. Let’s put an end to this draconian
punishment, let’s repeal the Rockefeller drug laws once and for all.
State
Senator Eric T. Schneiderman represents New York State Senate District 31st,
that covers parts of Manhattan and the Bronx.
Flash! May
23, 2007 New Rockefeller Drug Law Song on UTube
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2030786088
Flash! Rock Law Survivor Veronica Flournoy speaks out against
Governor Spitzer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g4uX7pObrY&eurl=
“My name is Veronica and I spent eight years in prison for a nonviolent
crime under New York’s harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws. I spent eight years away
from my family, and my daughters were left in the care of my elderly mother.
While I was in prison, my lung cancer was undiagnosed. Now the doctors say I
have six months to live.
There are thousands of people just like me in prison. Gov. Spitzer came
into office saying Day One, everything changes. Gov. Spitzer, it’s time for
real reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws.”
Flash! May 20th 2007 Prison Politics of New York State!
Set free prison politics in New York state
Albany Times Union, NY - May
20, 2007
I became an activist against the Rockefeller Drug Laws
making many trips to Albany to meet with state legislators to try and convince
them to change the ...
__________________________
Syracuse Post-Standard
May 20, 2007 Sunday
FINAL EDITION
UNFINISHED BUSINESS;
THERE'S STILL WORK TO DO IN REFORMING HARSH ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS
SECTION: OPINION; Pg. E2
LENGTH: 411 words
The 34th anniversary of the Rockefeller drug laws passed this month
without fanfare. Yet the more than 15,000 mostly African-American and Hispanic
offenders incarcerated under some of the harshest drug laws in the land would
surely have liked someone to notice. Too many non-violent drug offenders remain
imprisoned under laws that in some cases require stiffer penalties for
possessing small amounts of cocaine than for committing rape or manslaughter.
And although almost every political leader, past and present (including
those who drafted the lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key statutes in 1973),
believes the laws are archaic, the momentum for change seems to have slowed
considerably. Three years ago, the Drop the Rock campaign by celebrities such as
hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, and other efforts from lawmakers and advocacy
groups like the Drug Policy Alliance, brought some changes, but they didn't go
far enough. Under the reforms, which were further amended in 2005, some drug
offenders with Class I and II felonies could apply for resentencing, which could
make them eligible for release. Some sentence times were shortened. But many
non-violent drug offenders did not benefit from the changes, and Gov. Pataki and
legislative leaders agreed that the reforms were only a first step.The Assembly
seems motivated to continue the work. Last month, it passed more reforms,
including the much-needed provision that gives judges discretion in sentencing,
which would allow them to send non-violent offenders to drug treatment programs,
where many belong. The Assembly plan also lengthens sentences for drug kingpins.
But the Senate, which had resisted drug law changes for so long, has not
moved on the issue. Some critics have suggested the Senate doesn't want to
change the laws because Upstate communities would lose some of their prison
populations, which are included in Census counts. Communities with lower Census
counts could face redistricting. It is doubtful that senators are that callous
or calculating. But whatevertheir reasons, they have not been pushing the
reforms.
The Senate and Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has backed drug law reform, need to
re-engage in this effort. It would also be nice to hear Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo's voice on this issue; he has a history of fighting for the cause. Next
year, there should be no 35th anniversary commemoration of drug laws that have
punished some non-violent offenders more than child rapists and killers.
Flash!! May 11, 2007
Looking to repeat the Russell Simmons Hip Hop Assault Against the
Rockefeller Drug Laws - Jim Jones new record and video Lockdown USA hits hard
and send a powerful message
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/485/turning_up_pressure_rockefeller_drug_law_reform_new_york
Feature: Turning Up the Heat on New York's
Rockefeller Drug Laws (and the Politicians Who Fail to Fix Them)
Printer
Friendly Version
Email
this Article
from Drug War Chronicle,
Issue #485, 5/11/07
On Tuesday, New York marked an ugly anniversary -- 34 years since the state's
draconian Rockefeller drug laws were enacted. Now, three years after the
legislature enacted the first, timid reforms of those harsh drug laws and one
month after the State Assembly voted to broaden them, drug reform activists are
seeking to heighten the pressure on Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), Lt. Gov. David
Paterson (D), Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D), and the Republican-led state
Senate to act.
Prisoners sentenced under mandatory minimum Rockefeller drug laws now number
more than 13,000, and an astonishing 91% of them are black or brown. The reforms
enacted in 2004 have resulted in the release of only 300, leaving thousands of
prisoners serving mid-level mandatory minimum sentences still in purgatory.
Spitzer, Paterson, and
Cuomo campaigned on Rockefeller law reform, but since they took office the
silence has been deafening. In 2003, the hip-hop community, led by empresario
Russell Simmons, put tens of thousands people on the street to rally for reform.
Now, once again, the hip-hop community is calling out the politicians.
Working with
Real Reform New York, a coalition coordinated by the
Drug Policy Alliance, hip-hop superstar Jim Jones Tuesday released a new rap
single, "Lockdown,
USA," a powerful call to reform the Rockefeller laws which has so far run on
dozens of radio stations around the country.
A Harlem native, Jones
has seen the impact of the Rockefeller drug laws firsthand. Conversely, the
politicians in Albany have seen the impact of a mobilized hip-hop nation first
hand, too, and reformers report that the prospect of a new call to arms from the
hip-hop community has them nervous.
"We're kicking up the
pressure now, trying to revive the Russell Simmons coalition approach to Albany,
and I'm hearing that they're starting to sweat," said Anthony Papa, a
former Rockefeller law prisoner turned author and painter who now works to
undo those laws. "They're getting flashbacks of 100,000 people on the street
[for the 2003 Russell Simmons
Countdown to Fairness], and it's good if that makes them nervous," Papa told
the Chronicle.
He isn't just
speculating. After publishing an op-ed in the widely-read Huffington Post blog
last weekend, titled "Spitzer,
Cuomo and Paterson: Where Did You Go?," Papa received a personal call from
Paterson's office. "Not too happy," Papa characterized their feelings about it
in an e-mail to DRCNet yesterday. And word is that the chatter in Albany about
it all is far more extensive than that.
"These guys campaigned on
Rockefeller law reform, and now Spitzer has been in office for more than 100
days, and it is nowhere in sight," Papa complained. "Hip-hop is now calling you
out, Spitzer!"
It's time for change,
said one prisoner's mother. "Small changes to the Rockefeller Drug Laws were
clearly not enough. My son Ashley is a prime example of this, because he is
serving a 7- to 21-year sentence for a first-time, nonviolent offense," said
Cheri O'Donoghue, an advocate for Real Reform New York. "These inhumane, racist
laws have been around for nearly 34 years. Enough is enough."
New York's Drug Law
Reform Act of 2004 (DLRA) lowered some drug sentences but it fell far short of
allowing most people serving under the more punitive sentences to apply for
shorter terms, and it did nothing to increase the power of judges to place
addicts into treatment programs. While advocates and family members are
encouraged by these modest reforms, it is clear that the recent reforms have had
a negligible impact on the majority of people behind bars. Most people behind
bars on Rockefeller charges are charged with nonviolent lower-level or class-B
felonies.
"Given the extraordinary
racism associated with these laws, it's unbelievable they've been around for 34
years," said Gabriel Sayegh, project director at Drug Policy Alliance. "We hope
that this powerful song will inspire the thousands who attended the 2003
Lockdown, USA rally -- and all outraged New Yorkers -- to pick up the phone and
step into the streets to put heat on Governor Spitzer and State Senator Joe
Bruno -- to make them keep their word and reform these inhumane laws."
But even if the
Democratic administration starts moving on real reform, a huge political
obstacle remains in the Republican-dominated Senate, with its strongholds in the
prison country of upstate New York. Seven upstate Senate districts held by
Republicans depend on prisoner numbers to reach their required population size
and would have to be redrawn if large numbers of prisoners were released or the
US Census Bureau counted them as residents of their home towns.
Prisons are also a growth
industry in Republican-dominated upstate, which has seen dozens of new prisons
in the past two decades. It is no surprise that two of the most vocal reform
opponents, Sens. Dale Volker (R) of suburban Buffalo and Michael Nozzolio (R) of
Finger Lakes have 17% of the state's prison population in their districts.
Spitzer ran on his record
as a crusader against waste and corruption. Now, he has the opportunity to undo
the Rockefeller drug laws. But will he, or will he bow to political pressure
from powerful special interests who benefit directly from the mass incarceration
of their nonviolent fellow citizens? The reform community is now turning up the
heat to help him do the right thing.
________________________________________
© 2007
blackandbrownnews.com.
NY State Top Pols Play ‘Silent Sam’ On REAL Drug Law Reform.
May 13, 2007 by Anthony Papa, Writer (View
Source)
_________________
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5249/1/258/
Governor Spitzer: Hip Hop Is Calling You Out!
By
Anthony Papa |
|
|
|
5-09-07
May 8 marked the 34th anniversary of New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws.
On this day Jim Jones the hip hop superstar released his new rap single
and video titled "Lockdown, USA," a powerful song calling for real
reform of the laws. The song is a single from the forthcoming
documentary about the Rockefeller Drug Laws called Lockdown , USA. The
new song and video was released on the website of the Drug Policy
Alliance
http://www.drugpolicy.org/statebystate/newyork/lockdownusa/ as
part of the Real Reform New York Coalition's continuing struggle to win
real reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Real Reform New York is made
up of dozens of organizations representing thousands of community
members, activists, advocates, policy and treatment experts, survivors,
their friends and families that have joined to reform these laws.
Despite a few recent reforms, which in theory would fix the draconian
nature of these laws, little has been done and the campaign for
meaningful reform continues. In fact, out of the current 14,000
Rockefeller prisoners, fewer than 300 have been freed under the
revisions to date. It is hoped that this call from the Hip Hop world
ignites legislative action as it did in 2003 when Russell Simons called
on Governor Pataki to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Over 50,000
people lined the streets of NYC with the "Countdown to Fairness"
coalition requesting the governor to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
In recent elections, a number of officials who went on record in support
of real Rockefeller reform were voted into office. Governor Elliot
Spitzer, for one, along with Lt. Governor David Paterson and Attorney
General Cuomo all have spoken out for reform in the past. But now they
are surprisingly silent on the issue.
In 2004, I wrote a memoir of my experiences serving a 15-to-life
sentence under these harsh laws. Andrew Cuomo, before he became our
state's attorney general, threw a book release party for me at the
Whitney Museum of American Art. Attending the event were prominent
individuals like Senator David Paterson, along with many other
influential guests.
Cuomo and Paterson spoke bravely about changing these draconian laws.
Spitzer, the then-attorney general of New York, did not attend but wrote
a letter saying that my story was a "very personal and tragic story,
like those of so many other nonviolent offenders languishing in our
prisons on relatively minor drug offenses," and that it "illustrates the
impact that our Rockefeller Drug Laws have had on a generation of New
Yorkers. I applaud Mr. Papa's courage in speaking out and sharing his
ordeal with the world." It was a moving event that generated a vision of
changing the Rockefeller Drug Laws in a positive way.
I find it strange that the people who had supported change in the past
have now become so silent on the issue. My question is why do
politicians who use political platforms to generate votes suddenly
forget their past when elected to higher office?
Governor Elliot Spitzer, does appear interested in correcting the
criminal justice sector, as evidenced by his success in removing
exorbitant charges on collect calls made by prisoners to their families,
and his recent attempt to downsize half-empty prisons. But his laudable
efforts have not cued in on the Rockefeller reform. Attorney General
Andrew Cuomo who has used this issue in the past to revive his political
career has not uttered a word about it. And Lt. Governor David Paterson
who represented a highly affected Harlem district as senator has steered
away from the issue. It's time for Spitzer, Paterson and Cuomo to join
the NYS Assembly and step up to the plate. They should remember their
past intentions, especially when it affects the people who voted them
into office.
--Anthony Papa is the author of 15 Years to Life: How I Painted My Way
to Freedom and Communications Specialist for Drug Policy Alliance. He
can be reached at: anthonypapa123@yahoo.com. Papa's artwork can be
viewed at:
15yearstolife.com.
|
flash: MAY 8TH : THE 34TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS!
http://www.counterpunch.org/papa05052007.html
Weekend Edition
May 5 / 6, 2007
34 Years of Rockefeller Drug
Laws
Spitzer, Cuomo and Paterson:
Where Did You Go?
By ANTHONY PAPA
May
8 marks the 34th anniversary of New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws. Despite a few
recent reforms, which in theory would fix the draconian nature of these laws,
little has been done and the campaign for meaningful reform continues. In fact,
out of the current 13,000 Rockefeller prisoners, fewer than 300 have been freed
under the revisions to date.
In recent elections, a number of officials who went on record in support of real
Rockefeller reform were voted into office. Governor Elliot Spitzer, for one,
along with Lt. Governor David Paterson and Attorney General Cuomo all have
spoken out for reform in the past. But now they are surprisingly silent on the
issue.
In 2004, I wrote a memoir of my experiences serving a 15-to-life sentence under
these harsh laws. Andrew Cuomo, before he became our state's attorney general,
threw a book release party for me at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Attending the event were prominent individuals like Senator David Paterson,
along with many other influential guests.
Cuomo and Paterson spoke bravely about changing these draconian laws. Spitzer,
the then-attorney general of New York, did not attend but wrote a letter saying
that my story was a "very personal and tragic story, like those of so many other
nonviolent offenders languishing in our prisons on relatively minor drug
offenses," and that it "illustrates the impact that our Rockefeller Drug Laws
have had on a generation of New Yorkers. I applaud Mr. Papa's courage in
speaking out and sharing his ordeal with the world." It was a moving event that
generated a vision of changing the Rockefeller Drug Laws in a positive way.
I find it strange that the people who had supported change in the past have now
become so silent on the issue. My question is why do politicians who use
political platforms to generate votes suddenly forget their past when elected to
higher office?
Governor Elliot Spitzer, does appear interested in correcting the criminal
justice sector, as evidenced by his success in removing exorbitant charges on
collect calls made by prisoners to their families, and his recent attempt to
downsize half-empty prisons. But his laudable efforts have not cued in on the
Rockefeller reform. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo who has used this issue in the
past to revive his political career has not uttered a word about it. And Lt.
Governor David Patterson who represented a highly affected Harlem district as
senator has steered away from the issue.
Last week the New York State Assembly passed a bill for further reform of the
Rockefeller Drug laws. Cheri O'Donoghue joined them at a press conference and
talked about her son Ashley who is serving a 7 to 21 sentence for a first time
non-violent drug offense. This mother grieved for the son she had lost to laws
that had taken away her relationship with him. She asked why the Rockefeller
Drug Laws had now not been a priority with so many politicians that had
benefited from them in the past. No one could answer her question. It's time for
Spitzer, Patterson and Cuomo to join the NYS Assembly and step up to the plate.
They should remember their past intentions, especially when it affects the
people who voted them into office.
Anthony Papa
is the author of
15 Years to Life: How I Painted My Way to
Freedom and Communications Specialist for
Drug Policy Alliance. He can be
reached at:
anthonypapa123@yahoo.com
Papa's artwork can be
viewed at:
www.15yearstolife.com/art1.htm
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=584144&category=OPINION&newsdate=4/26/2007
|
Spitzer must lead drug law
reform
|
| |
By
GABRIEL SAYEGH
First
published: Thursday, April 26, 2007
|
| Last
week, the state Assembly passed important legislation to reform the
draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws. The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman
Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, increases drug treatment alternatives to
incarceration, expands judicial discretion to restore fairness in our
courts and, critically, allows for people currently serving harsh prison
terms for low-level drug offenses to seek much-needed relief.
The Assembly should be commended for
passing smart reforms. But where are the governor and the state Senate
on drug law reform?
While running for governor, Eliot
Spitzer campaigned on a promise: "Day One, Everything Changes." Spitzer
made campaign statements in support of real reform of the laws. Lt. Gov.
David Paterson was a long-time reform champion while Senate minority
leader. Families and advocates working for repeal of the failed
Rockefeller Drug Laws were cautiously optimistic about Spitzer's
promise. It seemed entirely possible that on Day One, the Rockefeller
laws, after nearly 34 long, terrible years, might finally be repealed.
But in the first hundred days of the new
administration, drug law reform went missing in action. Spitzer took on
a variety of important issues, but the Rockefeller Drug Laws didn't even
make his priority list for the end of the legislative session.
Why is it so hard to win real reform,
when everyone knows these laws are racist, ineffective, wasteful and
unjust? So asks longtime advocate Cheri O'Donoghue, whose son, Ashley,
is serving seven to 21 years for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense.
Ashley is one of more than 14,000 people incarcerated under these harsh
laws.
The answer to Cheri's question is
downright sinister, but it's no secret. The reason the Rockefeller Drug
Laws haven't been done away with is because of a despicable trinity of
racism, cash cows and the U.S. census, not to mention the people who
rely on this trinity for their political survival. From 1817 to 1981,
New York built 33 prisons. But from 1982 to 2000, New York built 38 more
prisons -- all of them upstate. The unprecedented prison boom was
largely an economic development plan meant to ameliorate the job loss
upstate. Rural, white communities were clamoring to build and staff
prisons. The Rockefeller Drug Laws delivered the bodies with harsh
mandatory-minimum sentences for low-level drug offenses.
The RAND Corp. and other think tanks
have shown that drug use and abuse is roughly equal across all racial
groups. But the Rockefeller Drug Laws always have been marked by severe
racial bias. Today, 91 percent of the people incarcerated under these
laws are black and Latino. It's a scenario we'd expect to find in an
apartheid state, not a democracy.
Once elected, Spitzer proposed the
possibility of closing half-empty prisons in upstate New York, saving
millions of dollars. Many groups applauded Spitzer, because New York's
prison population has dropped in recent years and its archaic prison
industrial complex needs an overhaul. The leading voices against
studying closing prisons, though, were politically very powerful. The
correction officers union and upstate politicians have parlayed the
politics of imprisonment into lucrative businesses and political
careers. The prospects for reform have at least dimmed, if they haven't
died altogether.
|
The plot thickens,
though. More than 76 percent of the state's prison
inmates come from New York City. The U.S. Census
Bureau counts them as residents of the upstate
prisons in which they're incarcerated, not as
residents of the communities from which they came.
Why does this
matter? According to the Prison Policy Initiative,
if prisoners were not counted as "residents," seven
upstate Senate districts would be 5 percent short of
their required population size, and thus have to be
redrawn. This means that senators in those districts
-- all of them Republicans -- would lose their
seats, causing Republicans to lose their slim Senate
majority. Unsurprisingly, Senate Republicans remain
staunch opponents of repealing the Rockefeller Drug
Laws.
Two vocal reform
opponents -- Sen. Dale Volker of suburban Buffalo
and Sen. Michael Nozzolio of the Finger Lakes --
have more than 17 percent of the state's prisoners
in their districts. Is it any wonder why they oppose
reform?
Spitzer was elected
on his record as a crusader against waste and
corruption, no matter what powerful interests stood
in his way. Advocates for drug law reform hoped the
new governor would stand up to the corruption and
racism blocking real reform of the Rockefeller Drug
Laws. He now has that chance, with the legislation
passed by the Assembly and sent to the Senate. But
the Senate, under Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, will
block those reforms unless the governor gets more
directly involved.
For the sake of
justice, and families like the O'Donoghues, let's
demand that the governor makes a priority of drug
law reform.
Because if nothing
changes, nothing changes.
Gabriel Sayegh is a
project director at the Drug Policy Alliance in New
York City, http://www.drugpolicy.org.
|
|
|
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n514/a02.html
Newshawk: Drug Policy Alliance
www.drugpolicy.org
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Sun, 22 Apr 2007
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 2007 Newsday Inc.
Contact:
letters@newsday.com
Website:
http://www.newsday.com/
Details:
http://www.mapinc.org/media/308
Author: Anthony Papa
SPITZER RIGHT ON PRISON-CALL FEES
Regarding "Spitzer ends charge on inmate collect calls" [News, April
15]: Gov. Eliot Spitzer did the right thing in ending the major ripoff
of families of those incarcerated. They were forced to pay enormous
amounts of money to telephone companies to keep them in touch with their
imprisoned loved ones.
My mother used most of her Social Security checks to pay for the collect
calls I made to her while serving a 15-to-life sentence under the
Rockefeller drug laws.
Many families of the imprisoned in New York State had to make sacrifices
to keep their families together through the use of phone calls.
This was nothing short of a moral crime.
I just want to point out that Spitzer, who had a steamroller history of
going after white-collar crimes as attorney general, did nothing about
the telephone charges when he held that position.
Maybe this was because he was bound by law to defend the actions of the
Department of Corrections.
Whatever the case may be, he now shows commitment as governor to
correcting the wrongs in the criminal justice sector. Let's hope he can
now help reform the Rockefeller drug laws.
Anthony Papa
Editor's note: The writer is communications specialist for the Drug
Policy Alliance.
Manhattan |
Flash! April 19, 2007:
Assembly Drops New Rockefeller Drug Law Bill
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070419/NEWS01/704190373/1002
Advocates say Rockefeller drug laws
remain too harsh
By Cara Matthews
Albany Bureau
|
ALBANY — Lawmakers and family members of people imprisoned on
non-violent drug charges urged legislators Wednesday to further
roll-back sentencing under the state's Rockefeller-era drug laws, widely
considered to be among the nation's harshest.
Changes to the laws in 2004 and amendments last year called for
eliminating parole and reducing overall sentences of non-violent drug
offenders. Some prisoners who had committed Class A felonies, the most
serious level, could apply for reduced sentences. But lawmakers did not
make changes for Class B and other lower-level felonies, said Sen. Eric
Schneiderman, D-Manhattan. It expanded eligibility for prison-based drug
treatment, among other changes.
Schneiderman and other
lawmakers are sponsoring legislation to expand treatment programs and
allow prisoners convicted of Class B felonies for non-violent drug
offenses to apply for reduced sentences. It would increase sentences for
violent drug dealers and “kingpins.”
The legislation would
“really change the culture around drug addiction in our state to focus
more on treatment,” Schneiderman said. It would prevent the “brutal
breakup of families and long-term harm done by incarcerating people for
long periods of time whose real problem is drug addiction,” he added.
Sentencing reforms enacted in 2004 have resulted in the release of
only 177 people, the senator said. On average, they were released 43
months before their previously calculated earliest release date.
The bill would make the following other changes:
* Increase judges' discretion and allow some people convicted of
first- and second-time drug offenses to receive treatment and probation
instead of prison terms.
* Set up drug courts in every county. Drug courts make special
efforts to get offenders in treatment programs.
* Raise the weight thresholds for certain drug offenses so that the
possible sentence times are reduced.
* Create or expand “second chance” programs for low-level drug
defendants, such as the Court Approved Drug Abuse Treatment program, in
which offenders' cases can be dismissed or reduced to misdemeanors upon
successful completion of treatment.
The legislation on Wednesday passed the Assembly, where it is
sponsored by Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens. Senate Republicans have resisted
efforts to further ease the Rockefeller-era drug laws, and district
attorneys have strongly opposed such measures.
Cheri O'Donoghue of New York City, said her son, Ashley, was arrested
in a sting operation set up by two Hamilton College students who were
cooperating with police after they were caught selling drugs on campus.
They asked to buy enough cocaine from him to make the charges an A
felony.
Ashley, now 24, pleaded the case down to a Class B felony and
received a sentence of seven to 21 years, said Cheri O'Donoghue, whose
family also has a home in Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County. He has been
in prison nearly four years.
People need to take responsibility for their actions, she said, but
her son's punishment does not fit the crime.
“When you look at this, you have to ask yourself, ‘Does this make
sense?' and I don't see how anyone could come away from this and say it
makes sense,” she said. “We all make mistakes and I think that Ashley
should have at least been given a second chance. These other two kids
were given a second chance.”
The Drug Policy Alliance estimates that when fully implemented, the
state would save about $123 million a year due to fewer prison
admissions and reductions in drug-related crime.
According to the Real Reform New York Coalition, less than 30 percent
of 1,000 prisoners serving time on Class A-1 and A-2 drug felonies were
released after requesting re-sentencing. The re-sentencing process is
much slower than expected, the group said.
Originally published April 19, 2007 |
April 19, 2007
A Nightmare Behind Bars
John Valverde's Fight for
Freedom
By ANTHONY PAPA
Former
Governor George Pataki's legacy of not freeing rehabilitated violent offenders
is alive and well in New York State. Today thousands of parole petitioners are
ready to return to society as productive citizens but remain stuck in prison
because of the politics of incarceration.
This unwritten policy
persists in spite of newly installed Governor Elliot Spitzer's attempt to
correct the criminal justice sector, as evidenced by his recent calls to remove
the exorbitant charges on collect calls
Statistically it is a
not-so-well-known fact that offenders who commit crimes such as murder are
actually less likely to return to jail than nonviolent offenders. Nevertheless,
after completing their sentences and coming to terms with their crimes, they are
still wasting away in New York State gulags. Time and again the parole board
fails to weigh all of the relevant statutory factors together with the
prisoner's positive accomplishments and productive behavior while incarcerated.
Instead, the parole board focuses almost entirely on the nature of the
petitioner's crime.
A case in point is the
story of John Valverde, a 36-year-old Queens man who recently was denied parole
for his third consecutive time. He has already served 15 years of a 10- to
30-year sentence for ending the life of a freelance photographer, Joel
Schoenfeld, a 47-year-old West Village photographer with a history of enticing
young female models to his studio and sexually assaulting them. In 1991,
Schoenfeld raped his 19-year-old model girlfriend. After unsuccessfully seeking
help from the police--powerless to act without the brutalized and traumatized
victim coming forward--John Valverde, then a 21-year-old student, confronted
Schoenfeld. The ensuing argument turned violent and John shot and killed
Schoenfeld. The single bullet fired that night changed not only John's life
forever but also that of his family. His mother, brother and sister have fought
endlessly to free John and themselves from the nightmare of his continuing
ordeal behind bars.
John regrets the act he
committed ending the life of an individual who took the honor away his former
girlfriend many years ago. I know this because I was with John during his time
of remorsefulness at Sing Sing prison when I was serving a 15-to-life sentence
under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. In 1995, we both graduated from the New York
Theological Seminary. Despite the negative environment that surrounded him, John
managed to transcend the prison experience by finding purpose in his life
through helping others. He taught religion, volunteered as a tutor for men who
could not read, and worked with AIDS patients.
The hard time John served
in a maximum security prison transformed him from the 21-year-old boy who had
made the biggest mistake of his life into a man who now understands the horror
of his crime. Apparently all inconsequential in the view of the parole board,
which offered the following reasoning in John's case: "The violence displayed in
this crime outweighs everything else."
Why are violent offenders,
who seem to be ready to return to society, being hit by the parole board on a
continuous basis? The answer is simple. Politicians and parole officials are
afraid of granting parole to violent prisoners out of fear of falling from grace
in the eyes of the public. Recently, the New York Parole Commissioner was
demoted from his position by Governor Pataki after causing and uproar with the
release a high-profile offender involved in the murder of two upstate police
officers.
If we look at the history
of why violent offenders are routinely denied parole we can see how it could
have evolved out of the cash incentives for new prison construction given by the
federal government to states that ended parole for violent offenders in 1994
under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. This law was devised to
give states fiscal incentives to build prisons if they in turn enacted laws that
result in violent offenders serving 85% of their sentences. Grants were made
available for states to build more prisons coupled with an effective end to
parole. From 1996 to 2000, New York State received around $200 million under
this Act.
On April 20, family and
friends of John Valverde will gather in front of the Albany Supreme Court in New
York to rally on John's behalf, and in support of overturning the parole board's
latest denial. We are calling on Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who represents
the parole board, to look into the totality of facts in this case so John and
his family may receive proper judicial relief.
It is time for the parole
board to free model prisoners like John Valverde. We cannot minimize the
seriousness of the crime he committed but neither can we minimize the tragedy of
his plight to regain his freedom. He is just one of many individuals who have
paid their debt to society for the crimes they committed but kept in prison
because of the "Politics of Incarceration."
Anthony Papa
is the author of
15 Years to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom and Communications
Specialist for
Drug Policy Alliance. He can be reached at:
anthonypapa123@yahoo.com
Papa's artwork can be
viewed at:
www.15yearstolife.com/art1.htm
For more info contact
Hispanics Across America -- 212-481-1820.
US NY: PUB LTE: The War on Drugs, Now in Schools
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n428/a02.html
Newshawk: Drug Testing Fails Our Youth
www.drugtestingfails.org
Votes:
0
Pubdate: Sun, 01 Apr 2007
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2007 The New York Times Company
Contact:
letters@nytimes.com
Website:
http://www.nytimes.com/
Details:
http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Referenced:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n377/a09.html
Author: Anthony Papa
THE WAR ON DRUGS, NOW IN SCHOOLS
To the Editor:
Re "Is This the Answer to Drug Use?" ( March 25 ):
Students are now on the front lines of the war on drugs. Whether it be
random, suspicionless student drug testing, or having police dogs
sniffing around school lockers for drugs, students are now feeling the
heavy-handedness of the government's efforts to keep them "drug-free."
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is trying to
persuade local educators across the country to apply random,
suspicionless drug tests by conducting regional summits. This policy is
unsupported by available science and opposed by leading experts in
adolescent health.
Instead, educators should implement alternatives to drug testing that
emphasize education and discussion that will build trust between
students and adults. Forcing students to urinate in a cup is not the
way to keep them drug-free.
Anthony Papa
New York
The writer is communications specialist, Drug Policy Alliance.
|
http://www.counterpunch.org/papa03242007.html
Weekend Edition
March 24 / 25, 2007
Bong Hits 4 Jesus!
Students on the Drug War's
Front Lines
By ANTHONY PAPA
On
March 20, student free speech joined the panoply of endangered fundamental
rights ready to be stripped away from us due to the tragedy of the drug war.
Kenneth Starr, former solicitor general, who reached broad fame by highlighting
a presidential sex scandal in the Clinton years, stood before the land's highest
court to argue the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case.
It all started innocently enough when 18-year-old Joe Frederick sought his "15
minutes of fame" by pulling a harmless prank. In 2002, in front of his high
school, during a procession of the Olympic torch relay brigade, Joe unrolled a
14-foot banner bearing the words "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." Soon after the cameras
caught the act, his high school principal suspended him for ten days for
displaying the banner, in apparent violation of school policy limiting speech
that promotes illegal drug use. Frederick soon brought a lawsuit against his
school principal in which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in his favor,
finding that the principal had violated Frederick's First Amendment rights.
The case subsequently reached the Supreme Court where Starr argued on behalf of
the former principal and the school. Starr developed a legal strategy to defend
the school's position that the language in question on the banner clearly went
against the school's anti-drug mission. He even had former Drug Czar Barry
McCaffrey stand beside him on the Supreme Court steps for a photo op.
Frederick's lawyer countered Starr's argument explaining that the case was
really all about free speech, and not a case about drugs or drug use. Win or
lose, Starr used this worldwide platform to advocate the government's
zero-tolerance policy views on drugs.
Students are now on the front lines of the war on drugs. Whether it be random,
suspicionless student drug testing, or having police dogs sniffing around school
lockers for drugs, students are now feeling the heavy-handedness of the
government's overzealous efforts to keep them "drug-free." Get busted smoking a
joint and lose federal funding for education. Talk about bong hits and face
suspension. Where will it end?
In the government's attempt to win the drug war, it has little regard for our
precious given rights as outlined in the Constitution. Drug users and people
wrestling with addiction everywhere are routinely demonized by the moral
majority. Chip by chip or, in this case, bong hit by bong hit, our fundamental
rights are going up in smoke. Americans across the land must be made better
aware of this travesty.
Everyone who is concerned about free speech should be concerned with the outcome
of this case. If the government can silence us about the drug war today, they
can silence us on Iraq tomorrow and global warming the day after that.
Anthony Papa
is the author of
15 Years to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom and Communications
Specialist for
Drug Policy Alliance. He can be reached at:
anthonypapa123@yahoo.com
|
Online at: http://politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/4996/1/247/ |
Archives
- Dates and Topics Online
Edition Archive Mar.
12 – Mar. 18
click here for related
stories: Racism, civil rights and equality
President Bush is
presently conducting a five country tour of Latin America. One of the main
points on his agenda is trying to court its leaders into following the United
States in their traditional drug prohibition strategies. In Bogotá, Colombia, he
was greeted by protestors who were not impressed with the $700 million in aid to
combat drug trafficking through Plan Colombia.
Despite Bush's monetary incentives, elected officials up and down the Americas
are looking at the violence in the streets and are beginning to question the
failed U.S. drug prohibition model. The latest voice to join the choir was Rio
de Janeiro's governor, Sergio Cabral, who on February 23 called for legalizing
drugs as a strategy to fight the ongoing drug-related gang violence that is
devastating his state. He expressed hopes that this new approach would reduce
the violent crime caused primarily by drug prohibition and the illicit markets
it spawns.
Rio de Janeiro has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America, fueled by
outbreaks of violence among different gangs, and between gangs and the police in
the slums of Brazil's favelas, where urban drug lords rule. Several months ago,
one of the governor's first acts was to ask the federal government to send a
special security force to Rio following the eruption of gang violence that
caused both civilian and police deaths.
"The governor is merely saying out loud what so many more think but fear to
say," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Rio
today is like Chicago under Al Capone – times ten. Reforming drug prohibition
won't be as quick and easy as repealing alcohol Prohibition was, but there's no
hope for breaking the drug-crime nexus unless many more elected officials heed
Governor Cabral's call."
Not too long ago, a world away, a similar call was made in upstate New York by
Erie County Executive Joel Giambra, fed up by the violence associated with the
illegal drug trade. He went on to say his city streets had turned into war
zones. Soon after, law enforcement officials condemned him. The same thing
happened to Mexico's president, Vicente Fox, when he called for legalization of
small amounts of some types of drugs. Prohibitionists went into overdrive to
stop him and he withdrew his idea soon after.
The idea to change the failed policies of drug prohibition has been met with
powerful resistance despite the devastation it inevitably brings to
societies. It is time to step out of the darkness and into the light to seek a
new strategy in our failed attempt of drug prohibition. We should welcome
innovative leaders with new ideas that will make our world safer to live in,
instead of condemning them.
--Anthony Papa is a communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance, a
New York-based organization working to reform drug policies, and author of
15 to Life.
US NY: PUB LTE: Spitzer's Prison Fight
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n215/a06.html
Newshawk: Tony Papa
www.drugpolicy.org
Votes:
0
Pubdate: Sun, 18 Feb 2007
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2007 The New York Times Company
Contact:
letters@nytimes.com
Website:
http://www.nytimes.com/
Details:
http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Referenced:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n000/a020.html
Author: Anthony Papa
SPITZER'S PRISON FIGHT
To the Editor:
"A Battle Over Prisons" ( editorial, Feb. 12 ):
We need a smart political leader like Gov. Eliot Spitzer to correct the
waste of scarce tax dollars spent on maintaining half-empty
institutions.
These prisons have become cash cows for the correction officers' union
and political leaders in rural upstate communities that house these
facilities.
Governor Spitzer is clearly looking at the economic waste generated by
the archaic prison-industrial complex. His efforts to substitute a
smarter economic approach should be applauded and given time to bear
fruit.
Governor Spitzer's policy will lead to a better functioning criminal
justice system that will be more cost-efficient for the people of New
York.
Anthony Papa
The writer is a communications specialist for the Drug Policy Alliance.
|
Flash!
January 2, 2007
Spitzer Should Make
Rockefeller Drug Law Reform #1 Priority
Albany
Times-Union
Put Drug Laws on Day One Docket
By GABRIEL SAYEGH
New Yorkers are waiting to see whether Gov. Eliot Spitzer's
campaign slogan -- "Day One, Everything Changes"-- is
genuine, or just a slogan. There are a number of issues
that warrant the attention of the new administration, and
reforming the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws should be a
priority.
The Rockefeller Drug Laws, passed in 1973, mandate harsh
mandatory minimum prison terms for simple, low-level drug
offenses. Under these laws, people convicted of first-time
drug offenses receive 8 to 20 years in prison. While the
state spends millions of taxpayer dollars every year
imprisoning drug offenders, spending on community-based drug
treatment is pitifully low. Indeed, treatment options for
people with drug problems are too limited, especially for
low-income people. There are more than 14,000 people in New
York prisons under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Nationwide,
over 500,000 people are incarcerated on drug offenses, more
than any other industrialized nation (and more than the
European Union, with 100 million more residents,
incarcerates for all offenses combined).
But perhaps the most despicable aspect of the Rockefeller
Drug Laws is the institutional racism associated with their
application. More than 90 percent of the people
incarcerated under the Rockefeller Drug Laws are black and
Latino, even though whites use and sell illegal drugs at
approximately equal rates. There is no excuse for this
disparity. With New York City reeling from yet another
police shooting of an unarmed black man, questions of
institutional racism in policing practices are fresh on the
minds of New Yorkers. Spitzer should take note: Recent
polls show that nearly 80 percent of New Yorkers believe
the Rockefeller Drug Laws should be repealed. These
policies, ineffective and racist, waste thousands lives and
millions of dollars each year. The laws were moderately
reformed two years ago, but as Senate Majority Leader Joe
Bruno said of the 2004 reforms, "More needs to be done."
Advocates, newspaper editorial boards, and leaders across
the political spectrum agreed, as did Lt. Gov. David
Paterson, a longtime champion of reform.
Yet real reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws remains
unfinished. Spitzer can complete drug law reform by doing
five things:
1. Restore judicial discretion. Under mandatory minimum
sentencing practices, judges have no discretion in
sentencing. For example, whether the offense is a person's
first, or they are simply a mule, is irrelevant.
Organizations such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops, the American Bar Association, and Supreme Court
Justice Anthony Kennedy have all called for an end to
mandatory minimums because they constitute unfair practices.
2. Fund treatment. A study by the RAND Corporation found
that treatment is 15 times more effective -- and far
cheaper -- than incarceration in reducing drug abuse and
related crime. In California, voters passed Prop. 36 in
2000, diverting people arrested for first- and second- time
simple drug possession into community-based treatment, not
prison. A recent UCLA study found that Prop. 36 is highly
successful. Some 5,000 people a year receive treatment
instead of prison, saving state taxpayers $1.3 billion.
3 Enact sentencing reform. The Rockefeller Drug Laws are
draconian because the sentences are so inhumane. We need
further sentencing reform, including reform of the Second
Felony Offender Act, and an increased use of alternatives
to incarceration. Eight to 20 years for a first-time,
nonviolent offense is what we'd expect from a dictatorship,
not a democracy.
4. Apply retroactivity. Sentencing reforms should apply
retroactively to the more than 14,000 people currently
incarcerated because of these laws.
5. Focus on re-entry. Tie these reforms together with a
comprehensive re-entry plan, providing wrap-around services
such as drug treatment and job training for people
returning to our communities from prison. Help them become
productive, taxpaying citizens instead of being a prison
number.
By doing all this, Spitzer can ensure that people with
addictions receive treatment instead of a jail cell; he can
save taxpayer dollars while improving public safety; and he
can help end the institutional racism in our criminal
justice system. New Yorkers will be watching to make sure
Spitzer holds true to his campaign promises. Anything less
will not be real reform.
Gabriel Sayegh is a project director at the Drug Policy
Alliance in New York City. His e-mail address is
gsayegh@drugpolicy.org
Newsday (New York)
December 12, 2006 Tuesday
NASSAU
AND
SUFFOLK EDITION
LETTERS
BYLINE: Anthony Papa,
SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A44
Meth crackdown is political hype
Regarding "Meth labs found across city, LI" [News, Dec. 1], it's no
surprise that the announcement of the big meth bust in
New York
came a day after President George W. Bush declared Nov. 30 "National
Methamphetamine Awareness Day."
It adds clout to the government's attempt to establish the ability to control
your life through the hype of a meth drug epidemic. If you look at the
statistics for meth use across the country, you find that its use is far
behind other drugs such as inhalants, hallucinogens, cocaine and marijuana.
The
war on drugs has created convenient vehicles for looking tough on crime while
hiding behind the shield of public safety. But that shield gets worn down when
our basic rights are curtailed through its use.
Anthony Papa
Editor's note: The writer is communications specialist for the Drug Policy
Alliance.
Manhattan
US FL: PUB LTE: Control Through Hype
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1658/a08.html
Newshawk:
http://www.november.org
Votes:
0
Pubdate: Mon, 04 Dec 2006
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2006 Orlando Sentinel
Contact:
insight@orlandosentinel.com
Website:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/
Details:
http://www.mapinc.org/media/325
Referenced:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1638/a02.html
Author: Anthony Papa
CONTROL THROUGH HYPE
In response to "Methamphetamine abuse affects us all" by Alberto R.
Gonzales: President Bush declared Nov. 30 National Methamphetamine
Awareness Day. It is a day in which the government establishes the
concrete ability to control your life through the hype of a drug
epidemic.
The war on drugs has created convenient vehicles of looking tough on
crime while hiding behind the shield of public safety. But that shield
gets worn down when our basic rights are curtailed through its use. On
Sept. 30, a new federal law went into effect that forces cold sufferers
to jump through ridiculous hoops to purchase what were originally
over-the-counter medications.
Customers with colds now must present a photo ID and sign a log in order
to purchase cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine,
ephedrine and phenylephrine -- precursor drugs that can be used to
manufacture meth. There are an estimated 34 different chemicals found
in common household products such as lighter fluid, road flares and
matches that can also be used to make meth. Are we going to create
similar laws to restrict purchases of all those items as well?
We need to invest scarce public resources into educating the public
about the use of meth and providing high-quality treatment options to
fight addiction, not create an intrusive public registry or layer on
ineffective bureaucratic busy work.
Meth Day is another law-enforcement tool that leads to the further
erosion of our precious civil liberties. It might not be apparent now,
but neither was our right to not be hassled when buying cold medicine
before the law changed.
Anthony Papa
Communications Specialist
Drug Policy Alliance
New York, N.Y.
|
Flash!
October 10, 2006
TASTE OF JUSTICE FAIR
In Show of Prisoners' Artwork, It's Redemption That's on Display
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 1, 2006; Page C03
As visitors flipped through bins of paintings, lingering on the ones they
liked, Anthony Papa couldn't help but recall what a paint and brush had done
for him during the 12 years he was behind bars for distributing drugs. He
had been desperate, and it was his first offense.
"Art saved my life," he said yesterday. "It helped me to
retain my sanity and regain my freedom. The greatest thing for me was my
discovery as an artist."
In a makeshift gallery in the basement of the Martin Luther King Jr.
Memorial Library in downtown Washington yesterday, the works of dozens of
incarcerated people from across the country were on display. There were
serene landscapes and joyous clowns as well as celebrity portraits,
including Tupac Shakur, Malcolm X and Ray Charles. There were also sober
renderings of prison life: a pair of shackled hands, a roll of toilet paper
next to a barren toilet.
Organizers said the importance of the pieces lies not in their artistic
value but in what the expressions represent -- a chance to rehabilitate
those who have gone astray.
"Art provides a second chance," said Dennis Sobin, director of
the District-based Prisons Foundation, which regularly showcases prison
artists.
Yesterday's Taste of Justice Fair also included dozens of victims' and
criminal rights advocates and representatives of groups that provide
services to the currently or previously incarcerated.
Among them was Rodney C. Mitchell, a District native, who served time and
now helps others who have recently left prison.
As a reentry worker for the D.C. Public Defender's Office, he sees 30 to
35 people each week, helping them clear up legal issues and get arrests
expunged from their records and steering them toward employers.
"We try to stabilize them," he said. "We try to be
holistic."
But there are not enough services to reach the 2,500 inmates who return
to the District each year, in addition to the thousands more who cycle in
and out of the D.C. jail for minor offenses, Mitchell said. Service
providers from the region and across the nation said they experience the
same problems.
One of the biggest issues was what they said were strict penalties for
drug offenses. It is the issue closest to Papa's heart. In 1985, Papa said,
a bowling buddy asked a favor: deliver a small packet of cocaine in exchange
for $500. He accepted and was caught in a drug sting.
As a result of stringent drug laws in New York state, he was convicted
and sentenced to 15 years to life. He spent 12 years in prison, studying art
and finding himself. After achieving some recognition for his work, he was
pardoned by the governor.
Now he travels the country hawking his book, "15 to Life: How I
Painted My Way to Freedom" (2004), and as an advocate for the Drug
Policy Alliance, trying to get fairer laws in place to help people convicted
of nonviolent drug offenses. "Mine is a familiar story," he said.
"Spending 15 years in a 6-by-9 cell, you really discover who you
are," he added. "Art gives people a second chance. If you go to
prison and there are no programs, you come out worse than when you came in.
Why not use the prison as a re-socialization center? You have a captive
audience."
Wearing a Superman backpack, Marcus Robertson, 7, flipped through a bin
of paintings as his father, Vince Robertson, stood nearby. One featuring a
New York cityscape caught Marcus's eye: A plane was about to crash into one
of the twin towers as the faces of dozens of people ascended skyward.
"I see people going up to Heaven," he told his father,
referring to the picture of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "My
teacher told me about that."
Robertson, a fundraiser who lives in Takoma Park, said that his work
centers on environmental and social justice issues and that he wants his
children to have broad exposure.
"I came intentionally to expose my son to this type of thing,"
he said. "I want him to understand that it's not all
entertainment."
Flash!
October 8,2006
Bartlett wins and obtains a hung jury but the D.A's office wants
to
bring her to trial again! Why not give her a break and give her a plea
bargain with no jail time involved? (which is what happened at the end in
2007)
NEW BREAK FOR ROCKY DRUG GAL
By LAURA ITALIANO NY Post
ELAINE BARTLETT
Gets a hung jury.
October 6, 2006 -- Rockefeller drug-law reform crusader Elaine Bartlett -
pardoned by Gov. Pataki in 2000 only to be rearrested last year and charged with
hiding her murdering, drug-dealing husband from cops - won another reprieve
yesterday when a Manhattan jury deadlocked on new charges.
Prosecutors promptly said they would seek a retrial.
Until her re-arrest, Bartlett, 49, had been a cause celebre for drug-law
reform, touring the country with her story of spending 16 years in an upstate
prison for agreeing to act as messenger of a 4-ounce package of cocaine in
return for $2,500.
She said she needed the money to feed her four kids.
Bartlett toured the country as the subject of a book that became the drug-law
reform bible, "Life on the Outside," by Jennifer Gonnerman.
But she was soon thrust back into the drug life, prosecutors say.
In March 2003, she married a man half her age, Deon Waterman - now serving
221/2 years to life on his conviction for killing drug dealer Vernon Dyer just
around the corner from the couple's West Harlem apartment.
Bartlett is charged with helping her husband elude police by bringing him to
her niece's house.
The niece testified against Bartlett, telling jurors her aunt insisted
Waterman stay with her, since she needed time to plan his escape either to
Canada or the Carolinas.
Bartlett, in turn, presented two witnesses on her own behalf - herself and
comedian-actor Charles Grodin.
He testified as a character witness to her truthfulness and heroic efforts on
behalf of Rockefeller drug-law "victims."
Bartlett told jurors she did not believe her husband was guilty.
Assistant District Attorney David Hammer is asking for a retrial. The next
court date, before Justice Daniel FitzGerald, was set for Oct. 19.
laura.italiano@nypost.com
Flash!
September 26, 2006
"Have a Cold? Prove It, Then Sign Here"
http://www.counterpunch.org/papa09262006.html
The Danger of
Methamphetime Registries
By ANTHONY PAPA
Need
to know where your neighborhood meth dealer lives? I think not. But the
current trend in law enforcement thinks so. Six states including
New York are considering joining
Tennessee, Illinois,
Montana
and
Minnesota in enacting a methamphetamine offender registry. These
registries will publicly display information about methamphetamine users,
makers and dealers that have been convicted of their crimes. In validating
their clarion call for registries, law enforcement officials across the
country have complained that the toxic materials found from clandestine meth
labs have poisoned communities and destroyed property.
The registry trend follows the governmental implementation of making
methamphetamine trafficking and abuse a high priority problem. When high
priority is established, desperate measures are enacted that sometimes invade
the civil liberties of citizens that seem to have nothing to do with the drug
war.
The idea of using a data base that details the
crimes of offenders is not new. Sex offenders have been under the keen eye of
the public through on line registries in all 50 states for some time now. Not
too many people would argue against their use in this manner. After all, we
must protect our
children
from predators. But, the question I ask is do we need the same type of
protection in the prohibition of methamphetamine?
In about 2004, methamphetamine jumped into the national consciousness as the
latest U.S. "drug epidemic." With covers stories that depicted methamphetamine
as "America's Most Dangerous Drug", alarmist media coverage and draconian
political responses to the dangers of methamphetamine have been reminiscent of
the public reaction to crack cocaine in the 1980s.
At the same time the implementation of the
federal governments Meth/Drug Hot Spots program was born. It offered local and
state agencies almost 400 million dollars to find and eradicate meth labs to
end the threat of the meth drug epidemic. Through financial incentives,
policing policies were increased to take advantage of the cash cow the federal
government had created, all in the name of stopping the epidemic.
However recent studies by several policy organizations like the Sentencing
Project questioned the existence this epidemic and have shown that reality
contradicts many of the myths perpetuated by the media. Their findings
concluded that methamphetamine is actually one of the rarest of illegal drugs
used, with its use declining among youth, stabilizing among adults and
demonstrating no increase in first-time users. Furthermore, even governmental
data disputes the existence of an epidemic.
The war on drugs has created convenient vehicles of looking tough on crime
while hiding being the shield of public safety. But that shield gets worn out
when our basic rights are curtailed through its use. For example, since the
recent enactment of federal laws in several states, cold sufferers now have to
jump through ridiculous hoops to purchase what were originally
over-the-counter medications. You now must show photo ID and sign a log in
order to purchase cold and allergy medicines containing pseuudoephedrine, a
drug that can be used to manufacture methamphetamine. There are an estimated
34 different chemicals that can be derived from materials like lighter fluid,
road flares and matches. Do we create similar laws to purchase them?
We need to put resources in educating the public about the use of
methamphetamine, not creating a public registry. It would be used only as
another law enforcement tool that will lead to the further restriction and
erosion of our civil liberties. It might not be apparent now, but neither was
our right to not be hassled to buy cold medicine before the law changed.
FLASH!
SEPTEMBER 17,2006 NYC DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE UNDER FIRE FOR OVER
ZEALOUS PROSECUTION OF FORMER ROCKEFELLER DRUG WAR PRISONER ELAINE BARTLETT
-
Elaine
Bartlett who served 16 years of a 20 to life sentence who was granted clemency
now is facing prison again for a trumped up charge by the NYC DA Bob Morganthau.
She is currently at trial in NYC with Judge Torres the author of "Coltios
Way" which became a major motion picure. The judge claimed "that this
was the first time in 30 years a case like this came to his court room.
Elaine is being represented by Jessy Bergman and Marge Kunstler. Elaines husband was convicted of murder. Elaine knew nothing of the crime
and refused to testify against her husband. A hung jury resulted. In
the second trial her husband was found guilty. The District Attorney's
office is throwing the book at Elaine because she refused to testify against her
husband. Despite this the DA aquired the testimony of Elaines cousin who
has several felonies and an open warrent from out of state. Now the DA claims she
hindered prosecution and is facing prison time and the tainted testimony of her
cousin who received a reward when she called in the information under NYC's
TIPS. Bob Morganthau has given breaks
to entertainer Boy George and the Pot Princess, the rich and connected seem to
be above the law but the poor and black defendants like Elaine always seem
to land in prison
By BARBARA ROSS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER -
Originally published on June 26, 2005
|
|
|
| Elaine Bartlett, in jail in this 1995 photo, has
been locked up again. |
|
|
A Harlem woman who got an early release from
prison after being touted as a victim of the harsh Rockefeller drug laws is
back in jail, this time accused of helping her young lover duck arrest on
murder charges.
Elaine Bartlett, 48, is accused of hiding boyfriend Deon Waterman, 23, in
April after he allegedly shot and killed a rival drug dealer in West Harlem,
according to court records.
Investigators said Waterman, who lived with Bartlett a few blocks from
the W. 156th St. shooting, disappeared right after the incident.
When police went to their home, Bartlett said she hadn't seen him "in a
couple of weeks," said one investigator. "We believe that to be incorrect."
They said Waterman surfaced again in mid-June when Bartlett asked
relatives to hide him until he could arrange to leave the city for the
Carolinas or Canada.
Acting on a tip, police arrested Waterman the next day and charged
Bartlett with hindering prosecution.
Last year, Bartlett was the focus of a highly praised book, "Life on the
Outside" by Village Voice writer Jennifer Gonnerman. Since then, the two
have toured the country, speaking about adjusting to a hostile world and a
damaged, angry family.
"Even the poster children for the Rockefeller drug law abuses are not
poster children," said one law enforcement source.
Bartlett attracted a lot of media attention five years ago after Gov.
Pataki agreed to cut four years from her sentence and grant clemency, saying
she was a victim of the overly harsh mandatory sentencing provisions in the
Rockefeller drug laws.
By that time, Bartlett had served 16 years of a 20-to-life sentence for
selling 4 ounces of cocaine to an undercover cop in Albany. It was her first
arrest.
Bartlett was 26 years old, on welfare and raising four young children
when she was convicted and sentenced. She told authorities she sold the
drugs to earn an extra $25 for her kids.
The Rockefeller laws required those convicted of selling more than 2
ounces of drugs or possessing more than 4 ounces to serve a minimum of least
15 years to life, regardless of whether they were drug kingpins or first
offenders like Bartlett.
|
Flash!
JULY 31, 2006 Special Narcotics Prosecutors Report Dismantled !
A
new report titled "Unintendent Consequences" which by the way is
a rip off of the title of our anti -Rockefeller Drug Law film that we
produced in 2004 is being questioned about its validity. Read more below
|
The state should target the real drug kingpins
BY ANTHONY PAPA
Anthony Papa is a communications specialist for the Drug Policy
Alliance, a New York-based organization working to reform drug
policies, and author of "15 to Life."
July 26, 2006
Ashley O'Donoghue is a low-level, nonviolent offender currently
serving a 7-to-21-year sentence for the sale of 2 1/2 ounces of
cocaine. In September 2003, the Oneida County district attorney
claimed that the 20-year-old was a major drug kingpin and needed to
face a life sentence under the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Reacting to a commonly used scare tactic, O'Donoghue agreed to a plea
bargain. His A-1 felony, the highest possible felony, was reduced to a
B felony. Like magic, O'Donoghue was no longer a kingpin - that is, a
drug dealer distributing extraordinarily large quantities.
There are thousands of defendants just like O'Donoghue, whom
prosecutors claim are kingpins one day and then, through plea
negotiations, kingpins no more.
I went through the same experience in 1984 when I was arrested for the
sale of 4 ounces of cocaine. A Westchester assistant district attorney
claimed I was a major kingpin. But in the months that followed he
offered me a plea bargain of three years to life. He told me if I
refused the offer I would not see my 7-year-old daughter until she was
22 years old. This really frightened me, and I did not want to leave
my family alone.
I decided to go to trial and was convicted and sentenced to 15 years
to life. In 1997, after serving 12 years, I was freed by Gov. George
Pataki through executive clemency.
Recently, a report released by Bridget Brennan, New York City's
special narcotics prosecutor, proclaimed that kingpins and people
convicted of high-level drug offenses are being released under the new
Rockefeller Drug Law revisions. The report, titled "The Law of
Unintended Consequences," is a lopsided review of the Drug Law
Reform Act of 2004. The modest changes to the Rockefeller Drug Laws
have allowed approximately 1,000 people convicted of A-1 and A-2 drug
felonies to apply for resentencing. The controversial findings in the
report bolster Brennan's final conclusions: a clarion call for a
kingpin statute and opposition to any additional reforms to the
Rockefeller Drug Laws. Critics quickly questioned the validity of the
report, claiming that it contained skewed data and its creation was
politically motivated.
The report is questionable in many aspects, but I agree with Brennan
on one point: New York needs a kingpin statute. Allowing prosecutors
to define this term has meant that people like O'Donoghue and me are
kingpins one day but not the next. New York needs a clear and
reasonable kingpin statute that can be applied to real kingpins - bona
fide major traffickers - not people convicted of low-level offenses.
The kingpin statute that Brennan calls for is both unreasonable and
incompatible with justice, because it is so broad.
Brennan's report highlighted 84 drug cases handled by her office, with
65 applicants receiving judicial relief under the new law. Contrary to
Brennan's tabloidlike insinuation that the prison gates just opened
up, each prisoner seeking resentencing had to go through a lengthy
application process in order to see a judge for resentencing.
Right now there are almost 4,000 B-level felons serving time in New
York State for low-level, nonviolent drug offenses for small amounts
of drugs. Many of the defendants have drug-addiction problems. These
thousands of offenders are not classified as kingpins. So why would
Brennan actively oppose reforms to release them? It costs taxpayers
millions of dollars to incarcerate these people when community-based
treatment costs less and has proved more effective than incarceration
in treating addiction.
Brennan needs to be reminded that the governor, State Senate and
Assembly leaders agreed reforms were necessary to equally balance the
scales of justice in applying the law with the needs of protecting our
communities.
To cause a panic by releasing a questionable report is nothing more
than additional punishment for those incarcerated and an underhanded
political tactic to stop further needed reform. If Brennan wants a
kingpin statute, let's fashion one for real kingpins, not for the
low-level offenders.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
|
NY Post teams up with Special Narcotics Prosecutor to stop further Rockefeller
reforms
DOPEY
LAW FREES WORST DRUG THUGS
By
BRAD HAMILTON and SUSANNAH CAHALAN
June
18, 2006
-- Dozens of hard-core dope dealers who asked for early release under drug-law
reform are back on the streets, says
Manhattan
's top narcotics prosecutor, who is set to put out a damning report on the
alarming consequences of softening the old Rockefeller drug laws.
The
new guidelines have opened the floodgates for
New York
's most notorious coke and heroin felons in the last year and a half.
Of
the 84 who asked for a break, 39 are out, including a suspected killer, two
kingpins and a Colombian cartel associate, each of whom helped spread drugs
across
Manhattan
.
They've
all been freed since January 2005, after state lawmakers passed a measure
intended to help first-time nonviolent drug convicts - cutting penalties for
low-level offenders who got overly harsh sentences.
Addicts
and small-time dealers had been treated the same as major traffickers under
the Rockefeller laws of 1973, sometimes receiving life sentences for minor
convictions.
But
the Drug Reform Act of 2004 gave inmates a shot at having their time
trimmed. Prosecutors protested.
Now
all types of drug offenders, including so-called A-1 violent felons serving
terms up to 25 years to life, are swamping the courts with requests to get
out early.
They
get that chance due to a fatal flaw in the law - which allows any first-time
drug offender, even a kingpin or a killer, to apply for a sentence
reduction.
Legislators
tried to prevent the setting free of such offenders by requiring that each
appeal be heard by the original sentencing judge - as he or she might know
best who should get a break.
But
because of retirements on the bench, many cases are being heard by new
judges unfamiliar with the original crimes.
Bridget
Brennan, the city's special narcotics prosecutor, said the Rockefeller laws
needed to be reformed because minor offenses led to life sentences.
"The
motivation for the change was pure, but I don't think the legislators
studied this group of offenders," said Brennan, who is preparing a
report. "The ones who got the greatest benefit clearly were not the
intended beneficiaries of this reform."
The
group of recently freed dealers includes:
*
Luis Rivera, a high-ranking member of a
Lower East Side
gang who was sentenced to 25 years to life in 1990; he was released Feb. 27.
Rivera's
operation sold 10,000 glassine envelopes of heroin a day under the brand
name Black - and wreaked devastation on the neighborhood.
*
Charles Greene, the leader of a drug organization whose crack was so popular
that buyers lined up 50 deep at two locations on
West 111th Street
.
Greene,
found with a shotgun and two handguns when he was arrested in 1990, got 18
years to life, but his sentence was reduced to 16 years and he was released
July 18.
*
Enmanuel Pacheco, a bail-jumping thug from Brooklyn who dealt coke and got
out last Aug. 23, despite being implicated in a drive-by murder that
prosecutors didn't pursue because of his 15-years-to-life sentence in 1993
for multiple drug convictions.
*
Leticia Muneton, arrested near Macy's after coordinating the delivery of $43
million worth of cocaine trucked in from
Dallas
, got out July 12, after serving just six years of a 15-to-life sentence.
Additional
reporting by Brian Hamacher
brad.hamilton@nypost.com
A special prosecutor said that revisions in
the Rockefeller drug laws benefited major drug traffickers
more than the low-level offenders they were supposed ...
www.nytimes.com/2006/06/27/nyregion/27report.html
- Similar pages |
From nytimes.com: A year and a half after the New York Legislature revised the
drug laws in an effort to reduce harsh prison sentences for low-level
offenders, a study by Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan, examined 84 drug
offenders prosecuted by her office who have asked for resentencing since the
laws were changed in 2004. The offenders had been convicted of possessing or
selling enough hard drugs to make them eligible for sentences of at least 15
years to life.
The study found that judges granted lower sentences to 65 of those prisoners,
and 22 of them, or about 34 percent, were either what she called
"kingpins," leaders of international drug organizations, or
"major traffickers," that is, leaders of local drug operations that
moved large quantities of narcotics. Of the kingpins and major traffickers, 16
were granted relief from lifetime parole, and four of them have been released,
she said.
The study looked only at those cases handled by her office, which accounted
for about a quarter of the prisoners released statewide since the 2004
reforms. Advocates of the reforms said yesterday that because the special
prosecutor was charged with handling the most serious cases, the study was
somewhat skewed. Still, the study offers the first prosecutor's perspective of
how the reforms have played out at a time when legislators are still debating
whether they went too far or whether to relax the sentencing laws even
further.
Rest
of Article. . . [Mark Godsey]
______________________
Tallahassee Democrat
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20060715/OPINION05/607150311/1006/OPINION
Flash! July 15, 2006
Even stars fall victim to drug laws: No
Walk in the Ball Park For Dwight Gooden
By Anthony Papa
MY VIEW
Watching the Mets-Red Sox series recently, I noticed they replayed clips of
Dwight Gooden in his golden years as a star pitcher.
I could not help think about his sentencing to jail in April and how his
life has turned toward tragedy. I was very sad. Not because of what he did,
but because of what the system of justice has done to him.
Gooden is serving a 366-day sentence for violating his probation by using
cocaine. This is the bottom line.
But Gooden has a medical problem - a very bad addiction to an illegal drug.
His struggles with drugs and alcohol have been well-documented. But the
obvious misfortune is that, instead of being treated as someone with a medical
condition, he is being treated like a criminal.
Americans across the country partake daily in the ritual of escaping
reality by getting high, by legal or illegal means. Addiction is a serious
problem. But to treat it strictly punitively will not alleviate its root
causes.
What moved me was that Dwight Gooden chose to give up his life as a free
man. Faced with a system of justice that has little remorse for drug users,
Gooden's back was against the wall when he made his decision to opt for the
366-day sentence. It was either that or face probation with the stipulation
that any violation could lead to a five-year sentence.
After just 10 days in a cell at a reception center in Lake Butler, he
professed in an interview that he would rather be shot than jailed again. The
prison experience had gotten to him. Some might say that the
institutionalization of addicts such as Gooden is a sure cure to the drug
problem. We might want to get a second opinion, though. Maybe we can ask a few
prime suspects of drug addiction, such as Rush Limbaugh or maybe Patrick
Kennedy, who both recently had their own eye-opening experiences with
addiction.
The question we should be asking is when will we as a society appropriately
respond to individuals with addictions? Instead of giving draconian sentences
for snorting powder or popping pills, we should be thinking of alternative
solutions.
Now Gooden is sitting in his cell, reliving his crime, thinking about the
family and life he left behind.
I know the regrets that Gooden is going through.
In 1985, I too had an addiction. In order to support my cocaine habit I
agreed to deliver an envelope of 4 ounces of cocaine for $500. I was caught
and was offered a plea deal that would carry a sentence of three years. Unlike
Gooden, I was afraid of going to jail and leaving behind my wife and young
daughter. So I went to trial and was slapped with a 15-years-to-life sentence
under New York's ultra-harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws.
While I was in Sing Sing, I watched Gooden pitch. Every pitch he made was
on the money, leading the Mets to a world championship in 1986. He was a hero
to the blacks and Latinos that were sitting around the television, cheering
him on. Many of them were sitting in prison, serving draconian sentences under
the drug laws. None of them possessed the fastball this superstar had, but
they shared his life-defeating addiction.
The war on drugs has fueled the debate on addiction. But it also has
brought the demonization that allows drug users to join the other criminals
who fill our prisons. Gooden, like myself and others with substance-abuse
problems, is a human being. We make mistakes. But, when society attempts to
lock its way out the problem of addiction, everyone loses.
Anthony Papa is the author of “15 To Life:
How I Painted My Way To Freedom" and a communications specialist for the
Drug Policy Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org).
Contact him at tpapa@drugpolicy.org
Flash! June 17 2006 Legalization of
Drugs called for by Erie County Executive
Giambra
is Right; New Approach Needed to Drug War
Jun
17, 07:44 AM
By Nicolas Eyle
After more than 35 years of fighting the
current war on drugs, the latest excuse for drugs being cheaper, purer
and more available than ever is that the police aren't filling out the
paperwork correctly. ("How effective is drug war?" May 24)
Gov. Nelson Rockefeller told us that we
could put a stop to this drug business if only we had tough laws. The
threat of life in prison would cause smaller dealers to turn in those
above them in exchange for lighter sentences, and soon all the dealers
would be in prison. We filled the prisons, but it had no effect on drug
dealing.
Then we heard that if only we had more
prison space, we could lock these drug dealers up, and that would be the
end of the drug trade. Under Gov. Mario Cuomo,
New York
tripled the size of its prison system.
Today those prisons are overcrowded, mostly
with nonviolent drug offenders, and there isn't a maximum-security
prison in the state that manages to keep drugs away from the inmates.
The problem is so common that President Bill Clinton proposed a law that
would mandate drug testing for inmates before they could be released.
Now we hear that the police still haven't
got the hang of the paperwork. How many more years can we afford to have
our cities destroyed, our children exposed to these dangerous
substances, our families broken up, our court system clogged, our tax
dollars wasted and our civil rights eroded to fight the failed war on
drugs?
We've spent billions of dollars on drug
prohibition in
New York
State
. What's the result? Drugs went from being a small problem confined, for
the most part, to a few jazz musicians and some experimenting college
students, to a common commodity in our schools.
Erie County Executive Joel Giambra made a
wise suggestion when he said we should look into the idea of drug
legalization. After all, everything we come into contact with in
America
is regulated and controlled.
The chair you are sitting on passed
inspection and met some standards. As did the car you drive, the food
you eat, the TV you watch.
Everything is regulated -- everything that
is, but potentially highly dangerous drugs, which we have, by declaring
them illegal, surrendered our ability to regulate. We have turned
control of these substances over to organized crime.
Legalization doesn't mean we should put
barrels of crack cocaine on the sidewalk for people to help themselves
from. It doesn't mean there would be heroin vending machines in our
schools. It doesn't mean airline pilots should fly stoned. On the
contrary. It means regulation and control.
We owe it to ourselves to look at
alternatives to this obviously failed policy we've lived with for more
than 35 years. We need to understand that more of the same is just not
going to work. Plan A has failed;
Buffalo
needs to find a Plan B.
Nicolas Eyle is executive director of
Reconsider, a
Syracuse-
based drug policy organization.
(c) 2006 Buffalo News. Provided by ProQuest
Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
US NY: PUB LTE: Don't Misuse the Law to Punish Kingpins
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1092/a04.html
Newshawk: Drug Policy Alliance
www.drugpolicy.org
Votes: 1
Pubdate: Sun, 13 Aug 2006
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2006 The New York Times Company
Contact:
letters@nytimes.com
Website:
http://www.nytimes.com/
Details:
http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Referenced:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n942/a04.html
Author: Anthony Papa
DON'T MISUSE THE LAW TO PUNISH KINGPINS
To the Editor:
Re "Setting Kingpins Free," by Leslie Crocker Snyder ( Op-Ed, July
16 ):
In 1984, I was deemed a "drug kingpin" by the Westchester District
Attorney's Office when I was arrested for a four-ounce sale of
cocaine. When the facts came out, it was obvious that I was no
kingpin, but instead a low-level drug offender. But I was still
sentenced to 15 years to life under the Rockefeller drug laws when I
rejected a plea bargain. After serving 12 years, I was granted
clemency by Gov. George E. Pataki.
Recently, a report released by Bridget G. Brennan, New York City's
special prosecutor for narcotics, proclaimed that high-level drug
offenders are being released under the Drug Law Reform Act of 2004.
Ms. Brennan called for a kingpin statute.
I agree. We do need a kingpin statue that would be applied to major
traffickers. But it should not be used as a prosecutorial tool to
encourage sentencing pleas from defendants like me.
There are hundreds of low-level, nonviolent drug law offenders stuck
in prison who deserve to have a chance to regain their freedom.
Most have served a tremendous amount of time and are eligible for
relief under the changes. They remain jailed because of the
"kingpin" rationale that has become a standard response by district
attorneys to block applications for re-sentencing under the new
reforms.
Anthony Papa
New York
The writer, a communications specialist for the Drug Policy
Alliance, is the author of a book about his experience in prison.
|
Flash June 7, 2006 No Reforms for
Rockefeller Drug Laws this this session!
Copyright 2006 Post-Standard
All Rights Reserved.
The Post-Standard (
Syracuse
,
New York
)
June 7, 2006 Wednesday
FINAL EDITION
SECTION:
EDITORIAL; Pg. A12
LENGTH:
343 words
HEADLINE:
STILL WAITING;
PROSPECTS
DIM FOR MORE ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAW REFORM
BODY:
Remember
the Rockefeller Drug Laws? Harsh penalties for even low-level drug offenders
are still in place, though many lawmakers in
Albany
seem to have forgotten about the issue.
Reforms
in 2004 and 2005 tinkered with the 1970s-era laws. But mandatory sentences
remain, along with rules that limit the power of judges to order drug
treatment as an alternative to incarceration.
Last
year, despite reforms that ended life sentences and allowed some appeals,
more nonviolent drug offenders were sent to prison than the year before
-
5,835, compared to 5,657, according to The Correctional Association of New
York.
It
costs
New York
taxpayers about $32,000 per year to maintain an inmate in state prison.
Outpatient drug treatment costs no more than $4,500 per person.
Even
a full-time residential treatment program costs $11,000 less than prison.
The
most damning statistic about the Rockefeller Drug Laws is their racial
consequence:
While the majority of drug users and sellers are white, 91 percent of drug
offenders in state prison are black or Hispanic.
Last
month, the state Assembly approved legislation that would allow lower-level
offenders to appeal their sentences - and return discretion to the judges,
where it belongs. The measure also increases penalties for major drug
traffickers, those who sell to children, and dealers caught with a loaded
handgun.
It's
a good bill. But it's a "one-house" bill, with no prospect of
Senate action before adjournment, scheduled for later this month. And
lame-duck Gov.
George
Pataki has shown little interest in the subject.
When
the initial reforms were approved in 2004, Senate Majority Leader Joseph
Bruno said: "There is more to be done, and we're going to get
there." Last month he would only offer this watered-down nod toward
further reform: "We are willing to address that and review that and to
make sure that justice is done."
Recent
polls indicate voters approve of drug treatment as an alternative to prison,
and support candidates who take the same view. It looks like the people are
ahead of some politicians.
LOAD-DATE:
June 8, 2006
-_________________________________
|
FLASH!
June 1, 2006
Deported
Rockefeller Drug Law offenders protest in Dominican Republic!
|
Dominican
deportees protest against
U.S.
drug law
|
|
|
|
SANTIAGO
. - "Dominican Republic does not make drugs" was
the chant from dozens of people as they marched for over
an hour yesterday on this city’s main streets, to demand
the rights of those deported from the United States.
Jose
Manuel Montesino headed the defense of the deportees, who
understands that society must treat them with equality and
not see them with the label of criminal, from having been
deported from the
United States
.
The
march, which began in the sector El Ejido, was also staged
to reject the Rockefeller Law, established in
New York
in 1973 and which stiffens the penalties against drug
dealers.
After
defying the extreme heat and walking the avenues with
their hands and feet tied and with their mouth sewn shut,
they reached the esplanade of the city’s icon El
Monumento, where Montesino again voiced demands in defense
of the deportees, alleging that these Dominican citizens
are subjected to mistreatments.
“The
first voice raised against the oppression and the
discrimination of the natives was raised by Fray Antón de
Montesino, in 1511, and today a voice rises from another
Montesino, elevating the demands for justice and equality
for all human beings, especially for we Dominicans who are
unjustly pointed to, in a discriminatory manner, by a law
that does not go in accordance with humanity and human
rights," he said.
Montesino
clarified that their position is neither against the
United States
, nor its laws in general, but explained that in fact it
is against the Nelson Rockefeller Law, as in his view it
is an unfair law for Dominicans.
In
the march, the second held in three months, Montesino
received the support several institutions and
deportees who are against this law.
"They
want to make the world think that we Dominicans are
criminal and that we are owners of drugs and it is not so.
I, Jose Manuel Montesino, can say to the entire world that
we Dominicans do not cultivate drugs, nor do we process
drugs,” he said.
The
march’s promoter also thanked president Leonel Fernandez
for his support and the freedom of __expression to demand
their rights.
Another
demonstrator who spoke for the deportees was René Vicioso,
who returned from the
United States
in 2004, after serving a 17 year sentence for drug
convictions and who heads a foundation to benefit those
Dominicans.
He
said that the idea is to make the country and the Cibao
region understand that the deportees are willing to rejoin
the society as any other person.
|
|
-----------------
Flash!
May 15, 2005 David Soares American Hero!
Media links and letter-writing
information appears below.
Albany, New York, District Attorney
David Soares has ignited a firestorm of criticism over remarks he made at
last week's International Harm Reduction Association conference in
Vancouver. But given the local response to the controversy, it may be his
critics who are feeling like they got their fingers burned.
Soares' remarks were
unsurprisingly uncontroversial in Vancouver, but that wasn't the case
back home in upstate New York. "The attempt to engage in cleaning
the streets of Albany one twenty-dollar sale on the street at a time is
a failed policy," said Soares, who was elected to office as a
critic of the state's draconian Rockefeller drug laws. The only reason
the drug war continues is "because it provides law enforcement
officials with lucrative jobs," he added. It was that last remark
that especially irked local law enforcement officials and political
figures.
Both Albany Police Chief James
Tuffey and Albany County Sheriff James Campbell ripped into Soares
after his Vancouver speech was reported in New York. County
Commissioner Ann Comella offered up a no-confidence resolution calling
on Soares to apologize for his remarks because they supposedly
insulted police officers.
Early this week, Soares
apologized for appearing to attack police officers, but clarified
that he was really attacking a failed drug policy. He was not saying
that police were in it to get rich, he explained. "I am saying
we have an incredibly expensive criminal justice system that
continues to expand as a result of laws we pass." And while he
expressed admiration for police, he stood firm on the larger issue.
"I stand by my statements; we are losing this drug war. We are
losing it ultimately here on the streets."
Soares supporters from
around the country were quick to respond. "I spent 34 years
as a cop and saw firsthand the damage caused by the war on drugs,
the cost to individual lives, public safety and community health,
not to mention the squandered taxpayer money," said Norm
Stamper, former chief of police for the city of Seattle and a
member of the advisory board of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition (LEAP). "We all owe David Soares our respect and
admiration for speaking the truth. We need more public servants
like David, especially in the criminal justice system," said
Stamper, "It's not uncommon to be castigated or criticized
for speaking an unpopular truth."
"Without courageous,
principled leadership, the US will never develop the workable,
effective drug policies that we need to address the impact of
drug abuse on our families and communities," says Gabriel
Sayegh, Director, State Organizing and Policy Project for the
Drug Policy Alliance. "Albany County and New York State
should be proud to have a district attorney who has the
intelligence and vision to demand effective alternatives to
failed drug war policies," said Sayegh.
Soares also scored the
backing of the Albany Times Union, which in an editorial
castigated his critics. "What neither Mr. Tuffey nor
Albany County Sheriff James Campbell nor any other aggrieved
party can do is muster much of a counterargument to Mr. Soares'
larger point," the Times pointed out. "The facts are
on his side when he says, 'My advice to Canada is stay as
completely far away from US drug law policy as possible.' How
have Draconian laws that disproportionately leave blacks and
Hispanics serving excessively long prison sentences stopped
drug abuse and all the problems that come with it? What can
Mr. Soares' critics say to rebut his view that it's a fear of
reform that keeps these laws on the books?"
At the Monday night
commission meeting where Soares was supposed to be censured,
it was instead a Soares pep rally. Scores of Soares
supporters turned out, and more than 20 took the opportunity
to tell the county legislature he has their backing.
Shawn Morris,
president of the Albany Common Council, was one of them.
"The real subjects of David Soares' remarks were
lawmakers who are afraid to make a change," he said.
Chief Tuffey has
now agreed to meet with Soares, and Commissioner Comella
decided Monday evening that her no-confidence resolution
wasn't really necessary. The prohibitionist attack dogs
came after Soares, but in a sign of changing times, they
are the ones ending up licking their wounds.
Below are
links to news reports we know of about the
controversy:
Governor
Faults Soares' Remarks, Albany Times Union, 5/10
When
the Law is a Loon, New York Post, 5/10
Soares
Apologizes to Police Officers, Albany Times
Union, 5/8
Head
Start on 2008 for Soares, Albany Times Union,
5/9
Soares
Sets the Record Straight, WTEN-TV, 5/9
Sorry
Time for $oros DA, New York Post, 5/9
Soares
Discusses Drug Policy, Capital News 9, 5/9
Soares
Returns, Welcomes Controversy, WTEN-TV, 5/8
District
Attorney David Soares Speaks Out, Capital News
9, 5/7
Soares
Back in Albany, Capital News 9, 5/6
A
Call for David Soares to Resign, WTEN-TV, 5/5
Police
Officers Union President Speaks Out on Soares,
Capital News 9, 5/5
Prosecutor
Urges Political Reform, Times Union, 5/5
Soares
Responds to Criticism, Capital News 9, 5/4
Soares
Under Fire for Drug Policy Comments, Capital
News 9, 5/4
and
letter/feedback info:
Albany Times
Union, letters to the editor: http://www.timesunion.com/forms/emaileditor.asp
New York
Post, letters to the editor: letters@nypost.com
or http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/letters/letters_editor.htm
WTEN-TV:
comments to news@wten.com
Capital News
9: news@capitalnews9.com
Flash! May 8 2006 On the 33rd
Anniversary of Rockefeller Drug Laws the NYS Assembly
drops new reform bill!
New York State Assembly to Take Up Bill on Monday, May
8 to Further Reform Rockefeller Drug Laws
Bill Would Expand Treatment,
Continue Sentencing Reform and Increase Judicial
Discretion
Advocates, Family Members Will Be in Albany to
Demand Meaningful Reform to New York’s Draconian
Drug Laws
For Immediate Release: Friday, May 5,
2006. Contact: Tony Newman 646-335-5384 or Gabriel
Sayegh 646-335-2264
On Monday, May 8th, the New York State Assembly
is introducing legislation that would further
reform New York’s Rockefeller Drug Laws, some of
the nation’s harshest drug laws. Advocates and
family members affected by these draconian laws
will be in Albany demanding meaningful reforms of
the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Assembly bill, A-8098, introduced by
Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubrey, would expand drug
treatment for nonviolent drug offenders, and
continue sentencing reform by allowing certain
people serving time for "B" felonies to
apply for resentencing under the new reforms - a
key piece missing in the 2004/2005 changes. The
bill would also increase judicial discretion and
allow for some people convicted of first- and
second-time drug offenses to receive treatment and
probation instead of prison.
New York’s Drug Law Reform Act of 2004 (DLRA)
lowered some drug sentences but it fell short of
allowing most people serving under the more
punitive sentences to apply for shorter terms, and
did not increase the power of judges to place
addicts into treatment programs. While advocates
and family members are encouraged by the modest
reforms, they are clear that the latest reforms
have no impact on the majority of people behind
bars. Most people behind bars on Rockefeller
charges are lower-level or class-B felons.
"The two small reforms initiated by the
legislature have not provided the needed relief
for the vast majority of Rockefeller offenders. My
son Ashley is a prime example of this. He is
serving a 7 to 21 year sentence for a first time
nonviolent offense," said Cheri O’Donoghue.
"Our legislative leaders need to pass
meaningful reform that will provide relief to the
thousands of B-class felons serving time under the
Rockefeller Drug Laws. In the long run, we
need the full repeal of these inhumane drug
laws."
What: Press conference to announce Assembly
Bill A-8098
When: Monday, May 8, 2006 at 12:45 pm
Where: Speakers Conference Room
Who: Legislators, Cheri O’Donoghue, mother of
inmate serving 7 to 21 years for first-time,
non-violent drug offense under Rockefeller Drug
Laws; Tony Papa, ex-non-violent drug offender, who
served 12 years under Rockefeller Drug Laws.
|
|
Originally
Posted - May 9, 2006
|
|
 |
return
home
|
| Assembly
Proposes Further Reform Of Rockefeller Drug Laws |
|
Marking
the 33rd anniversary of the enactment of New York
State's overly harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws, the
state Assembly announced passage of legislation that
would make the state's drug laws "smarter and
more effective".
Saying Rockefeller Drug Law reform "is not
done," Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver,
Correction committee chair Jeffrion Aubry and Codes
Committee chair Joseph Lentol were joined at a
Capitol news conference by key Assembly committee
chairs and drug law reform advocates.
According to Silver, the Assembly legislation
(A.8098A) seeks to "reduce drug-related crime
by addressing the substance abuse that often lies at
the core of criminal behavior." The bill would
accomplish this goal by mandating certain drug
offenders receive treatment and expanding judicial
discretion to moderate the toughest sentences. In
addition, Silver noted, the bill would increase
sentences for major drug traffickers and drug
offenders who prey on children. The measure also
creates the new crime of possession of a firearm
while selling or attempting to sell drugs.
Silver and Aubry noted that while an important first
step was made in 2004 to moderate the harshest
sentences under the state's drug laws, more needs to
be done. The two noted that despite previous pledges
by the executive and the Senate to continue working
on this issue, no bills have been introduced this
year to demonstrate that commitment.
"This bill provides for the kind of judicial
and correctional reforms the Assembly has been
seeking for years and that are at the heart of any
effort to curb addiction and drug-related
crimes," said Silver. "Our smart,
comprehensive approach seeks to get to the root of
our state's drug problem by hitting the drug
kingpins hard, and getting the low-level, non
violent offenders the treatment they need to get off
and stay off drugs."
"Despite a commitment made two years ago by the
governor and the Senate to revisit New York's
ineffective and imprudent drug laws, they have
failed to come forward with any further steps that
would provide additional reforms," said Aubry.
"We in the Assembly continue to recognize that
existing laws are badly flawed and in need of
further changes. My bill fulfills our commitment by
providing for a more sensible, comprehensive and
cost-effective approach for dealing with low-level
drug offenders and addicts."
The cornerstone of the Assembly plan is an effort to
reduce crime rates by ensuring that non-violent
offenders complete effective drug treatment.
Under the Assembly plan, prosecutors would get the
first chance at deciding whether low-level,
non-violent drug offenders would be diverted from
prison to drug-treatment programs through the new
"Court Approved Drug Abuse Treatment
Program." Only after this initial prosecutorial
determination had been made would the judge be
empowered to make a decision on treatment under the
program. Drug treatment under the new initiative
would generally have a minimum one-year term and
include time in a residential drug-treatment
facility. Those who do not successfully complete
treatment would face a felony conviction, which, for
repeat offenders, would mean a mandatory state
prison sentence. Diversion would not be available
for offenders who committed violent felonies or sold
or attempted to sell drugs to minors.
Each drug-treatment plan would have to include a
drug-testing component. Offenders would generally be
subject to probation supervision while receiving
drug treatment.
Judges would be given additional discretion to order
non-violent offenders to DOCS' Willard
drug-treatment facility in Seneca County. Judges
would also be given the authority to sentence
eligible drug offenders directly to the DOCS-run
shock incarceration program. Both options would have
to include a drug-treatment component and provide
continuing drug treatment upon release from prison.
In addition, judges would be given the discretion to
sentence additional non-violent offenders who
possessed small quantities of narcotics to drug
treatment as an alternative to incarceration.
Another important component of the Assembly's
proposal would give judges greater discretion to
impose appropriate sentences designed to fit the
facts and circumstances of each drug-related crime.
The Assembly's sentencing changes would:
Increase possession thresholds required to meet
certain Class A-I and A-II felony sentences from
four to eight ounces and two to four ounces,
respectively. This change would not be applicable to
major drug traffickers;
Increase possession thresholds for lower level drug
possession crimes; and
Increase penalties for major drug traffickers.
The Assembly plan not only increases sentences for
major drug traffickers and adult offenders peddling
drugs to our children, providing life maximum
sentences to drug kingpins, but it also combats the
deadly connection between drugs and firearms. The
proposal would impose a mandatory five-year
determinate sentence upon offenders who carried a
loaded handgun while selling or attempting to sell
drugs.
Drug-treatment programs operated in prisons and in
conjunction with the courts, the Division of Parole
and probation departments would be reformed and
enhanced under the Assembly plan.
The Assembly approach recognizes that enacting and
fully funding Chief Judge Judith Kaye's initiative
to expand drug courts to every county in the state
is key to providing necessary treatment reforms.
These drug courts would provide the needed judicial
monitoring and infrastructure to assure strict
compliance with treatment requirements.
Every inmate on probation, on parole or in a state
correctional facility with a documented drug or
alcohol-abuse problem would be required to undergo a
drug or alcohol- abuse treatment program lasting at
least one year. Mandatory tests for drug abuse would
be required.
Mandatory drug or alcohol treatment would also be
required for appropriate juvenile delinquents and
juvenile offenders.
An important goal of the Assembly plan is to make
the Willard drug-treatment facility, which is
jointly run by the state Department of Correctional
Services and Division of Parole, a more effective
treatment and crime-reducing tool. Under the plan,
judges would be given the discretion to sentence
statutorily eligible offenders to the Willard
program and participation would be expanded to
include non-violent Class "B" and
"C" drug offenders. Also, all Willard
"graduates" would be required to undergo
an additional year-long treatment program following
release from the Willard facility. Because
transitional services are critical to reducing
recidivism, the Assembly plan statutorily
establishes these programs.
Another key component of the Assembly's plan
strengthens post-release supervision by reducing
offender/parole officer caseloads for certain
released drug offenders. 5-09-06
©
2006 North Country Gazette
|
Flash! May 2, 2006 :
Rush
Limbaugh and the Politics of Drug Addiction
May 2, 2006
Rush Limbaugh and
the Politics of Drug Addiction
People in Glass Booths Should Not
Throw Maggots
By ANTHONY PAPA
Whether
you love him or hate him, want him to go to jail or not, conservative
commentator Rush Limbaugh has become a national symbol for drug addiction.
Rush's recent clash with the law reminds us that drug addiction does not
discriminate. Unfortunately, our drug policies do.
Rush was investigated for illegally obtaining
thousands of addictive prescription pain killers. Criminal charges were
dropped against him in Florida when he worked out a plea agreement which
included a $30,000 penalty and continued drug treatment.
Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug
Policy Alliance has called for treatment instead of incarceration for Rush
Limbaugh. "The Alliance's guiding principle is that people should not be
punished for what they put into their own bodies, but only for crimes
committed against others. According to that logic, Rush--even Rush-- should be
allowed to deal with his issues with drugs privately."
Rush Limbaugh's noxious lack of sympathy for
others in similar predicaments tests one's commitment to the idea of
non-incarceration, compassion and treatment for all non-violent drug
offenders. Many who normally support treatment instead of incarceration
would love to see Limbaugh locked up and to get a taste of his own medicine.
Rush has demonized drug offenders to his national audience of "dittoheads."
Less than two weeks ago, Limbaugh weighed in on
the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) announcement that there were no
"sound scientific studies" supporting the medicinal use of
marijuana. His diatribe was characteristically callous and harsh toward sick
and dying people who use medical marijuana as Limbaugh blathered "the FDA
says there's no -- zilch, zero, nada -- shred of medicinal value to the evil
weed marijuana. This is going to be a setback to the long-haired,
maggot-infested, dope-smoking crowd."
This distain for medical marijuana patients is
not the first time Rush showed a lack of compassion to people who use drugs or
suffer from addiction. Limbaugh is the man who scoffed at the idea that
African Americans are disproportionately arrested on drug charges, and
suggested that the solution was to arrest more white people. Interestingly
enough, Mr. Limbaugh sang a different tune when he was the white person who
could have easily ended up behind bars if he was not the famous radio
personality that he is.
This point is very close to my heart, as
someone who, through addiction, was sentenced to 15 years to life for a
non-violent drug offense. Even though, I am someone who Rush said deserved to
be behind bars, I am willing to turn the other cheek and advocate for him to
get treatment instead of the jail cell that I was given. Some might argue that
there is a difference between the use of prescription drugs and illegal ones.
But as Limbaugh's case underscores, addiction does not discriminate between
legal and illegal substances.
Limbaugh contends that his addiction was a by-product of taking painkillers
for chronic pain from a back injury. Many people with diseases ranging from
back pain to cancer use marijuana to treat pain, nausea, glaucoma and various
other symptoms associated with their conditions. Instead of pot, Limbaugh
chose painkillers to treat his ailments. What's the difference? One drug is
demonized, while the other is not.
One can only hope Limbaugh's experiences with
addiction and the drug war will encourage him to join the movement to reform
drug policy. Mr. Limbaugh has an enormous platform and reach. If he decided to
take up the cause of treatment instead of incarceration for drug users, he
could help change laws across the country. After all, if treatment instead of
jail is good enough for him as he struggles with his addiction, surely it is
good enough for the thousands of others just like him who struggle with their
substance abuse every day.
Two Years in Jail for a Joint?
The war on drugs reached the pinnacle of cruelty when
18-year-old Mitchell Lawrence was sentenced to two years in jail for selling a
teaspoonful of marijuana to an undercover police officer for $20.
On June 30, 2004, detective Felix Aguirre, employed by
the Drug Task Force, was assigned the duty of going undercover to buy drugs
from kids who hung out in a parking lot in
Berkshire
County
in
Massachusetts
. Merchants had complained to police about the kids. Mitchell Lawrence was
there with his pipe and a few buds of marijuana. He had no idea the parking
lot was less than 1,000 feet from a preschool located in the basement of a
church, nor did he know this parking lot was the site of a police sting
operation.
Aguirre approached Mitchell and asked him if he had any
weed. Mitchell pulled out a small bag of marijuana. The cop offered him $20.
Mitchell hesitated; Aguirre insisted. Mitchell, who had seen Aguirre hanging
out with other kids, motioned the cop to follow him up the street where he
intended to smoke with him. Aguirre waved the $20 in his face. Mitchell, who
was broke at the time, took the money, the first time he had ever accepted
money in exchange for marijuana.
In the months that followed, Aguirre approached Mitchell
again for marijuana. This time, however, Mitchell refused. Weeks later, a crew
of undercover cops stormed Mitchell's home and placed him under arrest.
Mitchell was found guilty of distribution of marijuana, committing a drug
violation within a drug-free school zone and possession.
On March 22, 2006, Mitchell Lawrence was sentenced to two
years in prison.
While this outrageous case happened in a sleepy burg in
Massachusetts
, the case of Mitchell Lawrence is one of countless tales of drug war madness
that takes place on
America
's streets daily.
Mitchell Lawrence's story was eerily familiar to me. In
1985, I was the subject of a police sting operation after passing an envelope
containing four ounces of cocaine to undercover officers in
Mount Vernon
,
New York
. I was set up by someone who offered me $500 to transport the package. The
individual who introduced me to the cop was an informant facing life in
prison. He was offered a deal -- the more people he helped ensnare, the less
time he would serve. I received a sentence of 15 years to life under
New York
's draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Mitchell Lawrence's disproportionate sentence was handed
down one day before the release of a national report by the Justice Policy
Institute (JPI) titled, "Disparity by Design: How Drug-free Zone Laws
Impact Racial Disparity and Fail to Protect Youth," which includes
research from Massachusetts.
The JPI study, commissioned by the Drug Policy Alliance,
found that drug-free zone laws do not serve their intended purpose of
protecting youth from drug activity. The
Massachusetts
data on drug enforcement in three cities found that less than one percent of
the drug-free zone cases actually involved sales to youth. Additionally,
Massachusetts
researchers found that nonwhites were more likely to be charged with an
offense that carries drug-free zone enhancement than whites engaged in similar
conduct. Blacks and Hispanics account for just 20 percent of
Massachusetts
residents, but 80 percent of drug-free zone cases.
"School zone laws have remained unchanged in
Massachusetts
because the legislature has been promised that prosecutors use
discretion," said Whitney A. Taylor, executive director of the Drug
Policy Forum of Massachusetts. "Unfortunately, the life of a young man
has been sacrificed, proving that discretion is not being used, and that the
law must be changed."
Mitchell Lawrence was not the only person arrested in an
undercover drug operation in the summer of 2004. There were a total of 18
others, including five young people who are still awaiting trial for alleged
sales that took place at the same Great Barrington parking lot.
District Attorney David F. Capeless is the man behind
Berkshire
County
enforcement and entrapment. Capeless is a hard-nosed drug war zealot, who
insists that these laws are effective in combating drug use -- even if it
means ruining a young man's life in the process.
Mitchell Lawrence was set to graduate from high school
this spring. Instead, he will watch his fellow classmates graduate from his
prison cell.
The common thread between my case, Mitchell's case and
drug-free school zones nationally is the abuse of power from the prosecutors
through the application of mandatory minimums. These laws handcuff judges and
force them to impose harsh sentences.
Mitchell Lawrence's conviction inspired a group of
concerned
Berkshire
County
residents to seek Capeless' ouster in the upcoming district attorney race.
Defense attorney Judith Knight answered the call to fill this role. Knight, a
former assistant district attorney for
Middlesex
County
, said Mitchell Lawrence's conviction was "the tipping point" for
her decision to run against Capeless in the upcoming Democratic primary
election in September.
"A tough prosecutor is tough on crime and also has
the ability to demonstrate compassion and insight when the case calls for
it," Knight says. She hopes to follow in the footsteps of David Soares,
who ran for district attorney and defeated Paul Clyne in
Albany
,
New York
, in 2004. Soares ran a race primarily on the platform of Rockefeller Drug Law
reform. He easily defeated the sitting district attorney, who refused to
change his views on the draconian drug law legislation of
New York
.
It is heartening that communities like
Berkshire
County
are fighting back and attempting to hand reckless district attorneys and other
politicians the pink slip. Choosing to destroy lives and indiscriminately
apply laws does more harm than good, ultimately, and it doesn't make our
streets any safer.
Two
Years for One Joint: New Flash Movie Highlights Injustice
18-Year-Old
Mitchell Lawrence is in Jail Because of Bad Law, Cruel Prosecutor
Viewers
Encouraged to Send Support to
Lawrence
Family and Change Misguided, Ineffective and Racist Drug-Free School Zone Laws
View
Flash Movie at: http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/050506greatbarringtonflash.cfm
Flash!
April 3, 2006 - The push is on for
B-Felony Rockefeller Reform -
The
following op-ed
was in response to the NYC Special Narcotics Prosecutors op-ed found in the
March 27th edition of the Gotham Gazette.
Gotham Gazette - http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20060331/202/1804
Rockefeller Drug Laws: An Ex-Prisoners View
by Anthony Papa
31 Mar 2006
Little over thirty years ago Governor Nelson Rockefeller and the New York
State legislature created the toughest drug laws in the nation. Their aim was
to curb the drug epidemic, capture drug kingpins and create harsh drug laws
that would combat drug use and selling. In reality this did not occur. Instead
these laws have filled our prisons with non violent drug offenders, primarily
from NYC neighborhoods. Over 94 percent of those incarcerated are black and
Latino. Over 80 percent of New Yorkers agree that these laws are not effective
and there is a need to created meaningful reform. In 2002 for the first time
in history the governor of New York and legislative leaders called for reform.
In 2004 and 2005 following that call, the New York Stare Legislature imposed
changes in the Rockefeller Drug Laws. These reforms were meant to allow
current drug offenders who have already served long sentences to apply for
reduced sentences. They also lowered drug sentences and expanded prison-based
drug treatment. These minor reforms, in theory, would affect about 1000 drug
war prisoners eligible for resentencing under the Drug Law Reform Act (DRLA).
I served 12 years of a 15 to life sentence for a non-violent drug offense
after passing an envelope to undercover officers containing 4 ounces of
cocaine in exchange for 500 dollars. I made the biggest mistake of my life
just like many others who are serving hard time. In 1997 I was granted
clemency by Governor Pataki, who recognized the injustice of my sentence. Most
of the people I left behind were serving long sentences for non-violent drug
offenses. I then became an activist who has fought tooth and nail for
meaningful reform and was very disappointed to see that very little was done
in the minor changes made in 2004 and 2005.
While these changes were a first small step, much more needs to be done, like
addressing the issue of the 4,800 B-felons who make up the largest group of
drug prisoners. Currently selling small quantities of drugs can land you a
sentence up to nine years for a first offense, equal to a B-level crime such
as rape or armed robbery.
But almost more upsetting than the lack of changes has been the response made
by the prosecutors of New York, who often distort the facts associated with
these reforms. The most outspoken opponents of these laws have continuously
put out a "war cry" to the media and the public about the dangers of
revising these laws and how the gateways of hell would be open if the laws
were changed. If you look through their hype you will discover the underlying
reasoning behind their stance. Prosecutors live and die by their rates of
conviction. This is the bottom line.
With activists inching closer to meaningful reform comes the reality that
prosecutors would eventually lose their omnipotent power in drug law cases. As
it stands with the new reforms they maintained this power. They still control
the outcome of a drug case from its beginning.
While the prosecutors point to a handful of people who are undeserving of
relief under the new reforms, the vast majority are non-violent offenders who
deserve a chance to reenter society and be treated with compassion. Just like
when NYC District Attorney Bob Morgenthau showed compassion recently for the
NYU "Pot Princess" Julia Diaco who was sentenced to treatment and 5
years probation instead of a 25 year sentence for 8 separate felony sales. And
before her , Governor Pataki's former Rockefeller Drug Law spokesperson who
was busted for buying crack cocaine and sentenced to a 250-dollar fine and
treatment.. We have to think about the concept of redemption and compassion
for all. People can change their lives. I know this for a fact.
According to Drug Policy Alliance, a leading policy group in NYC, 70 percent
of the 1,000 prisoners that were eligible for relief under the new reforms are
still in prison.
One of the most significant reasons for this is that prosecutors almost always
argue for the maximum sentence, ignoring the records of rehabilitation and
relying on old facts that were maintained many years earlier. One of the most
controversial points of Rockefeller reform is judicial discretion. Under the
current laws, judges have little power to place offenders in treatment. The
power is maintained by the prosecutors, who also decide what charges are
appropriate. Advocates for reform argue how could justice be served by
allowing the one party who measures success by their conviction rates?
Discretion should be available to the presiding judge, who is the only
objective person in the case.
It may be true that inner city neighborhoods are devastated by drug use.
However, this is not the only root cause for this. Lack of opportunity,
unemployment and education are also contributing factors. One of the most
significant factors is also the lack of drug treatment. Under the new reforms
the State legislature did not fund community based treatment, which has been
found to be the most cost effective way to reduce drug use.
While in prison, I became a jailhouse lawyer and litigated dozens of drug
cases and never once came across a "drug kingpin". Most of these
prisoners were non-violent drug users that needed treatment. However,
treatment was not available in prison then, and it is not available now.
We need to create laws that will protect the community and at the same time be
fair and just. The Rockefeller Drug Laws in many ways have become crueler than
the crimes that are committed. They go beyond the individuals that committee
crimes. They destroy their families and put a financial burden on tax payers
that foot the bill for an ancient and proven ineffective approach to the drug
problem. The drug war has fueled the prison industrial complex. Since 1982, 33
prisons have been built in rural Republican upstate communities. They have
become a source of revenue for upstate politicians that have discovered a cash
cow. Instead of filling our prisons with non-violent drug offenders we should
concentrate on alternatives like drug treatment and the creation of jobs and
education for the communities of color which is affected the most in the
efforts to lock our way out of the drug problem. Only then will we be able to
solve the drug war problem in New York.
Anthony Papa is the author of 15 To Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom
Awaiting Real Rockefeller Reform
By Anthony
Papa, AlterNet. Posted March
29, 2006.
| New York's drug laws ensure
that the privileged and connected receive leniency for the same offenses
that send thousands of blacks and Latinos to prison. |
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Julia Diaco, the so-called "Pot Princess" was sentenced on March 22
in Manhattan Supreme Court to five years' probation for drug dealing. Diaco was
18 years old when she was arrested for multiple sales of drugs to undercover
narcotic officers from her dorm room at NYU. Despite having a "strong"
case against her and facing up to 25 years in prison if convicted, she received
probation upon completing a drug rehab and education program.
This follows the high-profile case of Caroline Quartararo, a former
spokeswoman on Rockefeller drug law reform for Gov. Pataki who received a
similar minor sentence after being arrested with crack cocaine. Quartararo was
given treatment and a $250 fine. She was arrested on Dec. 20 for possessing
three rocks of crack cocaine. She pleaded guilty to seventh-degree criminal
possession of a controlled substance.
Cheri O'Donoghue, whose son Ashley is currently serving a sentence of 7-21
years for a first-time nonviolent drug offense, said the cases of Julia Diaco
and Caroline Quartararo prove that "if you are rich and privileged, you
will likely receive compassion from the courts.
"While I support the notion of compassion and access to treatment for
people who use and abuse drugs," said O'Donoghue, "the reality is that
people of color who get caught up in the criminal justice system generally
receive neither." While drug use rates are similar between blacks and
whites, approximately 92 percent of the people in prison on drug charges in New
York are black and Latino.
O'Donoghue's 23-year-old son, who is black, sold cocaine to two white
students, who in turn sought to resell the drugs on their Hamilton College
campus. The students were caught and received probation. Ashley O'Donoghue was
left to languish in prison, another casualty of the draconian Rockefeller drug
laws. He is one of more than 4,000 people sitting in New York state prisons
convicted of B-level Rockefeller drug law felonies. The modest reforms to the
state's drug laws in 2004 and 2005 have no impact on these B-level offenders.
Gabriel Sayegh, director of the State Organizing and Policy Project of the
Drug Policy Alliance says New Yorkers want to see meaningful Rockefeller Drug
Law reform. "Even after the reforms last year, the vast majority of people
incarcerated under these failed laws are still languishing behind bars," he
said. "Our elected officials in Albany need to take action to enact real
reform of these laws, so that young men like Ashley O'Donoghue can receive the
same compassion as those who are rich, well-connected or are employed by the
governor."
Anthony Papa is the author of "15
To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom" (Feral House).
Flash!
March 23, 2006 - NEW YORK POST CALLS
FOR REPEAL!!!
AND THE 'POT PRINCESS,' TOO
March 23, 2006 -- In other Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free
news, NYU "Pot Princess" Julia Diaco skated out of Manhattan
Supreme Court Tuesday after getting probation for narcotics crimes that
would have earned any less fortunate soul a very long stretch upstate
indeed.
Take a bow, DA Bob Morgenthau.
Diaco, who was running a veritable narcotics superstore out of her NYU
freshman dorm, had her wrist lightly tapped by Justice Charles Solomon,
pursuant to a deal worked out with Morgenthau's minions - the same crew
that let fading pop icon Boy George slide on felony-weight cocaine
charges this month.
True, the singer wasn't accused actually of
selling narcotics -
unlike Diaco, who peddled drugs to undercover cops on
eight
separate occasions.
But she has resources: Her lawyer, Paul Schechtman, is Gov. Pataki's
former criminal justice coordinator - and so she will do five years
probation, max.
Unlike say, Anthony Papa, who, as The Post reported yesterday, was
purportedly a first-time, nonviolent drug dealer when he was
busted in 1984 under the so-called Rockefeller drug laws -
ultimately serving 12 years of hard time.
The Rockefeller-era mandatory-sentencing laws are a complicated
subject.
But while they're not
nearly as "draconian"
as some of New York's criminal-coddlers would have the public
believe, they are serious business, indeed.
Suffice it to say that, under those laws, very few drug
dealers who are not young, white, attractive women from
wealthy New Jersey construction families, with the money for
all-star attorneys like Schechtman, get terms of probation.
Oh, yeah - pop stars get breaks, too.
Which makes the arguments of Rocky-law critics - that
they permit double standards, with sentences driven by
race, class and other subjective factors - a lot more
persuasive.
The Rocky laws need to be strictly enforced.
Flash!
March 22, 2005 - Pot Princess Gets Compassion!
POT HOTTIE BREATHES FREEDOM
By DAREH GREGORIAN
March 22, 2006 -- The so-called "Pot
Princess" got a fairy-tale ending in Manhattan Supreme Court
yesterday, where she was sentenced to five years' probation for
dealing drugs on and around the NYU campus.
Julia Diaco, 20, was officially slapped on the wrist after her
lawyer told Justice Charles Solomon that, as per the deal she'd
worked out with prosecutors, she'd successfully completed her
drug rehab and education program.
Asked if she wanted to say anything before her sentencing,
Diaco - dressed in a dark, pinstriped skirt suit with
knee-high stiletto-heeled boots - whispered, "No."
Her lawyer, Paul Schechtman, told the judge his client had
taken "a long journey and a successful one."
Diaco - who had cracked wise to reporters after her arrest
in 2004 - declined comment as she left court. Schechtman
said, "She's a very different person than she was 18
months ago, and she has a bright future ahead of
her."
Diaco was facing up to 25 years in prison had she been
convicted of the top charges against her at trial.
Prosecutors apparently had a strong case against her -
including videotape of her selling marijuana, magic
mushrooms, LSD and cocaine to undercover officers.
While she was selling small amounts, she was also
dealing on a regular basis, using her NYU dorm as
her "base of operations," prosecutors
said.
Prosecutors said she dealt to undercover officers
eight times, with her biggest deal $650 worth of
cocaine, and would ply her wares on and around the
NYU campus, including Washington Square Park.
When she was arrested, she was carrying several
ounces of marijuana and a scale.
The case was surprising because the petite
Diaco didn't need the money - she's the
daughter of a millionaire builder and grew up
in a castle-like mansion in tony Rumson, N.J.
Diaco pleaded guilty to drug possession and
sale charges in 2004, but was allowed to
withdraw that plea and plead guilty to
lesser versions of those charges yesterday
after successfully completing her drug rehab
program and passing her drug tests.
She now attends a community college in New
Jersey.
News of the deal frustrated Anthony
Papa, 51, who, like Diaco, was once a
first-time, non-violent offender.
Instead of probation, he was sentenced
to 15 years to life in prison for
delivering four ounces of cocaine for a
police informant to an undercover cop
for a $500 fee.
The owner of a struggling auto repair
business in The Bronx, Papa was
desperate for cash and couldn't afford
a pricey lawyer.
"I get angry with a case like
this because the laws are not
applied equally. Because she had
money and the right lawyers, she
didn't go to jail. Others should
have that same opportunity," he
said. "All people should be
treated like this woman - with
compassion."
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Flash!
March 14 2005 - Reform Needs Reform!
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-oppap144661414mar14,0,701284.story?coll=ny-viewpoints-headlines
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State drug reform law needs to reform ... itself - by
Anthony Papa
Anthony Papa is the author of "15 To Life: How I Painted My Way to
Freedom."
March 14, 2006
Just more than a year ago, Albany launched a partial reform of New
York's drug laws through the Drug Law Reform Act of 2004.
The State Legislature boasted that the new changes would lower most drug
sentences, allow for the application of retroactive resentencing,
increase time off for good behavior for drug offenders and expand
prison-based drug treatment. In theory, the implemented changes were to
affect about 1,000 prisoners. But these changes weren't effective.
I once served 12 years in prison for a first-time, nonviolent drug
offense, and I've been working for meaningful reform of these laws for
the past nine years. I have worked the political spectrum of the issue,
meeting with the governor and legislative leaders. I have broken bread
with the family members and the prisoners who have been affected by
these draconian laws. I know this issue inside-out and recognize what
needs to be done to remedy the problem.
According to the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy organization based in
New York, almost 70 percent of the people eligible for relief under the
new drug reform act are still in prison. One of the main reasons is that
the act gives judges a wide range of sentencing options for those who
apply for resentencing. Judges could reduce the sentence of a first-time
offender who has already served a lengthy term to as little as eight to
20 years. But prosecutors almost always argue for the maximum sentence,
relying on facts about acts done many years earlier and ignoring the
record of rehabilitation while in prison. This omission impedes the
process tremendously.
The most controversial sticking point of Rockefeller reform is judicial
discretion in drug sentencing. Under the 2004 law, judges have very
limited power to place a drug offender into treatment. Instead, the
power is held by the prosecutor, who also decides what charges are made
and how the plea process is applied.
Reform advocates argue that this is unfair. Such power should not be
controlled by the one party who measures success by conviction rates.
Referral to treatment, by the way, is not considered a win by the
prosecutors. Instead, discretion should be made available to the judge,
who is the one objective person involved in the case.
Legislation intended to lead to further reform of the drug laws is
expected to be introduced in the Assembly next month. But chances of its
passage this year are regarded as slim.
Drug treatment has not been expanded in state prisons. While I was
incarcerated in Sing Sing under a 15-to-life sentence, I saw that the
majority of prisoners around me were there because of small-time drug
crimes. Many had drug habits. Proper drug treatment programs were not
available then and are not available now.
Under the 2004 reforms, the State Legislature did not fund
community-based treatment. This is a cost-effective way to reduce drug
abuse. Without proper funding, increased numbers of people will be
forced to compete for limited treatment slots. The cycle of addiction
will continue, along with crime and recidivism.
The legislature also failed to address the application of resentencing
eligibility for 4,800 B-level felons who comprise the largest group of
drug-war prisoners. New York drug laws define offenses according to the
weight of the narcotics involved in individual cases. Thus, an A-1
felony - the most serious - involves the largest quantities. An A-2
felony involves somewhat less.
The sale of a small amount of drugs can be equated with a B-level crime
such as armed robbery or rape, carrying a sentence of up to nine years
for a first offense. Establishing a quantity requirement for the B-level
sale of a narcotic drug, as is the case for other drugs, would remove
many of the lowest-level street sales from the category of B felonies.
This change would reduce the prison population, making the cells now
occupied by small-time drug offenders available for violent offenders,
without an additional financial burden.
The governor and the legislature should be applauded for taking the
initial step in reforming the Rockefeller drug laws. But the partial
reforms are not reaching the people they were intended to help.
We must continue to challenge the legislature and the district attorneys
to apply these changes effectively and, more important, compel further
meaningful reform.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
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Flash!
2/8/06 - Al - Grandpa - Lewis - great Rockefeller Drug Law activist
dies
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The Passing and Passion of
Grandpa Al Lewis, 1910-2006
by Mitchel Cohen
www.dissidentvoice.org
February 6, 2006
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[Friday,
February 3]
What
a sad day ... and what an incredible, artistic and political life!
I first met Al Lewis in
person in New Haven in 1971, at a demonstration in support of the jailed
Black Panthers. I remember it being a very raw afternoon, and I kept staring
at the man I'd later introduce myself to, wondering at the famous fellow
standing all by himself unlike so many actors and famous people, and then
lost in the small crowd that turned up.
Later, I was to learn that Grandpa was rarely alone in that way. Campaigning
with him for Governor all over the City with other Green stalwarts like
Frank Carr, Craig Seeman, Michele Daneles, Afrime Derti, Carl Lawrence,
Pete Dolack, Johann Moore and Robb Ross -- the core of the Brooklyn Greens
at that time -- I was struck by the amount of adulation and genuine
affection that so many people had for Al, especially (gulp!) cops, I suppose
thanks to his role in Car 54 Where Are You? as well as The
Munsters. They all wanted Al to sign autographs. I collected hundreds of
signatures to put Al on the ballot from cops riding home on the Long Island
Railroad and the Staten Island ferry. It was amazing, the transformation
that came over people when Al greeted them. He ended up getting just over
the 50,000 votes we needed to put the Green Party onto the ballot in NY
State.
Al was also incredibly
scholarly, a voluminous reader and fluent in Yiddish, which he used during
his borscht-belt schticks, regaling his audiences with gossip and
hilariously funny stories about his friends, which included certain Mafia
chieftains like Gotti. He told Greens over and over about how his first
political protest was when his mama brought him to defend Sacco and Vanzetti,
and he fought for political prisoners all his life.
One of his
disappointments in the last few years was his difficulty in being able to
read due to problems with his eyesight. But he maintained his saber-slashing
anarchistic stance when dealing with U.S. politicians, prison wardens and
warmongers to the end.
Al and Karen were
incredibly supportive of many people, including me, personally, when I was a
Green Party candidate and as an organizer against pesticides and genetic
engineering. They sponsored several events with the Roosevelt Island Greens
at which I was the featured speaker, and contributed generously to the
NoSpray Coalition over the years as well as to my campaign for Mayor on the
Green Party line in 2001. I remember when Al was already sick, a Reclaim the
Streets party/demo had ended up on Roosevelt Island. We marched past Al and
Karen's apartment, and I started the chant: "We love you Grandpa, we miss
you, get better!" and pretty soon the hundreds of us took up the chant,
lights came on in the apartments, people looked out the windows, and
everyone waved, knowing whom we were chanting about as we snaked by.
To say Al will be missed is, as is often the case, a vast understatement.
Among the many issues that he took on, the fight to get rid of the onerous
Rockefeller drug laws in New York (in which people have been imprisoned for
20 years and more for first offense non-violent drug charges) was dear to
his heart, and he fought the thanatocracy ceaselessly to free the hundreds
of those imprisoned, their lives meaninglessly stolen from them.
This crotchety, funny,
whip-smart, annoying, funny, ribald, funny, generous, funny (!) and always
dependable anti-racist activist was, in my opinion, one of the great people
of the century, a legend walking among us. I loved him dearly, even (or
especially) when we argued, and so did many, many others.
A life well lived? Hell,
a life in REVOLT!
Grandpa Al Lewis --
Presenté! |
FLASH! 1/14/ 06
WITHOUT FREEDOM, REFORM IS MEANINGLESS - "To
be successful in advocating an issue is to keep pushing it to the public. My
job as an activist is to continue to find ways to keep the issue in the news so
it becomes a repetitive theme, akin to a moving poem or a haunting melody"
http://www.corporatemofo.com/stories/060105_Papa.htm
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Without Freedom,
Reform is Meaningless
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What better way to quell
the fire that burns in the hearts of drug war activists in New York than to
pass reform that is rumored to effect, in theory, about 1,000 prisoners
sentenced under the Rockefeller Drug Laws?
We have fought for
meaningful reform for 32 years. In 1973, when the Rockefeller Laws were
enacted, we saw a badly created law that incarcerated many drug offenders
from the inner city neighborhoods of New York. This in turn, created smart
upstate rural politicians like Senator Dale Volker, who saw the Rockefeller
Drug Laws as a tool to help make the business of imprisonment a major
industry in the 59th Senate District that he presides over. Other
politicians followed Volker's lead and thus a reason for not reforming these
laws was created.
A staggering 93% of
the 16,000 people locked up under the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws are
Black and Latino. Many of those incarcerated under the Rockefeller Drug Laws
are people convicted of first-time, non-violent offenses. Under these laws,
people convicted of drug offenses face the same penalties as those convicted
of murder, and harsher penalties than those convicted of rape.
Through constant
political pressure from concerned activists over the course of many years,
we managed to get to get the point across to New York politicians: We were
not going to give up until the Rockefeller Drug laws were reformed. So, when
the pressure mounted, these politicians reacted, as politicians will.
Finally, early in
2005, a revision was made that affected 446 prisoners sentenced under the
A-1 felony statute. Activists, feeling their job was done, began backing
off. After all those years of fighting, finally a real change had occurred.
Now in September of this year, the governor, senate and assembly proudly
announced another change that would affect about 540 prisoners sentenced
under A-2 felonies.
To those who are not
familiar with the history of the struggle and the extent of the changes
made, it may seem as though the problem has been fixed. The laws, it seems,
had been changed. But, if we take a good look at what really happened, most
of the 446 A-1 felons eligible for relief are still in prison. According to
the Department of Corrections, as of July, 2005, only 86 were set free from
the 184 prisoners who were re-sentenced under the changes.
New York politicians
claimed the recent changes to the law amounted to nothing less than sweeping
reform. Self-serving feathers in the caps of politicians are nothing new,
but, to proclaim that the 32 years of struggle activists have invested to
fix these very wrong laws have concluded in meaningful reform is a travesty
of justice. Advocates expected the new law to actually be followed so that
eligible people could go home, but the re-sentencing process has proved
unnecessarily difficult.
In a recent Drug
Policy Alliance press release Bill Gibney, a lawyer with the Legal Aid
Society, stated that "These reforms are just symbolic if they're not
implemented." "The vast majority of people eligible to petition for early
release are still behind bars. The Governor and Legislature shouldn't pat
themselves on the back until they've ensured that these reforms are duly
acted upon. "Without granting freedom along with reform, the reform remains
the same political rhetoric we have heard for years.
As activists and
concerned citizens, we cannot sit back and bask in the glory of these recent
watered down changes. We must continue to push for meaningful reform that
will set free the many thousands of non-violent drug offenders stuck in the
prisons of New York State. Without implementing freedom through these recent
changes, Rockefeller reform is meaningless.
Anthony Papa
is the author of 15 To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom (Feral
House)
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Flash!!
Dec 26 , 2005 Clemency For Mothers of the NY Disappeared
Member
New York Post
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GOV CLEMENCY ENDS
NYER'S 'ROCKY' ORDEAL
BEST-CASE
SCENARIO: Gov. Pataki gave clemency to Darryl Best, here with wife
Wanda. Best got 15 years for receiving a FedEx package of drugs
not addressed to him.
Gov. Pataki gave the gift of freedom yesterday
to a man whose controversial conviction on a 2001 drug charge made
him a symbol of the harshness of the Rockefeller drug laws.
Darryl Best, 49, was convicted of possessing 16 ounces of
cocaine and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Pataki
commuted his term — making Best eligible for freedom in January
— in the governor's only act of clemency this Christmas.
Best was working at an uncle's home in The Bronx when a FedEx
van pulled up to deliver a package. He signed for the delivery
before realizing that the item was addressed to his uncle but bore
the name of a next-door neighbor.
As he tried to flag down the van, police appeared and arrested
him for possession of narcotics. The package, which he never
opened, contained 16 ounces of cocaine. Police maintained that he
intended to receive the drugs, while Best said he knew nothing
about it.
In an October 2001 verdict that surprised many courtroom
observers, Best was convicted of the felony and sentenced in
accordance with the now-defunct Rockefeller drug laws. The father
of five had no prior arrests.
Best's case slowly gained notoriety as an example of what
critics called excessive drug penalties in New York. The Kunstler
Foundation for Racial Justice became a supporter and worked with
Best's wife Wanda to have his conviction overturned.
She made an appearance on the "John Walsh Show" in 2002 and
gained the support of the "America's Most Wanted" host.
Best's sentence was cut to nine years earlier this year with
the rescinding of the Rockefeller laws, but supporters still
pushed for clemency. Yesterday, they got it.
His wife of 27 years was breathless with joy as she prepared
for her first enjoyable Christmas Eve dinner in six years.
"This has just been a long, continuous nightmare," she said
from her home on the Lower East Side. "I couldn't wake up from it.
Losing Darryl was like losing half of myself. It took years before
I could even go to the same places we used to go because I would
just cry when I saw them."
Randy Credico, director of the Kunstler Foundation, thanked
Pataki yesterday as he prepared to deliver a bottle of celebratory
champagne to Best's home.
"This was a long, hard struggle," he said.
The campaign to free Best included the filming of a documentary
outlining his case and several meetings with Pataki.
Chauncey Parker, state director of Criminal Justice, said the
clemency does not reflect on Best's innocence or guilt but on his
behavior in prison and his potential once released. "In this
instance, the governor believed that he deserved a second chance,"
Parker said.
selim.algar@nypost.com
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Flash!! December 19,
2005 Rock Reform Sends Few To Freedom
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/121905DrugReformShort.html
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Report Says
Drug Law Reform Falls Short Of Goals |
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ALBANY---On the first
anniversary of the Drug Law Reform Act, signed into law by Gov. George
Pataki last December and designed to reform the draconian Rockefeller drug
laws of the 1970s, the Legal Aid Society says that it has fallen far short
of achieving the goals of the drug law reform movement.
The Governor's expectation that hundreds of prisoners serving unduly long
sentences would be immediately reunited with their families was not
fulfilled, the report says. Only about half of the eligible felons have been
resentenced, the report says, and only about half of those resentenced have
been released from prison.
Some 473 people convicted of serious drug crimes were allowed to apply to be
resentenced under the new determinate sentence guidelines. Although more
than half were resentenced, only 142 were released or approximately 25% of
the inmates serving sentences for A-1 drug felonies.
The report, authored by William Gibney, an attorney with the Legal Aid
Society, says that the Legislature needs to take additional steps towards
reform and that there must be increased funding for treatment. Without
increased treatment capability, expanding judicial discretion in sentencing
will be meaningless the report says. There will be only increased numbers of
people vying for a static number of treatment slots.
The Rockefeller Laws required a sentence of 15 years to life for a first
time conviction of a sale of two ounces or possession of four ounces of a
contraband drug. The sentencing court was given no discretion to adjust the
length of the sentence to the degree of involvement of the offender in a
drug enterprise or his or her prior criminal record. In case after case
judges decried the unfairness of the law as they were forced to impose
mandatory sentences.
Drug Law Reform in New York State had long been a priority of a diverse
group of organizations and individuals meeting together as "Real Reform New
York." This coalition included former prisoners who had been incarcerated
under the laws, drug treatment providers, legal advocacy groups, and such
other organizations as Drug Policy Alliance, Drop the Rock!, NY Mothers of
the Disappeared, Seven Neighborhood Action Partnership, and many others. The
need for reform was supported by research demonstrating that drug treatment
was far more cost effective than incarceration at reducing drug addiction.
By showing a multitude of individual examples of the unfairness of the drug
laws, the advocacy groups gradually changed the opinions of many New Yorkers
as to the effectiveness of incarceration as a solution to the drug problem.
At the time of passage of the DLRA, a majority of New Yorkers had come to
favor drug law reform. Many drug law reform advocates were critical of the
DLRA because it fell short of achieving important goals of the drug law
reform movement. While it did eliminate some of the harshest of the old
mandatory sentences, it still required judges to sentence people to prison
in situations where the judge thought placement into a drug treatment
program was more appropriate. The new law also failed to provide any
additional money for treatment programs. It appeared as if the legislature
has responded only to the criticism that the mandatory sentences were too
long, but it was unprepared to act on the growing realization that less
expensive, safer, and more effective treatment alternatives to prison were
available.
The DLRA changed New York law in a number of ways, the report says. For all
drug offenders who commit crimes after the new law's effective date, it
replaced the old indeterminate sentencing system, in which sentences had a
minimum and a maximum term, with determinate sentences that run for one flat
period of time. For most drug offenders, the minimum possible term of the
new determinate sentences is shorter than the previous indeterminate ones.
For example, the minimum sentence for a person convicted of an A-I felony
who had no prior felony convictions is now eight years instead of 15 years
to life under the old law. The new system, however, also allows the
sentencing judge in such an A-I case to impose a sentence as high as 20
years. For offenders with a prior violent felony offense, the sentence range
is actually greater than under the old law.
The most immediate effect of new law was on those already serving the most
serious drug offenses. This group, which initially included 473 people
convicted of the A-I drug crimes, was permitted to apply to be re-sentenced
in accordance with the terms of the new determinate sentences. And for those
serving lesser sentences, it permitted an increase in "merit time" for those
who qualified for this program, thereby allowing some prisoners to be
considered for release at an earlier time. The law also required the
Division of Parole to terminate the sentences of some drug offenders on
parole who met certain conditions.
The DLRA also expanded the number of prisoners eligible for prison-based
drug treatment. It did this by increasing eligibility for the state prison
Comprehensive Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment program (CASAT) by
lengthening the eligibility date to within 30 months of the prisoner's
earliest possible release from prison. Eligibility had previously been set
at 24 months. The Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) was directed to
count all possible good time and merit time in this computation. The new law
also allowed judges for the first time to sentence people directly into
prison based drug treatment (CASAT). Prior to this DOCS had exclusive
control over admission to this program.
The reports says that another flaw in the DLRA was that the vast majority of
people serving sentences below the level of an A-I felony were not permitted
to seek a new sentence in accordance with the reformed sentencing scheme.
The Legislature has since somewhat expanded the number of people eligible to
apply for new sentences by enabling some of the prisoners serving A-II drug
felony sentences to apply for re-sentencing. The bill became effective on
Oct. 29 and it should apply to at least 550 people. Even after this change,
the very limited retroactive application of the DLRA meant that many
prisoners were still left serving overly long old law sentences even though
the new sentence range envisioned that a shorter period of incarceration was
appropriate.
The debate in the legislature over the DLRA reflected a wide range of
opinion, according to the report.Some thought it went too far and opposed
it. Some opposed it on the ground that the failure to allow any further
judicial discretion in sentencing meant it did not go far enough.
Sen. Thomas Duane explained his opposition as follows: "I can't believe
after all this time this is what ends up on our desks. Everybody stays in
jail. New, newly convicted people, no - no chance to go into treatment. Off
to jail. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Rockefeller drug law reform?
Hah. I don't think so."
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno recognized the limited nature of the
DLRA and acknowledged that the legislature needed to return to the subject
of drug law reform. "What I'm saying to all of you is something you already
know. There is more to be done. And we're going to get there, and we're
going to do it. Because the bottom line really is to help people, help
people. . . And let's resolve that we're going to go on and continue to talk
on how we can create alternatives for nonviolent drug offenders and for
other offenders."
In the final vote the DLRA passed the Assembly by a vote of 94 to 43 and the
Senate by a vote of 53 to six. When he signed the DLRA into law, Pataki
expressed relief that the harsh sentences of the old law had been
ameliorated: "Hundreds of non-violent offenders serving unduly long
sentences will have an opportunity to be immediately reunited with their
families. With the signing of this law today, these offenders will be given
another chance to lead a productive life free of drugs and crime."
The Governor's expectation that hundreds of prisoners serving unduly long
sentences would be immediately reunited with their families was not
fulfilled.
While many parties are accountable for the delay in moving cases,
prosecution opposition has been the primary reason for continued
incarceration in many cases. The DLRA allows for a wide range of sentences
to be imposed by a judge upon re-sentencing. For instance, a person with no
prior felony conviction could receive a sentence as low as 8 years but as
high as 20 years. Prosecutors in some counties consistently argue for
sentences nearer to the maximum. Consequently, release rates vary widely as
to county, reflecting differing prosecutorial approaches. In Brooklyn, 50%
of the people originally eligible to be re-sentenced have now been released
from prison. In Manhattan, only 30 have been released, while in Monroe
County the figure is 34%.
The overall impact of the DLRA on the prison population is more difficult to
Ascertain, according to the Legal Aid Society. On Jan. 1, there were just
over 15,500 drug offenders in state prison while on Oct. 31, there were
14,476 such offenders indicating a reduction of about 900 prisoners during
2005. It is difficult to attribute the drop in drug offenders to the DLRA,
however, since that population had been decreasing even under the old law.
The 900 prisoner reduction this year continues this downward trend at about
the same rate as before the enactment of the DLRA.
The DLRA's goal of expanding eligibility for drug treatment inside state
prison has been thwarted by DOCS' questionable interpretation of the law,
according to the Legal Aid Society. The law expanded eligibility into CASAT
to prisoners within 30 months of their earliest release date, and it
directed DOCS to count "all potential credits and reductions including but
not limited to merit time and good behavior allowances." DOCS,however, still
does not include the merit time credit that was added by the DLRA when
computing eligibility for CASAT. The result is a reduction in the number of
otherwise eligible prisoners and unnecessary delay in the provision of
treatment, according to the report.
Similarly, The society says that DOCS has not fully implemented the
provision of the DLRA that allows judges to sentence people directly into
the CASAT program. Rather than considering it as a judicial order, DOCS
considers the judge's order of placement to be a recommendation subject to
approval by DOCS. We have seen a number of prisoners ordered by a court to
be placed into CASAT only to have them rejected by DOCS. The law clearly
states, however, that the judge can "order" the criminal defendant into the
program.26 In this instance, DOCS is refusing to cede the gate-keeping
function over this program to the court.
Either an amendment to the DLRA or litigation to enforce the original intent
of the Legislature is necessary to accomplish the goal of expanded prisoner
eligibility for drug treatment, the report says.
"As we consider next steps in drug law reform, the resistance of DOCS to
complying with its legally required role as a provider of drug treatment
services should be considered. The creation of additional authority for a
court to order treatment based in the community in which the offender
resides would offer greater assurance that the offender will actually
receive the treatment services ordered by the court".
http://www.drugpolicy.org/docUploads/DLRA_2005_Report.pdf
Chauncey Parker, director of the state's Division of Criminal Justice
Services, disagreed with much of the report. 12-19-05
© 2005 North Country
Gazette |
NY TIMES
Few State Prisoners Freed Under Eased Drug Law
By LESLIE EATON
Published: December 15, 2005
When Gov. George E. Pataki signed a law a year ago reducing what he called
"unduly long sentences" for drug crimes, he predicted that hundreds of
nonviolent drug offenders would be released from prison.
But so far, only 142 prisoners - about 30 percent of those originally
eligible for new sentences under the revised law - have been freed, according to
a report released yesterday by the Legal Aid Society.
The new law "has not resulted in a whole heck of a lot in terms of real
impact on folks who were serving long sentences," said Gabriel Sayegh, a policy
analyst for the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports further changes in the drug
laws and organized a news conference to publicize the Legal Aid report.
The new sentencing provisions were the most widely heralded aspect of the
Drug Law Reform Act of 2004, which changed the mandatory sentencing laws imposed
in 1973 when Nelson Rockefeller was governor.
Those laws had been criticized for requiring judges to impose a sentence of
15 years to life on anyone convicted of selling two ounces or possessing four
ounces of narcotics, whether they were drug lords or low-level couriers.
The new law increased the amount of drugs that trigger long sentences, and
reduced those sentences to 8 to 20 years. And it allowed prisoners serving the
longest prison terms to ask to be resentenced under the new standards.
The Pataki administration believes the drug law reforms are working as they
were intended to, said Chauncey G. Parker, the governor's director of criminal
justice.
The goal was not to win release for all of the long-term prisoners, known as
A-1 felons, he said. "Our goal was to give 100 percent of the A-1's the
opportunity to be resentenced," and to adjust the sentences to fit the
seriousness of their crimes.
A major reason that relatively few prisoners have been released is that
district attorneys are still opposing resentencing requests and, in some cases,
asking judges to impose long prison terms, said William Gibney, a senior
attorney for Legal Aid who wrote the report.
Albany Times Union
Drug law changes send few to freedom
Citing small number of inmates freed, advocates seek further reform of
Rockefeller statutes
By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN
First published: Thursday, December 15, 2005
Capitol bureau
ALBANY -- Exactly 366 days ago, Gov. George Pataki signed into law a measure he
touted as "meaningful reform" of the Rockefeller Drug Laws that once mandated up
to life sentences for selling or possessing relatively small amounts of
narcotics.
Advertisement
At the bill signing ceremony, Pataki triumphantly declared "hundreds" of
nonviolent drug offenders would be "immediately reunited with their families."
But it hasn't quite turned out that way, according to a study released
Wednesday by the Legal Aid Society.
The changes to the 1973 laws ended life sentences for the highest-level,
Class A1 and A2, drug offenders -- a move even tough-on-crime district attorneys
supported.
The 2004 Drug Law Reform Act also allowed A1 offenders already in prison to
retroactively appeal their sentences under the new sentence structure and
potentially go free early.
As of Dec. 1, however, just less than 60 percent of the eligible A1 offenders
had seen their sentences reduced, and only about 30 percent had been released
from prison, according to Legal Aid.
"Everyone recognized that it was a very small step they were taking last
year, and the bottom line is even that small step is taking much longer to
implement, and is much more difficult than people expected," said William Gibney,
a Legal Aid attorney who authored the report.
This summer, Pataki signed into law a bill that allowed nonviolent A2
offenders to retroactively appeal their sentences. It went into effect in
October, and is expected to affect 550 felons. No cases have yet been decided.
Gibney blamed the slow pace of releasing eligible prisoners largely on
district attorneys, some of whom "consistently argue for sentences nearer to the
maximum" in the new sentence structure.
The rate of eligible offenders' release varies widely among counties, Gibney
noted, with half the qualified offenders in New York City's Kings County now
free compared to 34 percent in Monroe County in western New York.
Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark, president of the state District
Attorneys Association, denied his colleagues are trying to keep eligible drug
offenders locked up.
"I have detected absolutely, positively no reluctance on the part of any
district attorneys ... to follow the mandates of the system," Clark said. "We
make our arguments, and the court decides."
It's not unusual, however, Clark said, for prosecutors to disagree with
defense attorneys on whether a drug offender is a hardened criminal and or
simply a wayward addict who sold drugs to support his own habit.
State Criminal Justice Director Chauncey Parker said he thinks last year's
reforms "are providing dramatic and immediate relief for lots and lots of
people," adding that resentencing should not be rushed.
"The goal is not to have every person in prison who's convicted of a drug
offense be released," Parker said. "Some offenders are leaders of violent drug
organizations, and some are couriers. The problem with the old laws is they
lumped everyone together under a one-size-fits-all statute."
Drug law changes send few to freedom
Gibney and other reform supporters, like the Drug Policy Alliance, are
pushing for the Legislature to revisit the issue in 2006. They want further
reforms for lower-level, Class B, offenders, who make up the largest portion of
the 14,391 drug felons in the state prison system. Under the new law, B felons
can apply for merit time through efforts like completing a GED or a drug
treatment program to reduce their sentences, but cannot retroactively appeal
them.
Among the B offenders is Ashley O'Donoghue, 22, a New York City resident busted
two years ago in a police sting operation in Oneida County. He had 70 grams of
cocaine that he intended to sell to two Hamilton College students.
The students, who are white, told police about O'Donoghue, who is black, and
helped the cops set him up, said O'Donoghue's mother, Cheri.
The students are free, while O'Donoghue is serving 7 to 21 years. It was his
first arrest.
O'Donoghue's mother said the case illustrates how the state's drug laws
"specifically target African-Americans and Latinos." She said her son should
have been sent to a program to "help him get his life together," not prison.
Reform advocates also continue to seek to return full sentencing discretion
to judges, allowing them to send offenders to treatment rather than prison
without a district attorney's permission, and expansion of community-based
treatment programs.
Advocates hope the fact that every statewide office and all 212 seats in the
Legislature are up for election next year in an overwhelmingly Democratic state
will increase their chances for further drug law reform.
Parker said the Pataki administration is "open to discussing" further reform.
A spokeswoman for the Democrat-led Assembly said the majority is "definitely
eager to look beyond what we achieved last year," and a spokesman for the
Republican-controlled Senate said that chamber, too, is "actively looking at
additional changes."
Benjamin can be reached at 454-5081 or by e-mail at
ebenjamin@timesunion.com.
Flash !! December 10th
2005 Another District Attorney that
supported the Rockefeller Drug Laws kisses his job goodbye!!!!!
Media propaganda from
newspapers like the NY Post is trying to stop further reform of the
drug laws !
For
Immediate Release:
For More Info: Tony Newman
November 22, 2005
(646)335-5384
Misleading NY Post Attempts to Demonize Even Modest Rockefeller Reforms
with Sensationalist Story That Gets Drug Laws Wrong
Advocates and Families Demand Additional Reform, Including Judicial
Discretion; Call on NY Post to Stop Spreading Misinformation
Despite Modest Reform, Thousands of People Remain Behind Bars Under
Failed Rockefeller Drug Laws, Destroying Families and Wasting Limited
State Resources
New York- The New York Post published a front page article today which
falsely suggested that Rockefeller Drug Law reforms would enable people
with murder convictions to be "set free." What the Post failed to report
was that the limited reforms regarding the drug sentences in no way give
a judge the authority to change a sentence for a violent felony offense
such as murder. The reality that must by known even by the New York
Post is that people convicted of these offenses are not being released.
"The article is misleading because the people convicted of murder are
not going to get out of prison under the Rockefeller Drug Law reforms,"
said Bill Gibney of the Legal Aid Society. "If someone is serving time
for another crime, especially a violent crime, they'll have to serve
that time. The small reforms to the Rockefeller Drug Law will not enable
them to get out early."
The reforms passed last year by the New York State Legislature allowed
only those imprisoned for A1 felonies to apply for resentencing under
the new sentencing guidelines. Thousands of people incarcerated because
of possession of small amounts of drugs were not eligible for
resentencing under the reforms.
"The Legislature and the Governor need to step up to the plate and show
some political sensibility and backbone," said Ethan Nadelmann,
executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "We've taken two steps
forward with the small reforms, but we have ten steps to go, and the NY
Post knows it."
There is a growing wave towards repeal of the failed Rockefeller Drug
Laws. This past November 7, Rockefeller Drug Law repeal candidate Gwen
Wilkinson staged a remarkable upset over incumbent George Dentes in the
Tompkins County District attorney race. This is the second year in a row
that an incumbent DA has been defeated due in part to their support of
the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.
In a bitter fight last year, political upstart David Soares defeated
incumbent Paul Clyne in the race for Albany County District Attorney,
sending political shockwaves throughout the state. Soares sailed to
victory on platform that included repealing the failed Rockefeller Drug
Laws and calling for expanded judicial discretion. In his concession
speech, Clyne said he would have won were it not for his longtime
opponent to reform of the laws. In recent polls, over 83 percent of New
York residents said they think the Rockefeller Drug Laws should be
repealed.
"It's one thing for The Post to propagandize with reckless disregard for
the truth on its editorial page or with its headlines," said Nadelmann.
"But it's not OK to do the same in its reporting. The Post's coverage
of the Soares/Clyne race for Albany DA last year was blatantly and
deliberately dishonest, and now they seem to be reaching for new lows."
________________________________________________________________
NY Post
Editorial
GOV BLASTS ROCKEFELONS
By KENNETH LOVETT and FREDRIC U. DICKER
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/58190.htm
| November 23, 2005 --
Gov. Pataki and legislative leaders yesterday
expressed outrage that recent changes to the Rockefeller-era drug
laws have mobsters and drug kingpins seeking get-out-of-jail-early
cards.
"We reformed the Rockefeller drug laws to give a second chance to
first-time, nonviolent offenders who had received overly harsh
sentences," Pataki said. "It would be outrageous for any court to
use those common-sense reforms to cut short the prison sentences of
dangerous, violent criminals."
But Pataki and lawmakers stopped short of promising to revisit
the law they eased last... |
|
|
________________________________________________
Flash!!!! October 8,
2005 WITHOUT FREEDOM , ROCK LAW REFORM IS MEANINGLESS!!!
The Journal News (Westchester
County, New York)
October 10, 2005 Monday
SECTION: OPINION; Pg. 4B
BODY:
Wrong move on drug law
This letter is in response to your recent piece, "Rockland judge refuses to
lower felon's sentence." This is another example of the arbitrary denial of
granting a petitioner's freedom under the new Rockefeller reform changes made
this year. The judge denied Charles Stamps based on his behavior of almost 12
years ago. I have sat in on a half a dozen of these resentencing hearings, and
three petitioners were denied based in a similar fashion, behavior based on
actions committed many years before. People do change their lives, and based on
his record, he seems to have changed for the good. Why continue to waste
valuable tax dollars on rehabilitated people who have already served long
sentences? Since July 2005, the Department of Correction reports that only 86
of
the 446 eligible "Rock Law" prisoners have been set free. In theory, another
500
would be eligible under the new change this month. It seems that the new
Rockefeller drug law changes are nothing more than the political rhethoric we
have heard for years in the arena of reform. Without freedom, the new reforms
are meaningless.
Anthony Papa
New York City
The writer is author of "15 to Life."
LOAD-DATE: October 11, 2005
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/crime/20050922/4/1597
Rockefeller Drug Law Reform?
by Anthony Papa
September 22, 2005
After 32 years of struggle against the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws, New
York public officials are claiming that these laws finally have been reformed.
Earlier this year, and then again this month, Governor George Pataki and the
state legislature enacted changes to the law that, in theory, would affect about
1,000 prisoners. Yes, this seems to pale besides the 16,000 people locked up
under the laws – a staggering 93 percent of them black and Latino. But it
sounded like a good start.
As a person who spent a dozen years in prison for a first-time non-violent
drug offense -- and was released early only because I was granted clemency -- I
have made it a mission of my life to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws, which
mandated a harsh sentence for me, as it has for thousands of other New Yorkers.
Since 1973 when the Rockefeller Laws were enacted, we have witnessed a badly
created law that incarcerated many drug offenders from the inner city
neighborhoods of New York. This in turn, created smart upstate rural
politicians, who saw the Rockefeller Drug Laws as a tool to help make the
business of imprisonment a major industry in their districts – creating a
disincentive in the legislature to reform these laws.
Under these laws, people convicted of drug offenses face the same penalties
as those convicted of murder, and harsher penalties than those convicted of
rape.
As I wrote
on Gotham Gazette earlier this year, through constant political pressure we
managed to get the point across to New York politicians. When the pressure
mounted to the point of affecting their political careers, politicians reacted.
Finally, early in 2005 a revision was made that affected 446 prisoners sentenced
under the A-1 felony statute. A huge applause was heard. Politicians felt the
pressure easing. Individuals who had called for reform began backing off. After
all those years of fighting finally a change had occurred.
Now early this month, Governor George Pataki and the state legislature
proudly announced another change that would affect about 540 prisoners sentenced
under A-2 felonies. From a cursory glance at those who were not familiar with
the history of the struggle, it seemed as though the problem was fixed.
However, if we take a good look at the history of the first change most of
the 446 A-1 felons eligible for relief are still in prison. According to the
Department of Correction as of July, 2005, only 86 were set free.
I sat in the courtroom with a middle-aged mother who had been arrested in
1999 with a few ounces of cocaine. Though it was a first offense, she was
sentenced to 17-to-life. She was a drug mule, according to the facts of the
record. But the Queens district attorney's office twisted and manipulated the
facts to make her look like she was a kingpin who had abused her young daughter
because the child was present in the room with a package of cocaine.
That daughter, now a traumatized teen, has been placed in a foster home. She
had lost her mother and her childhood. She was in the courtroom praying for her
mother along with two nuns with whom she now lives. The judge and Queens
District Attorney Dick Brown agreed to reduce her mother's sentence to nine
years-to-life--leaving her to serve an additional five years. The daughter left
the courtroom in tears.
"These reforms are just symbolic if they're not implemented," Bill Gibney,
lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, has said. "The vast majority of people
eligible to petition for early release are still behind bars. The Governor and
Legislature shouldn't pat themselves on the back until they've ensured that
these reforms are duly acted upon. Without granting freedom along with reform,
the reform remains the same political rhetoric we have heard for years.
Anthony Papa is author of 15 To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom
Flash!
September 2, 2005 Simmons Drug Reform is a failure!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.sohh.com/thewire/read.php?contentID=7496
Daily Hip-Hop News:
Russell Simmon's Rockerfeller Drug Reform Failing,
Say Sources
Friday - September 2, 2005
by Kevin L. Clark |
|
|
|
Almost a year after Russell Simmons fought
for the reform of the controversial Rockefeller drugs laws, very
little change has occurred within the New York penal system.
In May 2003, Simmons along with the Hip-Hop
Summit Action Network, Mothers of the NY Disappeared, and Andrew Cuomo
held a rally for the "Coalition for Fairness" to repeal the
Rockefeller Drug laws. Other people who attended the rally to lend
support to the cause were
50 Cent,
Mariah Carey, Reverend Run, Fabolous, Fat Joe,
Memphis Bleek, Joe Budden,
The Beastie Boys, Kool G. Rap, Kid Capri, The
D.O.C., Capone & Noreaga, Dana Dane, Jay-Z, Nas,
P. Diddy, Madonna, Susan Sarandon, former Mayor Andrew Cuomo,
former Mayor David Dinkins,
Tim Robbins, Brooklyn City Councilman James Davis, and NY State
Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton.
In Dec. 2004, after protests and several court
hearings, a judge ruled and declared New York's lobbying law partly
unconstitutional. Under the new agreement, countless non-violent drug
offenders would now see their sentences reduced. The most significant
changes would now see the mandatory 15-years to life term cut back to
8 years and allow roughly 400 inmates presently serving the maximum
sentence to appeal for reduced time and a possible release.
Governor George Pataki proclaimed that the recent
Rockefeller drug law reforms that went into effect at the beginning of
this year were showing significant changes - much to the chagrin of
Anthony Papa. In theory, the reforms were supposed to affect some 450
New York prisoners convicted of A-1 felonies. But the stark reality is
that only a handful of prisoners are being released under the reform
policy.
According to the Dept. of Corrections - about 66
prisoners were re-sentenced. Only 21 of those prisoners were set free
as of Apr. 30th, 2005. The cases were handpicked allegedly
on account of being the least detrimental to the careers of judges and
district attorneys. Artist and Activist, Anthony Papa - one of the
most prolific speakers on drug and prison reform - sat in on half a
dozen re-sentencing cases. Papa spent 12-years in a maximum security
prison for passing an envelope containing 4 ½ ounces of cocaine and
was granted clemency by Gov. Pataki.
In an op-ed by Anthony Papa he says, "This June,
the New York legislature passed Senate Bill 5880, which would allow
prisoners with A-2 felonies to apply for re-sentencing. To judge from
the previous change, only a small amount of prisoners will be
released. But even knowing this, Pataki is hesitating to sign the
bill.
When will politicians take into consideration the
human aspect of the drug war and stop thinking about relief based on
how the public will view them? When will justice finally be served for
the people and not the benefit of political aspirations?"
|
|
Flash! 9/2/2005
New Change is Rock laws is not Justice at all!!!!!!!
http://www.socialistworker.org/2005-2/555/555_08_Rockefeller.shtml
VIEWS AND VOICES
- Socialist Worker
Rockefeller “reforms”
leave behind many victims
This isn’t justice at
all
September 2, 2005 |
Page 8
ANTHONY PAPA served
12 years of a mandatory 15-years-to-life sentence for drug possession before
winning clemency in 1997. After his release, he helped to found Mothers of
the New York Disappeared and wrote 15 to Life: How I Painted My Way to
Freedom.
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - -
ALBANY, N.Y., politicians, including Gov. George Pataki, proclaimed that
the recent Rockefeller drug law reforms that went into effect at the
beginning of this year were significant changes.
In theory, these reforms would affect about 450 New York prisoners
convicted of A-1 felonies. The terrible, but not startling, truth is that
only a handful of prisoners have gotten relief.
According to the Department of Corrections, about 66 prisoners were
re-sentenced, but only 21 were set free as of April 30, 2005. These are
handpicked cases that are the least detrimental to the careers of judges and
district attorneys.
I have sat in on a half a dozen of these re-sentencing cases. The first
three applicants were given time served. In these cases, the courtrooms were
full of reporters and concerned activists, along with family members.
The next three cases were not that lucky. All seemed similar to the first
three. However, the press wasn’t there, and only a handful of people were
present, which put the decision-making process in a different light.
One case in particular hit home: a middle-aged mother who was arrested in
1999 with a few ounces of cocaine was sentenced to 17-to-life for a first
offense. She was a drug mule, according to the facts of the record. But the
Queens district attorney’s office twisted and manipulated the facts to make
her look like she was a kingpin who had abused her young daughter because
the child was present in the room with a package of cocaine.
Sitting in the courtroom was this traumatized teen, who has been placed
in a foster home. She had lost her mother and her childhood. She was praying
for her mother along with two nuns who she now lives with. The judge and
Queens District Attorney Dick Brown agreed to reduce her mother’s sentence
to nine years-to-life--leaving her to serve an additional five years. The
daughter left the courtroom in tears.
In New York City, District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who is running for
re-election against former Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder, has decided to stick
it to a prisoner who has already served 14 years of a 33-to-life sentence
for a Rockefeller conviction.
The district attorney’s office has said they would oppose Junior Gumbs’
re-sentencing application on the grounds that he was a major drug dealer.
The facts say something different--in light of recent developments with the
lead police officer on the case, discredited former Commissioner Bernie
Kerik, who is now mired and sullied in professional and private scandals.
Junior’s mother, Evelyn Sanchez, who is the Latino coordinator of the
Mothers of the N.Y. Disappeared, has wiped out her life savings for legal
fees in trying to regain her son’s freedom. Despite the fact that she has
terminal cancer, she has been in the forefront of the battle to change the
Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Sanchez has said, “I worked all my life and spent all my money on
lawyers. I have none left to put my daughter through college. Now I am going
to die and will never see my son freed. You call this a democracy? No, it’s
not. It’s not justice at all.”
This June, the New York legislature passed Senate Bill 5880, which would
allow prisoners with A-2 felonies to apply for re-sentencing. To judge from
the previous change, only a small amount of prisoners will be released. But
even knowing this, Pataki is hesitating to sign the bill.
When will politicians take into consideration the human aspect of the
drug war and stop thinking about relief based on how the public will view
them? When will justice finally be served for the people and not the benefit
of political aspirations? |
Flash! 8/31/005
Governor signs bill ! - Trying a run for President????
Pataki Signs Bill Softening Drug Laws
Published: August 31, 2005
Gov. George E. Pataki signed a bill into law last night that will
soften the so-called Rockefeller drug laws, his office said.The new law
will allow about 540 inmates - those convicted of Class A-2 felonies - the
chance to petition for resentencing and early release.
It is the second piece of reform to the drug laws that were passed in
1973 and that established mandatory sentences that in some cases were longer
than those for murder convictions. Last December, Governor Pataki signed a
bill allowing 446 inmates serving time for A-1 felonies to petition for a
reduction in their mandatory sentences.
The bill, one in a batch of about 100 that the governor signed about 7:30
p.m., would have gone into effect at midnight without Mr. Pataki's signature
unless he had vetoed it.
The governor, who is weighing a run for president, signed the bill "based
on its merits," a spokesman, Kevin Quinn, said.
While reformers hailed the new law last night, they said they would like
to see more done to dismantle the drug laws. "We took 2 steps forward on
Rockefeller reform last December, and we're taking another step forward
today, but we have another good 10 steps to go," said Ethan Nadelmann, the
executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit group focused on
changing national drug policy.
Flash! August 20, 2005
Bet My Bottom Dollar the Governor Does not sign this bill!!!!!!!!!!!
The Times
Union
(Albany,
New York)
August 19, 2005
Friday
HEADLINE: Drug law changes
await governor
BYLINE: By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN
Capitol bureau
ALBANY
- Gov. George Pataki has until Aug. 30 to decide the fate of a bill that would
allow an estimated 500 drug offenders incarcerated under the Rockefeller Drug
Laws to appeal their sentences and possibly leave prison early.
The legislation,
passed by both the Republican-controlled Senate and the Democrat-led Assembly,
covers felons convicted of Class A2 crimes, the second-highest drug offenses.
Pataki and legislative leaders last December agreed to do away with life
sentences for both the highest-level Class A1 crimes and A2 crimes, but allowed
only A1 offenders to retroactively appeal their sentences under the new
guidelines.
The Senate sent the
measure to Pataki Thursday. The governor has 10 days, starting today and not
including Sundays, to sign it, veto it or take no action, in which case it will
automatically become law.
Pataki in June said
he had "some concerns" about the bill. Thursday, Pataki spokeswoman Mollie
Fullington said only that the governor will review
it.
The bill's
supporters say it would continue to reform the harsh 1973 Rockefeller Drug Laws,
which mandated life sentences for selling or possessing relatively small amounts
of narcotics.
"The governor has
talked a lot about Rockefeller reform, and now we expect him to walk the talk
and sign this bill immediately," said
Gabriel Sayegh,
policy analyst at the Drug Policy Alliance, a group in favor of drug law reform.
But advocates have
also been sure to note that the bill doesn't help reduce the sentences of
B-level drug offenders, who make up the bulk of those serving time on
drug-related convictions.
Flash!
June 30, 2005 - Will the small changes really mean anything?
The Times
Union
(Albany,
New York)
June 30, 2005
Thursday
HEADLINE: Small step on reform
With the rush by state lawmakers to leave
Albany last week, there was a real
danger that Rockefeller Drug Law reform would get
lost in the shuffle. There is
a long and depressing tradition in the Legislature
for lawmakers to forget about
an issue the following year if they have addressed
it the year before. And last
year, the lawmakers were congratulating themselves
on passing the first major
reforms since the draconian drug laws were adopted
in 1973.
But as welcome as those reforms were, they were
only the first step, and the
lawmakers knew it. The reforms eliminated life
sentences for the highest level
drug crimes, known as Class A1 and A2, and allowed
A1 offenders to retroactively
appeal for resentencing. The effect was that
several hundred A1 offenders were
able to walk free. But A2 offenders were not given
a chance to appeal and faced
the grim prospect of having to serve many more
years behind bars.
Last week, however, the Republican-led Senate
and Democrat-led Assembly
reached a last-minute agreement to give nonviolent
A2 offenders a chance to
appeal for resentencing. Before they can do so,
however, they must be within 36
months of their first opportunity for parole. Some
500 inmates currently meet
these criteria, according to the state Department
of Correctional Ser vices.
Regrettably, Gov. Pataki does not seem to share
the same enthusiasm as the
Legislature, saying he has "some concerns" about
the agreement. But Mr. Pataki
knows better. He has made it a practice of
extending holiday clemencies to
prisoners who were facing long sentences under the
inflexible Rockefeller
statutes. In more than a few cases, the inmates
were first-time nonviolent
offenders. How, then, can Mr. Pataki see the need
for clemency in these cases
but be troubled by a reform that would address
similar cases on a broader scale?
Just as regrettable was the reaction of Sen.
Thomas Duane, D-Manhattan, a
staunch supporter of reform but who voted against
the A2 accord last week. The
agreement, he said at the time, was "so minimal,
so timid compared to what we
should be doing in this Legislature to reform the
Rockefeller Drug Laws." He's
right about what should be done - sweeping reform
that would restore sentencing
discretion to judges - but wrong not to support a
small step in that direction.
Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, no less a
supporter of reform, has it
right when he says, "Everything with Rockefeller
Drug Law reform is hard." Which
is why this year's accord, minor though it was,
deserves applause.
LOAD-DATE:
June 30, 2005
Flash!
June 26th Elaine Bartlett Framed!
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/322695p-275735c.html
Drug-law 'victim'
sent back to jail
|
|
By BARBARA ROSS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
|
|
|
| Elaine Bartlett, in jail in this 1995 photo, has
been locked up again. |
|
|
A Harlem woman who got an early release from
prison after being touted as a victim of the harsh Rockefeller drug laws is
back in jail, this time accused of helping her young lover duck arrest on
murder charges.
Elaine Bartlett, 48, is accused of hiding boyfriend Deon Waterman, 23, in
April after he allegedly shot and killed a rival drug dealer in West Harlem,
according to court records.
Investigators said Waterman, who lived with Bartlett a few blocks from
the W. 156th St. shooting, disappeared right after the incident.
When police went to their home, Bartlett said she hadn't seen him "in a
couple of weeks," said one investigator. "We believe that to be incorrect."
They said Waterman surfaced again in mid-June when Bartlett asked
relatives to hide him until he could arrange to leave the city for the
Carolinas or Canada.
Acting on a tip, police arrested Waterman the next day and charged
Bartlett with hindering prosecution.
Last year, Bartlett was the focus of a highly praised book, "Life on the
Outside" by Village Voice writer Jennifer Gonnerman. Since then, the two
have toured the country, speaking about adjusting to a hostile world and a
damaged, angry family.
"Even the poster children for the Rockefeller drug law abuses are not
poster children," said one law enforcement source.
Bartlett attracted a lot of media attention five years ago after Gov.
Pataki agreed to cut four years from her sentence and grant clemency, saying
she was a victim of the overly harsh mandatory sentencing provisions in the
Rockefeller drug laws.
By that time, Bartlett had served 16 years of a 20-to-life sentence for
selling 4 ounces of cocaine to an undercover cop in Albany. It was her first
arrest.
Bartlett was 26 years old, on welfare and raising four young children
when she was convicted and sentenced. She told authorities she sold the
drugs to earn an extra $25 for her kids.
The Rockefeller laws required those convicted of selling more than 2
ounces of drugs or possessing more than 4 ounces to serve a minimum of least
15 years to life, regardless of whether they were drug kingpins or first
offenders like Bartlett.
Originally published on June 26, 2005 |
Flash !
June 1, 2005 Hypocrite ex-Hang Em High Judge
running for NYC DA Job using Rockefeller Reform as a Platform Leslie
-25 to life - Synder who sentenced people to draconian prison sentences under
the Rockefeller Drug Laws now is advocating for changing the drug laws in
the name of justice! Give me a break!!!!
The Dragon Lady Runs for DA
Village Voice, NY - May 24,
2005
... She went on to thump Morgenthau for what she said was
his failure to push for reforms of the Rockefeller drug laws
that mandate lengthy prison sentences even ...
Crocker Snyder's officially in DA race
Newsday, NY - May 11, 2005
... Though she had a reputation for tough sentencing, she
spoke yesterday of further reform of the Rockefeller drug laws
and alternatives to incarceration for ...
Flash! May
9th 2005 The push for real Repeal continues!!!
One Mother's
Story
AlterNet, CA - May 6, 2005
... years. Cheri O'Donoghue lives in New York. She spoke
Friday at a Mother's Day rally at City Hall to reform the Rockefeller
Drug Laws.
The Alliance and its Real
Reform New York coalition partners welcomed the small reforms while
recognizing that they were not real reform and constituted only a “phase 1”
victory. A “phase 2” victory is now on the horizon.
The Alliance has been hard at work with the Real Reform coalition to influence
the next round of reforms, and the State Assembly is currently drafting a reform
bill which the Alliance will analyze upon its release. On May 6, 2005 the
Alliance will join coalition partners from Real Reform New York at a major press
conference on the steps of City Hall in New York City to show our support for
real reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The press conference will feature
community advocates like Cheri
O’Donoghue, (whose son Ashley is serving a 7 – 21 year Rockefeller
sentence), State
Senator Eric Schneiderman,
Flash! April 20, 2005
Artists Against the Drug War Continues!
‘Como pinté mi propio camino’
El Diario New York - 16 Abr
2005
Atrasado en su al quiler y tras una disputa con su mujer sobre
deudas atrasadas,
Anthony Papa aceptó
llevar un sobre que contenía 4 onzas y media de cocaína ...
‘Como pinté mi propio camino’
Eva Sanchis/EDLP
"“Las puñaladas en
prisión eran tan comunes como ir de vientre”— Anthony
Papa"
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Nueva York — Hace 20 años, en otro Nueva
York, al propietario de un negocio de reparación de radios en El
Bronx le ofrecieron 500 dólares por llevar un so bre a un
conocido. Atrasado en su al quiler y tras una disputa con su
mujer sobre deudas atrasadas, Anthony Papa aceptó llevar un
sobre que contenía 4 onzas y media de cocaína.
Como muchos de sus amigos y ve cinos, Papa se casó joven y
tuvo una hija poco después. Los bolos se convirtieron en un
escape a la rutina, y más tarde en su ruina, cuando aceptó un
encargo especial de un compañero de juego.
Tras ser detenido en Mount Vernon, Nueva York, durante una
redada po licial, Papa fue condenado a pasar al menos 15 años en
prisión, a pesar de ser éste su primer delito.
Abandonado por su mujer y separado de su hija tras ser
encarcelado, Papa contempló durante algún tiempo el suicidio
hasta que en 1984, a través de Indio, otro preso, descubrió la
pintura. Esta se convirtió en su único refugio.
Un autorretrato de Papa, en el que su rostro está desfigurado
por la oscuridad de la celda y donde sólo un pincel trae algo de
luz, fue exhibido en el Museo de Arte Moderno Whitney en Nueva
York en 1994, generando tal simpatía hacia su causa, que el
gobernador le concedió clemencia tres años antes de cumplir su
sentencia. Papa asegura que se inspiró en artistas como Pablo
Picasso Diego Rivera, los “cronistas sociales” de sus épocas,
como él los llama.
Vestido habitualmente de negro y convertido en un artista y
activista a tiempo completo, Papa publicó recien temente “15
years to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom” (15 años a
cadena perpetua: como pinté mi propio camino a la libertad), un
libro que relata sus experiencias dentro y fuera del “zoo”, su
sinónimo para prisión.
Papa narra con especial crudeza los 12 años pasados en la
cárcel de máxima seguridad de Sing Sing, una institución situada
a una hora de la ciudad y de la que escribe “las puñaladas eran
tan comunes como ir de vientre”.
Tras salir de Sing Sing, con 43 años, una carrera en
psicología y un máster en teología, Papa se propuso cambiar las
leyes estatales de droga, las denomi nadas Leyes Rockefeller,
cuyas conde nas mandatorias “eran desproporciona das al delito”.
En una entrevista reciente en las oficinas de Drug Policy
Alliance, la asociación para la que trabaja, Papa explicó que a
pesar de haber estudiado en Sing Sing “sufrí mucho viendo como
perdía los años más productivos de mi vida en una prisión”.
En 1998, Papa fundó junto a otro activista, Randy Credico,
Madres de los Desaparecidos en Nueva York, un grupo que durante
una década protestó para llamar la atención de los legisladores
estatales sobre el devastador impacto de las leyes en las
familias de los presos.
Las leyes fueron reformadas este año por la Legislatura y el
gobernador Geor ge Pataki, quienes redujeron la longitud de las
sentencias. A pesar de ésto, éstas siguen siendo mandatorias,
por lo que Papa asegura que aún hay que seguir luchando por una
mayor reforma.
Aunque hace tres años Papa se casó con Luciana, una brasileña,
y juntos han tenido un hijo, Anthony, de tres años, el preso no
ha abandonado al artista y al activista: “Aún sueño por las
noches que estoy en una prisión”.
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ACTIVISM
Students bring Anthony Papa to discuss
drug policy reform
Tom Senn
Princetonian Staff Writer
Artist and former prison inmate Anthony
Papa spent 12 years in prison for passing 4.5 oz. of cocaine in 1984.
Addressing a small group of Princeton students Tuesday about the war on
drugs, Papa called it "a war on people" and warned about the misuse of
drug laws and the often disproportionate punishments they mandate.
"I'm not saying I shouldn't have gone to prison. I maybe should have
done some time. Drugs are dangerous," he said. "What's more dangerous is
the government interfering in your life when it shouldn't."
Reona Kumagai '06, president of the Princeton chapter of Students
for a Sensible Drug Policy — one of the groups that sponsored Papa's
visit — argued against mandatory sentencing, saying that judges should
make allowances for nonviolent and first-time offenders.
"Judges hate this. They think politicians are meddling in their
duty," Kumagai said. "It partly comes from politicians trying to look
tough on crime, because that's what they think people want."
Kumagai and Papa said that the Higher Education Act of 2000 denies
financial aid to college students convicted of drug charges but makes no
provisions about violent crimes such as rape and murder.
"If you smoke marijuana, you could lose your aid," Papa said. "This
drug war really reaches the average citizen."
Kumagai explained that the war on drugs was intended to reduce the
availability of drugs through harsher penalties. Papa added that drugs
are still readily available, even in Sing Sing, the maximum-security
prison in which he served.
"If you can't control drugs in a
maximum-security prison, how can the government control drugs in a free
society?" he said. Many people who enter prison relatively drug-free
often become more involved while they are incarcerated, he added.
Nonetheless, Papa avoided drugs in prison and educated himself
instead. He earned two degrees, discovered art and developed the
political awareness to become an activist upon release in 1997.
Before his crime — his first offense — Papa described himself as "a
regular Joe" who worked 12 hours a day installing radios. Desperate for
money, he accepted an offer of $500 to deliver an envelope of cocaine to
what turned out to be a police sting.
Now the founder of Mothers of the New York Disappeared — the largest
activist group fighting the state's harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws, which
were enacted in 1973 — he recalled how discovering art in prison
ultimately saved his life.
"In 1988, I painted a self-portrait entitled '15 to Life,'" he said,
referring to the minimum sentence the Rockefeller Laws required for drug
offenders. "I picked up a mirror and saw an individual that was going to
spend the most productive years of his life in a cage."
When the portrait ended up at the Whitney Museum of American Art
seven years later, the resulting public sympathy on his behalf induced
Governor George Pataki to grant Papa clemency.
"I literally painted my way out of prison," Papa said. "I discovered
art as a weapon of the oppressed against the oppressors." |
|
FLASH!
March 25, 2005 Andrew Cuomo calls out the
Republicans including Volkers reason for his staunch support of the
Rockefeller Drug Laws - "without drug prisoners he would have no
district" !!!
Albany
Times Union
Prison
inmates, Republican constituents
By
ANDREW M. CUOMO
Nothing
was more striking in Gov. Pataki's State of the State address than his use of
the word "reform" no fewer than 31 times in a 69-minute speech. It's
striking, because if there's anything New Yorkers will not get from this
administration, it's genuine reform.
For
the governor to pursue real reform, he would have to challenge some entrenched
Albany special interests and Republican Party politics. A look at how the
governor "reformed" the Rockefeller-era drug laws reveals how
unwilling or unable he is to do that.
Last
year, after a decade of promises to revisit the state's 30-year-old drug laws,
the governor finally signed a "reform" measure. The need for real
reform was obvious; the Rockefeller laws are a well-established failure. They
impose harsh minimum mandatory sentences on first-time, nonviolent drug
offenders, stripping judges of the freedom to base their sentences on the facts
of each individual case. Under rigid sentencing guidelines, judges are forced to
lock up thousands of nonviolent young people who would be better served by
effective drug treatment. The "reform" legislation did little to
change this injustice.
The
Rockefeller laws have wasted millions of dollars, to say nothing of the
unnecessary waste of prisoners' lives that can never be recovered.
As
the Times Union editorial page has highlighted, the Supreme Court just last week
affirmed the importance of judicial discretion -- which is absent in New York's
law.
When
the need for real reform of these laws is so obvious, why would the governor
look the other way? Because, arguably, Mr. Pataki is more interested in
protecting the interests of New York's Republican Party than in serving the
interests of the people of New York.
Let
me describe one example of this dysfunction. The population of upstate New York,
the political base for the state's Republicans, has been steadily declining in
recent years. We have the greatest out-migration of any state in the nation. Our
upstate communities are losing jobs, too, and state government has pushed the
problem from bad to worse by increasing the cost of doing business. Sadly, jobs
in the prison industry are among the few employment opportunities the Pataki
administration has protected upstate.
There
are New Yorkers moving upstate, but they are prison inmates. In fact, prisoners
from downstate represent a full 30 percent of all those "moving"
upstate since 1990. While only 24 percent of New York prisoners come originally
from upstate, 91 percent of all New York's prisoners are incarcerated there.
This
works out nicely for New York's Republican Party. Why? Because the population
figures that determine Senate and Assembly districts include prison inmates.
It's simply not in the Republicans' political interests to support measures that
would let those locked up under the old drug laws go free.
According
to data from the Prison Policy Initiative, nearly 44,000 prisoners -- mainly
from downstate and mainly minorities -- are incarcerated in small, upstate
communities and are counted as "residents" of the communities in which
they are imprisoned. Their presence in a prison adds to a legislator's
constituents -- even though, as prisoners, they can't vote.
This
is politically powerful for the Republican Party. There are four upstate Senate
districts that qualify as districts only because they include a large prison
population -- and all four are represented by Republicans. The Democrats would
have to take just four more seats for the Republicans to lose their majority.
The
leading defenders of the Rockefeller-era drug laws are upstate Republican Sens.
Dale Volker and Michael Nozzolio, heads of the committees on codes and crime,
respectively. The prisons in their two districts account for more than 17
percent of all the prisoners in the state. It may not be fair to say Volker and
Nozzolio actually "represent" the inmates who make their districts
viable. Sen. Volker told another newspaper that the cows in his district would
be more likely to vote for him than the prisoners. State population statistics
show that, without the inmates, Volker's district is one of the four that would
have to be redrawn.
Are
decisions on the Rockefeller-era drug laws being made as sound public policy or
are they politically motivated? The potential conflict of interests is obvious.
We should not count prisoners as a political base for legislators who do not
honestly represent them and for whom they did not vote. In other words, remove
the partisan politics and secure the integrity of legislative decisions. These
are important keys to "real" reform.
Such
an agenda would replace partisan politics with sound public policy, deliver
results not rhetoric and restore integrity to the process. It would focus on an
economic development plan for upstate New York rather than a prison construction
program. It would address the education-aid debacle and the dysfunction of state
government. The "government for sale" attitude should be replaced with
a strong ethical code for lobbyists and special interests.
For
many years, voters ignored the state government's poor performance. But this
past year has brought a new awareness and justified impatience with Albany.
Elected officials who serve in Albany could not avoid hearing the message and
after years of dysfunction they promised change. Even seasoned Albany veterans
are contorting themselves to appear as "reformers." This year they
must deliver.
Andrew
M. Cuomo is a former secretary of housing and urban development and a former
candidate for governor.
FLASH!
March 16, 2005 Artists unite at DPA benefit against the
drug war
Artists Against the Drug War
By Anthony
Papa, AlterNet. Posted March
15, 2005.
What does the historical view of the artist as social commentator have to do
with the war on drugs? Absolutely nothing, until Tuesday, March 29, when a host
of leading contemporary artists joins forces with the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA)
in a historic benefit art exhibition.
The show is curated by art entrepreneur Diego Cortez, who has managed to
gather together the works of 40 visual artists, among them Francesco Clemente,
Ed Ruscha, Louise Bourgeois and Yoko Ono. The benefit's host committee includes
such stars as Lauren Hutton, Arianna Huffington and Montel Williams, with
additional support from George Soros and Jason Flom of Atlantic Records.
"We are amazed and grateful that so many leading artists are willing to
support our work," says Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the DPA.
Their donations of time and effort will empower our efforts to reform draconian
drug laws that cause so much more harm than good."
Art as a social weapon has been around for a long time. In the early 1920s,
Diego Rivera and the other Mexican muralists used their work as a tool for the
oppressed against their oppressors. They expressed their opinions and got their
message across to the literate and the illiterate alike and earned worldwide
recognition. In April 1937, the world learned the shocking truth about the Nazi
Luftwaffe's bombing of Guernica, Spain – a civilian target. Pablo Picasso
responded with his great anti-war painting, Guernica.
In the '60s Leon Golub, the "painter of darkness," put together the
group Artists and Writers against the War as a response to the Vietnam war. On
the other side of the coin, in 2003 the Drug Enforcement Agency opened an art
exhibit in NYC titled "Terrorists, Traffickers, and You," that
attempted to link terrorism to drug use. And in 2005 the group I call Artists
against the Drug War has emerged in response to the destructive consequences of
the war on drugs.
Today almost two million people are locked up behind bars because of this
"war." In 1988 while serving a 15-to-life sentence under the
Rockefeller drug laws I painted a piece titled, Corporate Asset. It had
the look of a giant pinball game. It portrayed how the war on drugs had fueled
the prison industrial complex, with money raised from local, state and federal
levels through the business of imprisonment. I am proud to have this piece
displayed in the DPA benefit show at the Cheim & Read Gallery, which has
graciously donated its space for the event.
This exhibit is historic in the context of the art world and follows the lead
of past artists who have used art as a vehicle for social change. I have and
will continue to use my art as a vehicle to fight the drug war. I hope this show
will enlighten others to join us in our attempt to stop the madness of the war
on drugs.
Visit the Drug Policy Alliance for more information about A
Benefit for the Drug Policy Alliance, March 29, 6-8pm, at the Cheim &
Read Gallery in New York.
Anthony Papa is the author of 15 To
Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom (Feral House).
Flash!
March 9th : Rock Law Prisoners being released under new changes in law
JAIL
SLASHED FOR 'ROCKY' DRUGGIE
New York Post, NY - Mar
8, 2005
March 9, 2005 -- A Manhattan judge yesterday resentenced a
68-year-old man who had been serving 15 years to life under the harsh 1970s Rockefeller
drug laws. ...
81-year-old
Brooklyn man in wheelchair released under new ...
New York Newsday, NY - Mar
3, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) _ An 81-year-old Brooklyn man who's in poor health
was re-sentenced Thursday under the revision of the state's Rockefeller drug
laws and will be ...
Reform
delivers hope to inmate
Albany Times Union, NY - Mar
3, 2005
... Why bother to be an angel? He wasn't going anywhere
soon. But now Lewis, 37, is seeking resentencing under the modified Rockefeller
Drug Laws. ...
Son
free, thanks to mom
New York Daily News, NY -
Feb 18, 2005
An elderly Bronx woman who spent years campaigning to reform the
harsh Rockefeller drug laws saw the fruit of her efforts as
a Queens judge cleared the way for ...
Flash!
FEB. 25 2005 Ex-drug war offenders serve the
community
Ex-druglords
set example for S. Jamaica teens
Flushing Times Ledger, NY -
Feb 24, 2005
... speaker from southeast Queens; Anthony Papa, an
artist and low-level offender from the Bronx sent to prison under the Rockefeller
drug laws; Paul Saint , a ...
Flash! Feb. 8 2005 From Sing Sing to the Whitney
AlterNet:
DrugReporter: From Sing Sing to the Whitney
... Anthony Papa is the
author of 15 To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom
(Feral House). Papa and guest speaker NYC district attorney ...
www.alternet.org/drugreporter/21197/ - 23k - Feb
7, 2005 - Cached
- Similar pages
From Sing Sing to the Whitney
By Anthony
Papa, AlterNet. Posted February
7, 2005.
If you had met me in my prison cell eight years ago and told me I
would someday be having a party at the Whitney Museum of American Art, I
would have thought that you were talking out of your ass.
In Sing Sing, this wasn't just a figure of speech: Prisoners often
smuggled drugs into the maximum-security prison securely hidden in their
rectums. You could get everything from pot to pills to heroin. A lot of
people coped with prison by cultivating drug habits. That's a small
measure of what hard time will do to your soul; you suddenly become
willing to snort, swallow, smoke, and inject things that have been in
other mens' lower gastrointestinal tracts.
In 1984, I was arrested in a police sting operation for passing four
and a half ounces of cocaine. Since it was my first offense, I was given
the minimum sentence New York's notoriously harsh Rockefeller drugs laws
allowed: 15 years to life. While in prison, I took up painting as a way
to maintain my sanity. My work garnered national press coverage, and in
1997, Governor Pataki granted me clemency.
But you never really leave prison; I live the experience with every
breath I take. It follows me in my sleep, much more powerful than Freddy
Kruger could ever be because it's real – a heart-pounding reality that
I cannot ever forget. I vowed to get the Rockefeller laws repealed. I
made countless trips up to Albany in hopes of convincing the
politicians, but soon realized I was wasting my time advocating for
change from the top: Politicians were afraid of looking soft on crime
and losing their jobs. I realized that we had to change public opinion.
In 1988, I co-founded Mothers of the New York Disappeared, a group
mostly comprised of ex-cons and family members of those incarcerated
under the state's drug laws.
My life as a street activist was not a pretty one: Long hours, no
pay, and not much job satisfaction. Our biggest heartbreak came in 2001.
For the first time in state history, the governor openly called for
reforming the Rockefeller drug laws. The State Assembly and Senate soon
followed, but for the next three years, the governor and the legislature
danced around the issue. The most outspoken group against change were
the district attorneys, who wanted to maintain their power.
Joining the DAs were right-wing Republicans like outspoken state
Senator Dale Volker, who has more than a handful of prisons in his
district. Since 1982, 33 prisons have been built in Republican upstate
rural communities and stuffed full of mostly black and Latino
non-violent drug offenders from downstate inner-city neighborhoods.
Thanks to a loophole in the census rules, close to 30 percent of these
prisoners were counted as part of their towns' populations – which
meant considerable money was to be made from the business of
imprisonment. The war on drugs had become fuel for the prison-industrial
complex.
After writing a book about my experiences, I contacted Andrew Cuomo,
former U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, and told him
how we could use the book to breathe life into a dead issue. In October
2004, Andrew arranged a book release party at the Whitney Museum of
American Art, with the help of hedge fund wizard Larry Goldfarb.
With his dirty blond shoulder-length hair and blue jeans, Larry looks
more like a guitarist from an '80s metal band than the managing partner
of Bay Star Capital, a billion-dollar investment company in San
Francisco. It was his idea to involve the movers and shakers of the
financial world. We're even meeting with Martha Stewart once she's
released for the crime of being a rich, successful, independent woman.
(Maybe we can swap prison war stories.)
The party drew a crowd of very rich and powerful people, the kind of
individuals politicians listen to. As we rode in Larry's white stretch
limo to the after-party at the Waldorf Towers, he held up his glass off
Remy Martin and said to me, "I want to make you my poster
boy."
My mind drifted back to my prison cell at Sing Sing, where I was
doing hard time for a first-time non-violent drug offense and
contemplating suicide. All things considered, I'd rather be Larry's
poster-boy. "No problem," I said, sure I was going to wake up
at any moment.
In December, Pataki and the state legislature pushed through the
first reform bill in 31 years. Then, with backing from George Soros, a
virtual political unknown, David Soares, defeated the standing
Republican District Attorney Paul Cline. Soares promised to curb
corruption in the state capitol and reform the cruel and ineffective
drug laws.
Goldfarb is my latest weapon in the drug war. He joins a host of
others I have enlisted, including celebrity Jack Black and billionaire
Tom Golisano. On the agenda is a Playboy Mansion benefit and a book
presentation to the NYS legislature. We know now that if we keep
pushing, real change will come. As for me, I will continue to speak out
and fight for Rockefeller repeal even if I have to go to the Playboy
Mansion to do it.
Anthony Papa is the author of 15
To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom (Feral House). Papa and
guest speaker NYC district attorney Bob Morganthau will appear Thursday,
Feb. 10 at 6pm at the Hue-Man
Bookstore in Harlem.
|
Flash! January 7, 2004 :
Activists, Politicians Vow Renewed Effort To Further Amend
Harsh Drug Laws
http://www.nylawyer.com/news/05/01/010705e.html
News Watch
New York Lawyer
January 7, 2005
By Thomas Adcock
New York Law Journal
With the New Year comes an old appeal to the slow-moving politicians of
Albany, where the state Legislature has been branded the "most
dysfunctional in the nation" in a stinging report published last July by
the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.
The appeal comes from attorneys and social activists concerned with what they
call "draconian" terms of incarceration for more than 100,000 New
Yorkers who over the past three decades years have been prosecuted under the
nation's harshest criminal drug laws.
Early last month, the Legislature adopted modest changes to the so-called
Rockefeller Drug Laws, which were enacted in 1973 under then-Governor Nelson A.
Rockefeller. Both Republican and Democratic leaders acknowledged in an Albany
press conference that the amendments were "partial reform."
Opponents of the stiff penalties for first-time, nonviolent offenders are
busy organizing to create a momentum for yet more change.
Anthony Papa, an artist and drug law reform activist who was sentenced to 15
years to life at Sing Sing for delivering an envelope of cocaine in exchange for
$500 toward his rent during a period of unemployment, bluntly stated the agenda.
"What we're trying to do is change the power structure," Mr. Papa,
who was released from prison after 12 years under a grant of clemency by
Governor George E. Pataki, said in an interview. "Which means we want to
take the power away from the district attorneys and give it back to the judges
to look at the totality of facts."
During his imprisonment, Mr. Papa discovered painting and developed his art
to the point where his work has been exhibited in the Whitney Museum.
Post-prison, he has been involved in a number of causes in opposition to the
drug laws, among them the Drug Policy Alliance. Mr. Papa also has written of his
experiences in "15 to Life: How I Painted My Way to Freedom,"
published last month.
Manhattan attorney Andrew Cuomo, the former secretary of Housing and Urban
Development during the Clinton administration, was active last year in Real
Reform, a coalition of some 300 state and national organizations that pressed
Albany to do away with the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The partial reform he and
others won, he said, was a first step that fell far short of the goal.
"It wasn't the solution," said Mr. Cuomo, who criticized the drug
laws during his failed campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor in
2002. "It was in many ways a cynical political move that only confirmed the
[Legislature's] dysfunction."
William Gibney, senior attorney for the special litigation unit of the Legal
Aid Society's criminal defense division, said the Legislature's recent reform
effort "at least recognized that longer sentences alone are not a solution
to the drug problem, and that alternative ways of dealing with the issue can be
effective."
He identified some relief in the reforms for an estimated 460 offenders who
could make immediate application for parole. Mr. Gibney said he has been in
discussions with the New York Department of Correctional Services on the matter
of resentencing under partial reform, which includes additional merit time off
for good behavior. The department is running a computer check for those inmates
eligible for immediate parole board appearances, said Mr. Gibney. Termination of
parole obligations for "a substantial number" of non-violent offenders
could be granted under the new rules, he added.
"This is only the beginning of ending the unjust Rockefeller laws,"
said Michael Blain, public policy director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the
principal group within the Real Reform coalition. "We will keep coming back
until we have achieved full judicial discretion, more sentence reduction,
retroactivity, and treatment."
District Attorney Kevin L. Wright of Putnam County, president of the New York
State District Attorneys Association, said his colleagues are not opposed to
"meaningful reform that would help offenders regain their lives." On
the contrary, he said that the state's 62 district attorneys have been "at
the cutting edge and the vanguard" of helping non-violent offenders avoid
prison through programs such as residential Drug Treatment Alternatives to
Prison.
While both Mr. Wright and a statement from the district attorneys' group
applauded the Legislature's decision to end life sentences for the highest level
drug crimes, they criticized lawmakers on other points.
"The bill does not fund drug treatment programs, nor does it enhance
penalties for drug dealers who use guns, children or the Internet in their
schemes," the district attorneys' group said in a statement. "Instead,
the bill reduces sentences for virtually all drug crimes, and raises the
threshold weights of drugs that must be possessed to commit certain crimes, thus
softening the punishment of drug crimes whether committed by addicts or by
predatory dealers motivated purely by greed. Existing early-release programs
will further accelerate the release of these offenders into the community."
Mr. Wright cautioned that offenders in drug treatment programs are motivated
to succeed in the face of long prison sentences. According to the district
attorneys' statement, shorter sentences mean both decreased deterrent effect and
"little incentive to the addict to choose the alternative of rigorous
treatment, which may take three times as long [as a prison sentence]."
New Role as DA
Somewhat sidelined in this year's fight will be the young lawyer credited by
political observers as the man whose startling electoral success was key to
inspiring partial reform: Albany County District Attorney David Soares, 35, who
handily defeated his predecessor, Paul Clyne, an outspoken supporter of harsh
sentences.
"David is the DA now, and his job is to execute the law as
written," said Richard Arthur, a spokesman for Mr. Soares. "He doesn't
want to take an active role in [new] legislation."
Speaking for himself, Mr. Soares added, "We should always strive to
improve existing policies."
Among the first things Mr. Soares did on Monday, his first day on the job,
was to appoint 21-year-old Amanda M. Paeglow, a non-lawyer criminology student
at the State University of New York at Albany, as community prosecution
coordinator. Ms. Paeglow said she is charged with restoring and expanding a
federally funded program administered by Mr. Soares when he was an assistant
prosecutor under Mr. Clyne.
Operating in a single Albany neighborhood, Mr. Soares' program used an
appointed board of community leaders to make alternative sentencing
recommendations to county judges for first-time, non-violent, low-level drug
offenders. When Mr. Soares informed Mr. Clyne that he would challenge his
re-election, Mr. Clyne fired Mr. Soares. As a result, said Ms. Paeglow, the
board quit.
"We're in the process of getting the board back together, and making it
better," she said, "and taking it countywide."
FLASH!! DECEMBER 29,
2004 :WHY THE ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS WERE NOT REPEALED!
| |
Why Some Politicians Need Their Prisons to Stay
Full
Posted on December 27, 2004
By Brent Staples
New York Times
December 27, 2004
The mandatory sentencing fad that swept the United States beginning
in the 1970's has had dramatic consequences -- most of them bad. The
prison population was driven up tenfold, creating a large and growing
felon class -- now 13 million strong -- that remains locked out of the
mainstream and prone to recidivism. Trailing behind the legions of
felons are children who grow up visiting their parents behind bars and
thinking prison life is perfectly normal. Meanwhile, the cost of
building and running prisons has pushed many states close to
bankruptcy -- and forced them to choose between building jails and
schools.
Seldom has a public policy done so much damage so quickly. But
changes in the draconian sentencing laws have come very slowly. That
is partly because the public thinks keeping a large chunk of the
population behind bars is responsible for the reduced crime rates of
recent years. Studies cast doubt on that theory, since they show drops
in crime almost everywhere -- even in states that did not embrace
mandatory minimum sentences or mass imprisonment. In addition, these
damaging policies have done nothing to curb the drug trade.
Changing prison policy, however, is no longer a simple matter. The
business of building and running the jailhouse has become a mammoth
industry with powerful constituencies that favor the status quo.
Prison-based money and political power have distorted the legislative
landscape in ways that will be difficult to undo.
These problems are on vivid display in New York, which started mass
imprisonment when Gov. Nelson Rockefeller persuaded the Legislature to
pass the toughest drug laws in the nation at the start of an
ill-starred ''war on drugs'' 30 years ago. The Rockefeller laws
introduced the country to mandatory sentencing policies that barred
judges from deciding who goes to jail and for how long. Instead, the
laws required lengthy sentences -- 15 years to life -- for nonviolent,
first-time offenders, many of whom would have received brief
sentences, drug treatment or community service under previous laws.
Nearly all of the prisoners ended up in upstate New York, where
failing farms and hollowed-out cities offered a lot of room for
building. Politicians in these sparsely populated districts caught on
quickly and began to lobby to have the new prisons located in their
communities. As a result, nearly 30 percent of the people who were
counted as moving into upstate New York during the 1990's were prison
inmates.
The influx of inmates has brought desperately needed jobs to the
region and resulted in districts whose economies revolve around prison
payrolls and whose politics are dominated by the union that represents
corrections officers. The inmates also helped to save political
careers in areas where legislative districts were in danger of having
to be merged because of shrinking populations. Inmates, as it turned
out, were magically transformed into ''residents,'' thanks to a quirk
in the census rules that counts them as living at their prisons.
Although people sentenced under the drug laws frequently serve long
sentences, many prisoners remain behind bars only briefly before
returning to homes that are often hundreds of miles away.
Felons are barred from voting in 48 of 50 states -- including New
York. Yet in New York, as in the rest of the country, disenfranchised
prisoners are included in the population counts that become the basis
for drawing legislative districts.
An eye-opening analysis by Prison Policy Initiative's Peter Wagner
found seven upstate New York Senate districts that meet minimal
population requirements only because prison inmates are included in
the count. New York is not alone. The group's researchers have found
21 counties nationally where at least 21 percent of the ''residents''
were inmates.
The New York Republican Party uses its majority in the State Senate
to maintain political power through fat years and lean. The Senate
Republicans, in turn, rely on their large upstate delegation to keep
that majority. Whether those legislators have consciously made the
connection or not, it's hard to escape the fact that bulging prisons
are good for their districts. The advantages extend beyond jobs and
political gerrymandering. By counting unemployed inmates as residents,
the prison counties lower their per capita incomes -- and increase the
portion they get of federal funds for the poor. This results in a
transfer of federal cash from places that can't afford to lose it to
places that don't deserve it.
Lately, polls have shown growing support for drug law reform. In
November, prominent New York Republicans ran into trouble when they
faced candidates who made Rockefeller reform an issue. In response,
the State Senate endorsed a plan that cut sentences for drug
possession crimes, which was the easy part. But it stonewalled on the
crucial change, which would have returned to judges the discretion to
sentence at least some offenders to drug treatment instead of prison.
While other political forces support the mandatory sentences --
most notably the powerful local prosecutors -- prison rights advocates
have recently begun to argue that prison district politicians are more
concerned about keeping the prisons full than about crime. The idea of
counting inmates as voters in the counties that imprison them is
particularly repulsive given that inmates are nearly always stripped
of the right to vote. The practice recalls the early United States
under slavery, when slaves were barred from voting but counted as
three-fifths of a person for purposes of apportioning representation
in Congress.
|
FLASH DECEMBER 28 2004
: ALBANY D.A. SWORN IN
Soares, in grand style, becomes county DA
Albany Times Union, NY - Dec
28, 2004
... He broke new ground when he made reform of the
draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws the centerpiece of a
campaign run on the Democratic and Working Families Party ...
FLASH DECEMBER 27 2004:
DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!
False Rockefeller Drug Law Victory in New York - [
Traduzir esta página ]
... false drug war victory in NY. by Anthony
Papa. On December 8 ... our backs. Anthony
Papa is the author of 15 to Life (Feral House). All ...
www.corporatemofo.com/stories/041226papa.htm - 18k
- 27 dez. 2004 -
Em cache -
Páginas Semelhantes
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|
false drug war victory in NY
by
Anthony Papa
|
|
|
|
On December 8,
2004 I woke up at 5am to put some finishing touches on a painting project
that I had started a while ago. I hate to leave things undone. As I walked
to my studio across the path from my converted live-in barn, something told
me to check my email instead. I got into my car and drove to an Internet
café about 10 minutes from the farm my wife and I own in the beautiful
countryside outside Sao Paulo, Brazil.
I opened my
mail and then
Googled the Rockefeller Drug Law news in
New York. My eyes lit up when I saw the many headlines out lining a
tentative agreement had been reached on Rockefeller reform. At first, I was
apprehensive: I didn't want this to be another false hope. Since my release
in 1997
after serving a 12-year sentence under these laws,
I've fought tooth and nail for repeal.
Was change
really about to occur after 31 years? Was this another "selling of a dream"
by the governor and the state legislature? For three years in a row they had
dangled reform in front of us enough to have our mouths watering from
anticipation. It was because of this I left the city I love to pursue my
career as an artist in another country. I had to let go of the rope that was
connected to meaningful reform because of the hurt connected to the false
political promises.
As I continued
to check the news I was appalled by what I saw. Politicians were issuing
press releases disguised as congratulatory statement, claiming credit for
the victory. The politios patted themselves on the back as they thanked the
governor and the legislature for the watered-down reform that was to be
passed as law. "This is just a start," they claimed. But it was former
Federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo who had it right had it right when he
issued a statement to Newsday, saying that it is too late for legislators in
Albany to use a "half-a-loaf" reform bill as political cover.
"This is their
attempt to alleviate the pressure. It's not going to work," Cuomo said. "The
pressure is for Rockefeller reform and that's not what this is. This is not
judicial [sentencing] discretion. This is not significantly reducing the
burdensome length of punishment... This is simply not what we've been
working for all these years."
This was no
victory. It was a sell-out to quiet the rage that activists have felt for
many years about this issue. I urge those who have been in the trenches many
years fighting for true reform to keep up the pressure and fight to change
the power structure behind the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Let's push harder now
to give back judges discretion and seek freedom for the 19,000 individuals
and their families that were left behind in this false victory. Lets not
leave things undone and put the finishing touch on this project before we
all pat ourselves on our backs.
Anthony Papa is the author of
15 to Life
(Feral
House)
|
Flash DECEMBER 17, 2004 : RUSSELL SIMMONS WAKE UP
CALL
SIMMONS RIPPED
ON DRUG LAW
New York Post http://nypost.com/seven/12172004/gossip/pagesix.htm
December 17, 2004
December 17, 2004 --
THE man who founded the movement to get the Rockefeller
Drug Law penalties repealed has blasted rap mogul Russell Simmons as a
"nightmare" who "destroyed" the movement.
Some of the penalties were merely reduced earlier this week — dashing the
dream of Anthony Papa, co-founder of Mothers of the New York Disappeared,
who spent over a decade in state prisons after a Rockefeller Law conviction and
launched the campaign to have the law repealed.
Simmons, who has gotten a lot of publicity for campaigning against the tough
laws, was present at a bill-signing ceremony Tuesday with Gov. Pataki,
where he called the reform "a giant step forward." The laws, passed by Gov.
Nelson Rockefeller in 1973 and 1974, meant that some low-level drug dealers went
to jail for longer sentences than rapists or murderers.
Papa, now an artist and author of the recently published "15 to Life: How I
Painted My Way to Freedom," says he was responsible for getting Simmons involved
in the movement through Andrew Cuomo.
"At first it was a dream come true," Papa told The Post's State Editor
Fredric U. Dicker in an e-mail, "but it became our worst nightmare. Simmons
the businessman's only concern was to cut a deal — he did not care a hoot about
human lives."
Papa is seething that Simmons gave up the initial goal of total repeal in
favor of "watered-down reform." He fumes, "Now people like Simmons are patting
themselves on their backs along with the governor, [Sen. Majority Leader
Joseph] Bruno and [Assembly Speaker Sheldon] Silver . .
. I should have dogged him . . . but [I] figured he would help us. Instead, he
destroyed the movement."
Simmons declined to hit back at Papa, saying that in his opinion, the reforms
were a "good deal." "In my experience as a businessman, a good deal usually
means everybody has to compromise," he says. "I'm sorry everybody's not happy.
I'm glad that something was done.
"I'm not the reason the deal got made," Simmons states. "My name is not on
the paper. But the governor did give me the pen he used, which is an honor . . .
I respect and appreciate the hard work Anthony Papa did. I'm sorry he's upset
with me."
FLASH!!! December 17th
2004 - More Work To Be Done to Repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws!!
http://www.socialistworker.org/2004-2/524/524_02_Rockefeller.shtml
Lawmakers agree to
limited reforms, but there’s still...
A fight ahead over
N.Y. drug laws
By Alan Maass
| December 17, 2004 | Page 2
AFTER YEARS of
dragging their feet, New York lawmakers agreed this month on legislation
that will change the state’s draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Victims of the drug laws and their families have devoted countless hours
to winning reform of a system that has sent tens of thousands of people to
prison for nonviolent offenses so minor that they often result in probation
in other states.
Still, the law that Gov. George Pataki and legislators finally agreed on
falls short of what activists have demanded--and leaves many of the
Rockefeller laws’ harshest aspects intact.
Under the legislation, the mandatory sentence for the most serious--or
Class A--offenses would be reduced from 15 years to life to eight to 20
years in prison. Sentences would be reduced somewhat for other classes of
offenses. The law also doubles the amount of drugs that suspects have to be
caught with to get the most serious charges.
Another provision allows more than 400 prisoners currently serving long
sentences to petition judges to be released from jail early. But these 400
are a tiny fraction of the estimated 17,000 prisoners currently in prison
under the state’s drug laws.
The new legislation also rejects one of the most central demands of
activists--that judges be given discretion in applying sentences. The
Rockefeller laws require mandatory sentences, no matter what the
circumstances of a particular case--whether, for example, a defendant is a
first-time offender, or the conviction was obviously the result of a police
setup. This system allows power-hungry prosecutors--who want to keep a
steady stream of defendants going to prison--to control the outcome of drug
cases.
The new bill also contains no provisions for increasing funding for drug
treatment programs as an alternative to incarceration. “After all this time,
this is what comes to the floor?” asked state Sen. Thomas Duane, during the
legislature’s debate on the bill. “It would be an unbelievable stretch to
call this Rockefeller drug reform.”
The Rockefeller laws were put in place in the 1970s by former Gov. Nelson
Rockefeller, who concocted the proposal to prove his conservative
credentials--helping to further the politicians’ law-and-order hysteria
nationally. The injustices of the laws have been obvious from the beginning.
They are based on the amount of drugs in a person’s possession, rather
than their role in any drug sale. In other words, drug couriers, rather than
those organizing the sales, pay the harshest price. And more than a third of
drug offenders currently behind bars were convicted not for selling drugs,
but for possession. The drug laws are also blatantly racist. Just over half
of drug offenders imprisoned in New York today are African American, and 42
percent are Latino.
Protests of the Rockefeller laws have been on the rise, especially over
the past decade. Former prisoners themselves have often taken the lead, for
example, forming Mothers of the New York Disappeared to unite the families
of those thrown in prison.
This activism is what forced the politicians--Republicans and Democrats
alike--to take up the issue of reforming the Rockefeller laws.
Elaine Bartlett, a victim of the drug laws whose story was told in the
recent book Life on the Outside, said the new law was a small step in
the right direction. “[T]his is the beginning of breaking a cycle that will
spare my community and other families my pain,” she told New York
Newsday.
Russell Simmons, the music producer who has campaigned against the
Rockefeller laws, was even more positive. “Do I believe that there is more
room?” Simmons said in an interview with the New York Times.
“Yes is the answer. I think the people who fought--the kids who came out,
the artists who worked hard--I think they will embrace it. It shows their
power--that they have a political might that can be used to benefit the
state and the country.”
But other voices were critical. Robert Gangi, executive director of the
Correctional Association of New York, fears that the legislation could
undercut momentum for more far-reaching changes. “[T]he most serious
provision of the drug laws [now] carries a sentence of eight to 20
years--still far too long,” Gangi wrote in an op-ed article in Newsday.
“Many other drug offenders, most of whom have no history of violent or
predatory behavior, will still be incarcerated for inordinate periods of
time, and New York’s taxpayers will still foot the bill.”
Anthony Papa, the author of a new book about how he was ensnared by the
Rockefeller laws, spending 12 years behind bars, said activists have more
work ahead of them after this new law. “It was a sellout to quiet the rage
that activists have felt for many years about this issue,” Papa told
Socialist Worker. “I urge those who have been in the trenches fighting
for true reform to keep up the pressure, and fight to change the power
structure of the Rockefeller Drug Laws.” |
FLASH!!! December 15,
2004 Russell Simmons Wrong Again?
http://www.allhiphop.com/editorial/?ID=239
The views
expressed inside this editorial aren’t necessarily the views of AllHipHop.com or
its employees.
The Rockefeller Drug Reform Sham
Rosa Clemente
"We should be
ashamed of ourselves," he said. "Rockefeller drug reform - ha! - I don't think
so." State Sen. Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan)
While many are
praising the recent reform of the Rockefeller drug laws, many more are not.
Although the reform bill will reduce the most severe
mandatory sentences for drug offenses, according to data from the New York State
Department of Correctional Services, the reform change will
affect only 446 prisoners, 15,600 felons imprisoned under the drug law will
remain imprisoned.
Even with the
proposed revisions, New York still has the harshest drug-sentencing laws in the
country. According to Donna Lieberman executive director of the New York Civil
Liberties, "Absent structural changes to the Rockefeller Drug Laws - which
requires restoring to judges the authority to order treatment as an alternative
to sentencing - we will not have meaningful reform." According to the NYCLU the
new law will leave in place sentencing procedures that give prosecutors
authority to charge and sentence.
Judges have no
discretion over sentencing. Prosecutors can demand a sentence of ten years for
an addict with no criminal record who is induced by a dealer to deliver four
ounces of a drug to a buyer. A judge who believes justice -- and the public
interest -- would be best served by ordering the defendant to treatment rather
than prison is prevented from doing so and if the judge did have discretion to
send the person to drug treatment and nowhere in the reform bill is there
funding for drug treatment programs. The new law will also do little or nothing
to reform the harsh sentences imposed on "B" felons, those charged with lesser
drug offenses, the NYCLU said.
For example, an individual who is caught with a gram of a controlled substance,
but has a prior offense still faces 3 _ to 12 years in prison. The majority of
drug offenders serving time in New York prisons are non-violent B felons. So
once again the Hip Hop community, who are the overwhelming victims of these drug
laws, have been hoodwinked.
"It's because of the artists. There's no way that it would have happened without
the help of Jay-Z and Puffy and all the people who contributed,"
Simmons told AllHipHop.com. "All those people really worked hard, they pushed,
and it's really the power of hip-hop that made that happen.
People came out, it was a big deal."
Unfortunately,
once again Russell Simmons is wrong, misinformed and his praise of this reform
bill has me questioning the relevance of him and his organization. I know that
by even critiquing the so called "Hip Hop leader" that I open myself to attacks,
some folks will say I am player hating, but what can I do, I am a true Hip
Hopper, I try to be a voice for the voiceless and ultimately I am more concerned
about the impact of this sham and the 15,600 majority Black and Brown folks that
will continue to sit in upstate prisons.
As someone who
has been part of the campaign to repeal these laws, repeal not reform, I along
with many activists are not at all happy with this compromise reform bill. Once
again, our elected officials, those that are supposed to serve the interest of
the people, have pulled the wool over our eyes, and just at the right time.
November 2005 is a huge election year in New York, what a perfect way to appease
the electorate. Governor Pataki and other elected officials are up for
reelection in 2005, we should remember this betrayal when we go to the election
booths. The Governor and his Republican and Democratic cohorts knew they had to
do something, and so they did nothing.
For over twenty years, activists like Randy Credico, Anthony Pappa, and Elaine
Bartlett have fought tirelessly to repeal these laws. Randy
director of the Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice and an organizer of the group
Mothers of the New York Disappeared said in The New York Times
that he is faced with calling many of the group's members, he said, and tell
them their children "are not coming home."
In the last five
years the Drop the Rock, a coalition spearheaded by Robert Ganagi and the
Correctional Association of New York and composed of young community activists,
veteran criminal justice reformers, artists, students, former inmates,
politicians, and religious, civic, and labor leaders have also worked hard to
repeal these draconian laws. What happened in Albany 48 hours ago was a
de-service to all the people who dedicated themselves to this movement.
So it's now time
to dust ourselves off and dig into the trenches. We should no longer as a
community be satisfied, with answers that leave more questions. Amilcar Cabral,
leader of the Guinea-Bissau liberation struggle once stated, "Tell no lies,
expose lies wherever they are told, mask no difficulties, mistakes nor failures,
claim no easy victories." We cannot claim victories that are not real, when
Russell stated in the New York times "I am very, very happy" we must ask the
question what is he happy about. It is time Hip Hop start speaking truth to
power, loudly and clearly, whether we speak loudly to a Governor or a "Hip Hop
mogul" the point is that we speak truth, anything less would be a disservice to
Hip Hop culture and to the 15,600 brothers and sisters that will stay behind the
walls.
Rosa Clemente is
a Hip-Hop activist, a journalist with WBAI Radio in New York City and a member
of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement. She can be reached at
Knowthyself@mac.com
Below find my letter to the
editor in response to an Op-Ed written by Bob (Dial a Quote) Gangi
responding to the watered down reform outlined in a press release below by the
governors office released on December 15th
December 12, 2004
NewsDay
Letters to the Editor (City Edition)
Regarding "Drug laws are
still too harsh" [Opinion, Dec. 9]: I agree with writer Robert Gangi. We fought
too hard for too long to wind up with the watered down reform that will be
signed into law by Gov. George Pataki.
I speak from a personal point of reference, as someone who has been in the
trenches fighting for meaningful reform from the outside and the inside. Unlike
Gangi, I served time under these laws. I have to say that one must really take
under consideration the human costs involved.
For the estimated 400 prisoners who already have served lengthy sentences and
will be released, I applaud the governor and the state Legislature. Taking these
first steps in seeking true reform is a start. But let's continue to fight for
change and to keep up the pressure to seek the additional changes that Gangi
suggests.
Anthony Papa
Editor's note: The writer is author of "15 to Life: How I Painted My Way To
Freedom."
Long Island City
DOING TIME
Drug laws are still too harsh
Real reform remains elusive as prosecutors still
have the power to stack the decks against the small fry
BY ROBERT GANGI
Robert Gangi is the executive director of the Correctional
Association of New York.
December 9, 2004
Despite the fanfare, the Rockefeller Drug Law modifications approved this week
in Albany do not amount to real reform. The amendments reduce sentences for
drug offenses but leave intact the harshest aspects of these statutes and
don't address the most serious problems caused by these laws.
The mandatory sentencing provisions remain on the books, meaning that judges
still cannot consider significant mitigating factors - such as an individual's
role in the drug transaction or history of addiction - and fashion appropriate
penalties to suit the offenses before them. Mandatory sentencing schemes like
the Rockefeller Drug Laws do not eliminate discretion; they remove it from the
judge's hands and place it in the prosecutor's offices. Under the new system -
as under the old one - the district attorneys will maintain power to control
the outcome of drug cases, and the old imbalance associated with the drug laws
will persist. The deck will still be stacked.
Prison terms, especially for the highest categories of drug offenses, remain
excessive. For example, under the new system, instead of 15 years to life, the
most serious provision of the drug laws carries a sentence of eight to 20
years - still far too long.
Many other drug offenders, most of whom have no history of violent or
predatory behavior, will still be incarcerated for inordinate periods of time,
and New York's taxpayers will still foot the bill. It costs the state hundreds
of millions of dollars annually to lock up people convicted of minor drug
crimes.
The main criterion for guilt remains the amount of drugs in a person's
possession, not the person's actual role in the drug transaction. Drug
kingpins are rarely foolish enough to carry narcotics; they employ other
people, often in dire economic circumstances, who agree to do it. Couriers are
the ones who get caught literally holding the bag and face long prison
sentences. As a main weapon in the "war on drugs," this statute will continue
to result in law enforcement agencies concentrating on minor offenders -
mainly from poor communities of color - who are most easily arrested,
prosecuted and penalized, rather than on middle- and high-level criminals who
are the drug trade's true masterminds.
Another problem is that the legislature did not include any additional
resources for drug treatment and other alternatives to incarceration. Drug
treatment is a well-documented success. Fully funded rehabilitation programs
not only cost less than imprisonment, they are also much more effective in
helping individuals recover from addiction and in reducing the crime
associated with the drug trade.
The prevailing wisdom is that Albany was finally willing to move on this issue
because of political considerations: an insurgent candidate who ran on a
platform promoting drug-law repeal recently defeated the sitting district
attorney in Albany County, representing the first time any elected official
has been voted from office because of his support for the drug laws. The
Republicans in the State Senate - often seen, fairly or not, as obstacles to
meaningful change - lost three seats in November, with another hanging in the
balance. All observers assume, rightly or wrongly, that New York's next
governor will be the progressive Democrat Eliot Spitzer, who will most
probably be a strong proponent of real reform. Republican Senate Majority
Leader Joseph Bruno likely saw an advantage in supporting this measure: He
could at least claim that he and his colleagues took some action.
So, the concerns here are not only substantive; they are also political. If
this legislation turns out to be the first small step on the path toward
meaningful reform, then it will have been a positive measure. If, in fact,
these modifications wind up undercutting the momentum for real change that has
been building, then it will be viewed mostly in a negative light. The final
history on this issue has yet to be written, and all of us will help shape the
ultimate outcome.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 15, 2004
GOVERNOR SIGNS LAW TO REFORM ROCKEFELLER
DRUG LAWS
New Reform Dramatically Reduces Sentences and Provides Retroactive Relief
for Eligible, Non-Violent Drug Felons; Provides New Drug Law Sentencing
Structure; Offers Treatment as Sentencing Option
Governor George E. Pataki today was joined by Senate Majority Leader Joseph
Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to sign legislation reforming the
Rockefeller Drug Laws, and restructuring portions of the law that were widely
agreed to be too harsh. The new law will eliminate indeterminate sentences and
create a determinate sentencing structure for drug offenders; offer
re-sentencing for eligible non-violent A-I drug offenders in prison; increase
the weight thresholds for the most severe possession crimes; and allow earlier
release for those offenders in prison committed to treatment and recovery.
"For more than four years, I have made reforming the Rockefeller Drug Laws a
top priority, and I am proud that together, we've enacted meaningful reform that
is both just and balanced," said Governor Pataki. "Not only does this new law
reform the sentencing structure for drug offenders, but it provides
opportunities of relief for all non-violent offenders sentenced under the
previous law.
"Hundreds of non-violent offenders serving unduly long sentences will have an
opportunity to be immediately reunited with their families. With the signing of
this law today, these offenders will be given another chance to lead a
productive life free of drugs and crime," the Governor said.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said, "This law achieves a
long-standing goal to reform the state's outdated Rockefeller Drug Laws by
addressing first-time, nonviolent drug offenders who have received unfairly
lengthy prison sentences under the old laws. I've advocated for clemency for
victims of these laws, I've met with their families and discussed the issue with
advocates. In our minds and the minds of the public, it's time to change these
laws to reflect advances in drug treatment and other alternatives that can do
more for nonviolent, low-level drug offenders than simply throwing them in
prison for decades and I applaud Governor Pataki for signing this measure into
law."
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, "For more than five years, the Assembly
has led the way in the fight for meaningful drug law reforms, including
sentencing modifications, greater judicial discretion and more treatment options
for addicted offenders. The Assembly Majority recognizes that this measure will
provide appropriate sentencing reductions for thousands of non-violent
offenders. While this agreement is an important step in the right direction, it
is not the complete and comprehensive solution we had sought and will continue
to seek in the next legislative session."
Senator Dale M. Volker said, "Governor Pataki made it a priority to bring a
fair, reasonable and sensible approach to our state's sentencing guidelines for
drug offenses. His message was heard by both the State Assembly and State
Senate, which culminated in a bill that is fair for those incarcerated under the
most severe sentences under the Rockefeller drug laws, addresses the needs for
those who may come in contact with the criminal justice system due to
drug-related circumstances, and gives the judiciary a say in future sentences
for those convicted of drug crimes. In the end, this new law will still
appropriately protect law-abiding New Yorkers who want their communities free
from those who prey upon our children, our loved ones, and our communities."
Assembly Corrections Committee Chair Jeffrion Aubry said, "This agreement
will provide hope to hundreds of incarcerated drug offenders who will now be
able to seek judicial resentencing in accordance with the sentencing changes
called for under this legislation and also allow thousands of additional
currently incarcerated offenders to earn additional time off their sentences by
using their prison time productively. While I firmly believe that full judicial
discretion and treatment as an alternative to prison would be the best option,
for right now this is substantial progress."
The cornerstones of the reform package include: replacing the indeterminate
sentencing structure for class A-I drug offenders from indeterminate sentences
of 15 to 25 years to life with determinate sentences ranging from 8 to 20 years;
doubling, from 4 ounces to 8 ounces, the threshold possession weights required
for an A-I drug felony conviction, and from 2 ounces to 4 ounces for an A-II
drug felony conviction; allowing class A-I drug offenders currently in prison to
immediately petition for re-sentencing; and reducing the prison time an offender
is required to serve before becoming eligible for drug treatment programs and
possible release. These reforms will complement the legislation Governor Pataki
signed last year, which permitted merit time credit for those serving a sentence
for an A-I drug felony under the law.
Chauncey G. Parker, New York State Director of Criminal Justice said, "This
legislation eliminates the one-size-fits-all approach to drug sentencing and
allows the punishment to truly fit the crime. This new law offers significant
relief to those eligible, non-violent offenders who are serving the longest
sentences, while creating more opportunities for those convicted of a
non-violent drug felony to receive treatment and recovery, so they can lead
productive lives and positively contribute to their communities. Thanks to
Governor Pataki's leadership, this new law will make a difference in the lives
of those who were affected by the harsh provisions of the Rockefeller Drug
Laws."
Highlights of the bill include:
DRAMATIC SENTENCE REDUCTIONS FOR NON-VIOLENT DRUG OFFENDERS Shorter Minimum
Sentences - Nearly 80% of drug offenders sentenced to prison annually could be
eligible for a shorter sentence. - Class A-I, first-time drug offenders could
receive a nearly 50% reduction in minimum sentences, from 15 years to 8 years. -
All other non-violent drug offenders could be eligible for earlier release, as
well. Doubling of Weights for Possession - The threshold weights will double for
class A-I and A-II drug possession offenses.
RETROACTIVE RELIEF FOR VIRTUALLY ALL NON-VIOLENT DRUG FELONS Relief for Class
A-I Drug Felons - All class A-I drug offenders could apply for re-sentencing.
All drug offenders serving life sentences for Class A-I drug convictions are
eligible to apply for re-sentencing under the new laws. Relief for all other
Non-Violent Offenders - All other drug offenders under custody (class A-II and
below) who have not reached their minimum sentences could be eligible for an
additional merit time reduction of 1/6 off their minimum sentences.
Of the approximately 14,000 drug offenders currently in custody for a felony
drug conviction, 446 are class A-I drug felons, serving life sentences with
minimum terms of 15 years or more. The remaining drug offenders in prison serve,
on average, 2.6 years in prison. The new legislation would reduce the lengthy
minimum sentences for class A-I felons, while also shortening sentences for all
other non-violent felons.
Governor Pataki first called for reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws more
than four years ago, making him the first governor to propose and enact
comprehensive reform since the laws were signed in 1973.
Sentencing Law Comparison Chart
First Felony Conviction
Old Law New Law A-I Min.15 - Life, Max. 25 - Life 8 - 20 Determinate A-II
Min. 3 - Life, Max. 8 1/3 - Life 3 - 10 Determinate B Min. 1-3, Max. 8 1/3 - 25
1 - 9 Determinate C Min. 1-3, Max. 5 -15 1 - 5 Ŋ Determinate D Min. 1-3, Max. 2
1/3 - 7 1 - 2 Ŋ Determinate E Min. 1-3, Max. 1 1/3 - 4 1 - 1 Ŋ Determinate
Second Felony Conviction w/o VFO Old Law New Law A-I Min. 15 - Life, Max. 25 -
Life 12 - 24 Determinate A-II Min. 6 - Life, Max. 12 Ŋ - Life 6 - 14 Determinate
B Min. 4 Ŋ - 9, Max. 12 Ŋ - 25 3 Ŋ - 12 Determinate C Min. 3 - 6, Max. 7 1/2 -
15 2 - 8 Determinate D Min. 2 - 4, Max. 3 Ŋ - 7 1 Ŋ - 4 Determinate E Min. 1 Ŋ
-3, Max. 2 -4 1 Ŋ - 2 Determinate
Second Felony Conviction w/VFO Old Law New Law A-I Min. 15 - Life, Max. 25 -
Life 15-30 Determinate A-II Min. 6 - Life, Max. 12 Ŋ - Life 8-17 Determinate B
Min. 4 Ŋ - 9, Max. 12 Ŋ - 25 6-15 Determinate C Min. 3 - 6, Max. 7 Ŋ - 15 3 Ŋ -
9 Determinate D Min. 2 -4, Max. 3 Ŋ - 7 2 Ŋ - 4 Ŋ Determinate E Min. 1 Ŋ -3,
Max. 2 -4 2 - 2 Ŋ Determinate
FLASH!!!! 12/10/04
New York Legislators Cut
Some Rockefeller Sentences, But Real Reform Remains Elusive
12/10/04
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/366 /asmallstart.shtml
After years of inaction, the
New York state Rockefeller drug law reform logjam broke this week. In a
last minute move on the legislative session's last day, both the state
Assembly and Senate passed a compromise bill that would reduce sentences
for some Empire State drug offenders. But drug reformers and their
allies are less than satisfied because the sentencing bill failed to
address what they have identified as key concerns: the return of
judicial discretion in sentencing and a means of diverting drug
offenders from prison into treatment.
Under the Rockefeller laws
passed in the early 1970s, more than one hundred thousand New Yorkers
have been imprisoned on drug charges, many with draconian
15-year-to-life sentences. The Rockefellers laws created a harsh
mandatory minimum sentencing template which has since spread across the
country, contributing to the immense number of people imprisoned in the
United States.
The bill was the result of
behind-the-scenes negotiations between Republican Gov. George Pataki,
Republican Senate leaders, Democratic Assembly leaders, and drug
reformers working with Real Reform 2004 (http://www.realreform2004.org),
an umbrella coalition of more than 300 groups, said Michael Blain,
director of public policy for the Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org),
a key Real Reform organizer. "The deal came down because we did a deal
for the sentencing grid in exchange for not adding any enhancements,
which was a key element for us," he told DRCNet. "Governor Pataki tried
to weigh in at the end and introduce a three-strikes amendment, which
would sent a third-time drug possession offender to prison for life
without parole. We walked out of the room at that point. The next
morning they came back and said they would take that off the table."
But also off the table for
this deal were any measures to restore judicial discretion or allow
diversion to treatment, both of which were bitterly opposed by the
state's powerful prosecutors. Under the current system, prosecutors --
not judges -- wield real power when it comes to sentencing because with
mandatory sentencing schemes like the Rockefeller laws, the sentence is
essentially set when the defendant is charged, assuming a jury votes to
convict or the defendant agrees to a plea bargain.
Still, the bill passed in
Albany and expected to be signed by Gov. Pataki this week will bring
relief to thousands of people imprisoned or who will be imprisoned under
New York's drug laws. The bill both reduces sentences for some drug
offenders and increases the quantity thresholds required to kick in
tougher sentences. Under the Rockefeller laws, Class A-1 felons faced
15-to-life; now they will face 8-to-20. Weight thresholds for heroin,
cocaine, and other hard drugs have doubled from four ounces to eight
ounces to trigger a Class A-1 charge and two ounces to four ounces to
trigger a Class A-II charge.
The bill also provides for
persons currently serving the longest sentences to ask for court
hearings to seek sentence reductions in line with the new sentences.
That means some people will actually walk out of prison early. But it
also means thousands of lesser Class B offenders will not.
People involved in the
Rockefeller reform effort had uniformly mixed feelings. "We believe that
it is half a step in the right direction," said DPA's Blain, who was
involved in the negotiations. "It is a phase I victory for real reform
of the Rockefeller laws, which must include judicial discretion, full
retroactivity, and drug treatment. While this is a first victory, it
only addressed sentence reduction."
Tony Papa spent years doing
Rockefeller time before he parlayed his newly-discovered artistic
ability into a publicity campaign that eventually won him clemency and
freedom. "I am jubilant that some change will occur freeing some
prisoners who served lengthy sentences and reuniting them with their
families," he told DRCNet. "But the changes are watered down reform and
the struggle to change the power structure of the Rockefeller laws must
continue. We have to give back to judges the discretion to arrive at a
fair and balanced determination of drug sentences."
In a statement titled "False
Drug War Victory in NYS," written from Brazil," Papa discussed the
legislation in greater depth. "I thought this was not another 'selling
of a dream' by the governor and the NYS legislature..." he wrote, but
"As I continued to check the news I was appalled by what I saw." Papa
quoted a statement by former federal housing secretary Andrew Cuomo,
published in the 12/9 Newsday, saying Cuomo "had it right" when he said
it is too late for legislators in Albany to use this week's
'half-a-loaf' reform bill as political cover. 'This is their attempt to
alleviate the pressure. It's not going to work. The pressure is for
Rockefeller reform and that's not what this is. This is not judicial
(sentencing) discretion. This is not significantly reducing the
burdensome length of punishment... This is simply not what we've been
working for all these years.'"
Along with Papa, Randy Credico
of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice (http://www.kunstler.org)
has spent years working the trenches for Rockefeller Reform through
groups like the New York Mothers of the Disappeared. "I'm happy for some
people," he told DRCNet, "but when the dust settles, people will realize
how bad a deal this was. We spent seven years and millions of dollars
trying to build a pyramid and we ended up with a barn."
One downside to the bill is
that it could reduce the pressure to obtain real reform, Credico
worried. "This will take the air out of the push to repeal the
Rockefeller laws," he said. "People will say this is the best we can do.
But the people in Real Reform 2004 owe it to the people in prison to
redouble their efforts, to organize and mobilize and spend money at the
same rate they did last year."
Still, Credico conceded, given
political reality, some sentence cuts were perhaps all that could be
expected. "The fact is, a conservative governor and a conservative
senator have acted, and I don't know what else you could get out of
them." That's because the popular mobilization against the Rockefeller
laws has not been massive enough, he said. "You need the asses of the
masses on the street. A half-million anti-war protestors may not have
been enough to get the attention of Washington, but a couple hundred
thousand people in the street for Rockefeller repeal could get the
attention of Albany."
Real Reform will be back
fighting for real reform, said DPA's Blain. "We are building the
political will for more reform," he said. "We've replaced three senators
and one district attorney over this issue. Elected officials will begin
to take notice, and now we have people thinking about drug policies."
Asked if Real Reform would be back at it next year, Blain replied:
"We're back at it already."
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FLASH!!!
DECEMBER 10, 2004 THE ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS ARE ABOUT TO FALL
BUT THERE IS GREAT DEBATE ON
THE PROPOSED CHANGES - ARE THEY ENOUGH!
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The Legislature softens the
Rockefeller Drug Laws, but more needs to be done
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First published:
Thursday, December 9, 2004
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It's wrong to apply the reform label to Tuesday's agreement between the
Assembly and Senate on softening the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws. The
more accurate description is partial reform. Partial -- as in the need for
the Legislature to continue to address the issue next year.
Yet it would also be wrong to dismiss Tuesday's agreement as mere window
dressing. "Don't minimize it, please, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno,
R-Brunswick, pleaded Tuesday. And he's right. Some major changes -- welcome
changes -- were made to statutes that have ruined the lives of many
first-time, non-violent offenders even as drug kingpins continue to roam
free.
The changes include an end to life sentences for some offenders and reduced
penalties for others. Other sentences are likely to be reduced under appeal,
while repeat violent offenders will face longer prison time. It's estimated
that some 400 inmates now serving long sentences could go free under the
partial reform.
To qualify as genuine reform, however, the agreement would have had to
include a return to judicial discretion in sentencing, replacing the
mandatory minimums that now tie judges' hands even in cases where a
miscarriage of justice is evident. And genuine reform would have also
provided the option of treatment rather than jail for addicted drug
offenders, as well as added funds to expand those treatment programs.
These are serious shortcomings, to be sure. But what was agreed upon was not
exactly minimal progress, either. That is likely why some champions of
Rockefeller Drug Law reform, especially Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry,
D-Queens, and newly elected Albany County District Attorney David Soares,
hailed the agreement Tuesday. But neither is fully satisfied with it,
either. They recognize that more must be done.
Mr. Aubry is being a realist when he describes Tuesday's agreement as an
opportunity to move forward, but only that. The issue of genuine reform
remains very much alive, he warns, and the issue "still plays in Senate
races" and district attorney races. "The public," Mr. Aubry correctly notes,
"still believes that reform and judicial discretion is important."
Fortunately, that message seems to have gotten through to Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, and Sen. Bruno, who conceded Tuesday that
despite the agreement more must be done on drug law reform.
As it happens, Senate Minority Leader David Paterson, D-Harlem, will give
the leaders just such an opportunity to do more as he pledges to push for
additional reform measures as soon as the Legislature returns in January.
"What we're going to fight for is that the issue stays alive," Sen. Paterson
vows. "It is my belief that our capacity to influence the situation is
greater than before." The sooner that capacity is used to its maximum, the
better.
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=312671&category=OPINION&BCCode=&newsdate=12/9/2004#
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Drug-law
reform stings some
By Juan Gonzalez
Dec. 9, 2004
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Flora
King
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Norma Arenas, 77, and Flora
King, 78, have waited anxiously for this
moment
for years.
Each woman has a son serving a
draconian sentence for a conviction under the infamous
Rockefeller drug laws.
State lawmakers finally
responded this week to the growing public outcry over the
Rockefeller laws by scaling down the harshest mandatory
sentences - but they stopped short of a wholesale repeal.
As a result, one woman's son
could be released from prison soon, while the other will
remain locked up for many years to come.
Arenas was
ecstatic yesterday that her son, Miguel, will now be
eligible for a sharp reduction of his 15-to-life sentence.
An Air Force veteran and
former manager of train repairs at the railroad yards in
Jamaica, Queens, her son was busted in 1992 for being part
of a cocaine-selling operation among the yard's employees.
It was his first arrest, but under the Rockefeller laws the
sentence was automatic.
Norma Arenas lives alone in
the
Bronx.
She is a diabetic and disabled from a stroke. In the late
1990s, she joined a group of inmates' mothers who lobbied
with the William Kunstler Fund
for repeal of the Rockefeller laws.
"I won't believe it until the
governor signs the bill," Arenas said yesterday.
The new law would lower the
toughest mandatory sentences for an A felony to eight to 20
years, and would allow the resentencing
of 400 inmates.
But Flora King's son, Darius,
will not be so lucky.
He was convicted in 1998 of a
B felony for sale of a small amount of cocaine. Because he
had a previous conviction for attempted possession of a
weapon, his mandatory sentence under the Rockefeller laws
was 11 to 22 years.
Under this week's reforms,
mandatory sentences are also reduced for a B felony, but
they are not retroactive.
At best, King could be
eligible for a few extra months off for good behavior, but
he'll most likely stay in prison until 2008.
Like so many mothers with sons
behind bars, Flora King, who lives in
Queens
and who suffers from asthma and arthritis, has been left to
raise her son's two teenage daughters.
"For me, it's been hell," she
said yesterday.
Her own husband died shortly
after Darius was locked up, and two years ago her son's
elder daughter, Gwendolyn, was paralyzed in a car accident.
"It costs $50 for the bus trip
to Auburn Prison," she said. "I'm on fixed income and don't
have the money to make many trips."
Hers is a familiar story for
the relatives of 17,000 state inmates with drug convictions,
most of them black and Hispanic.
For more than 30 years our
lawmakers have known only one remedy for drug addiction or
nonviolent drug sales: Lock everybody up for as long as
possible.
Gov. Pataki and Republican
Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno finally came to their
senses this week. For years, they have talked about drug law
reform but done nothing.
The Republicans in
Albany
were jolted into action by a growing movement for prison
reform and by the victory last month of Democrat David
Soares, who ran for district
attorney in the state capital on a platform of drug-law
reform.
They were jolted, too, by
billionaire George Soros, who
began this year to generously fund the campaigns of
Democrats running for the state Senate.
Thanks in part to
Soros, Bruno's Republicans lost
three Senate seats last month. It could be four when the
recount of Andrew Spano's race
in
Westchester
is done.
Bruno and Pataki saw how the
wind was blowing on the drug laws. They acted before the
wind turned into a storm. We should be thankful they acted
at all.
But they didn't have the
courage for full repeal of the Rockefeller laws. They
rejected calls for new money for drug treatment programs.
They refused to give back to judges some discretion in
sentencing. They refused to offer help for the lesser-known
cases like those of Darius King.
Up in
Albany
they call that a compromise. For a mother in
Queens,
it means her son won't be coming home any time soon.
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Tentative deal on easing some mandatory drug
sentences
By JOEL STASHENKO
Associated Press Writer
December 7, 2004, 2:42 PM EST
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Negotiators reached a tentative deal Tuesday to ease
some of the harshest mandatory prison sentences under the state drug
statutes that carry former Gov. Nelson Rockefeller's name. The
Legislature wanted to approve the agreement as early as Tuesday
afternoon.
Among the reforms would be to change the current 15-years-to-life
maximum sentence under the harshest of the drug statutes to a
determinate sentence of eight years. That would make offenders
eligible for release in less than seven years.
The proposal would also eliminate the maximum term of life for the
most serious offenses. The common sentence of three years to life
for many offenders would become a determinate sentence of three
years, making offenders eligible for release in just over 2{ years.
The roughly 400 inmates serving time under the harshest Rockefeller
drug sentences _ either 15-years-to-life or 25-years-to-life _ would
be allowed to ask their sentencing courts to reduce their prison
time in line with the new sentencing guidelines.
The agreement would also make nonviolent drug offenders eligible
sooner for treatment programs and double the amounts, by weight, of
heroin and other controlled substances that defendants have to be
caught with to qualify for the harshest of charges against
defendants.
Two longtime goals of drug law reformers _ giving near-total
sentencing discretion to judges and allowing some offenders to avoid
prison entirely in favor of treatment _ are not included in the
agreement.
"We believe this is half a step in the right direction," said
Michael Blain, director of public policy for the Drug Policy
Alliance. "We believe that given some current changes in the
political climate in Albany, people are beginning to rethink bad
drug policy."
State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said his Republican
members would discuss the agreement among themselves Tuesday and
that they expected to bring it to the floor for an immediate vote if
they get the needed "message of necessity" from Gov. George Pataki.
Pataki's office was involved in the negotiations on the measure.
Majority Republicans in the Senate have resisted sweeping changes to
the drug statutes, especially ones that would weaken the role of
district attorneys in determining which drug offenders should be
given treatment.
Critics of the mandatory drug laws say they've caused too many
low-level offenders and addicts to spend too much time in state
prison. They also say minority offenders are disproportionately sent
to prison under the statutes.
Rockefeller, a Republican, pushed for the maximum-life sentences and
other harsh punishments for drug offenders during an era when inner
cities in the state were being inundated by heroin addiction.
Conservative legislators also complained at the time that liberal
judges, primarily in New York City, were letting serious drug
offenders off with light sentences.
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FLASH! DECEMBER 6, 2004 NYC D.A. TEAMS UP WITH CO-FOUNDER OF THE
MOTHERS OF THE NY DISAPPEARED
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Odd pair agree on drug laws
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First published: Monday, December 6, 2004
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| As far as strange political bedfellows
go, this pairing might take the cake.Randy Credico, a longtime advocate for
reform of the strict Rockefeller Drug Laws, will appear today at a news
conference in New York City with Manhattan District Attorney Robert
Morgenthau.
Credico said he is advising the 85-year-old DA on drug law reform as he
prepares to seek his ninth term in 2005, adding that Morgenthau will call
for lawmakers to act on reform while they're in Albany this week.
Assembly and Senate staffers trying to negotiate a drug law reform bill
this weekend came up empty as of Sunday afternoon but were said to still
be talking.
Morgenthau was mum on the issue for years, but went pro-reform last
spring after he met with members of The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo from
Argentina, on whom Credico modeled his reform group, Mothers of the New
York Disappeared.
Morgenthau's critics say his change of heart is politically driven by
his desire to win another term, and the fact that his opponent and former
assistant, Leslie Crocker Snyder, has publicly supported reform.
Credico says Snyder's reform talk is also politically motivated, noting
that the former Manhattan-based state Supreme Court justice doled out many
long sentences to drug offenders.
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FLASH! NOVEMBER 3, 2004 DAVID SOARES WINS ALBANY D.A.
RACE!
Soares wins Albany DA race
Albany Times Union, NY - 7
hours ago
... The race turned hard-fought in the final weeks, with
both Clyne and Cusick criticizing Soares' desire to repeal the Rockefeller
Drug Laws, saying the plan was ...
Flash! October 29th 2004 R.I.P - D.A. Paul Clyne's political career
is dead!!!
Clyne's exit creates 2-way race
Albany Times Union, NY - 1
hour ago
... Clyne said Soares' call for reform of harsh
Rockefeller
Drug Laws was just a mask for drug legalization. "He is a
snake-oil salesman," Clyne said.
Real Rockefeller Reform Wins Again
October 29, 2004
Albany District Attorney Paul Clyne, a noted drug warrior and backer
of the state's harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws, has dropped out of the race
to retain his seat. Clyne, a lifelong Democrat running on the
Independence Party ticket, quit the race this morning, after many
prominent New York politicians called on him to do so. One of those
politicians was challenger David Soares – who has made real
reform of New York state’s Rockefeller Drug Laws a focal point of
his campaign.
The Albany County DA may be the most important prosecutor in the
state, because the office has jurisdiction over the state legislature.
Some district attorneys have also been a significant obstacle in trying
to reform the Rockefeller laws.
The defeated Clyne, who was trailing badly in polls, has become the
first candidate anywhere in the country to be ousted from office for
opposing drug-policy reform (with the possible exception of a candidate
in marijuana-friendly Mendocino County in California). As he quit, Clyne
endorsed the Republican candidate, Roger Cusick, a law professor with no
experience as a prosecutor who has moderated his stance on the
Rockefeller Drug Laws since entering the DA race.
Soares, a former Clyne assistant, has overcome the opposition of
Albany's political establishment and his opponents' maneuvering to
become the frontrunner in the now two-way DA race. Recent polls had
placed Soares, who recently picked up the endorsement of New York
Attorney General Elliot Spitzer and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck
Schumer, well ahead of both opponents.
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Flash! October 1, 2004 DRCNET INTERVIEW: ARTIST, ACTIVIST, FORMER
ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAW PRISONER ANTHONY PAPA
Anthony Papa was just another clueless young man, raising a family
and scrabbling to make ends meet when an offer of quick cash ended
up landing him in Sing Sing prison doing a 15-to-life sentence for
carrying a package of dope into Westchester County. In prison he
found art, and art won him his freedom. Now he is a prominent
activist in the campaign to repeal the Rockefeller drug laws and
related efforts.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/356/tony.shtml
Flash!
September 29, 2004 (SOON TO BE
FORMER) ALBANY D.A. PAUL CLYNE CRIES FOWL PLAY IN HIS DEFEAT! A TYPICAL RESPONSE
FROM A REAL LOSER
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Court decision lets Soares resume bid
Hearing set next week to address questions over contributions in DA race
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By
MICHELE
MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, September 29, 2004
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| ALBANY -- A state Supreme Court justice
lifted a temporary restraining order Tuesday that blocked David Soares, a
candidate for district attorney in Albany County, from campaigning or
spending any of his political war chest.
The decision by Justice Bernard Malone, which followed a 45-minute
closed-door conference with a dozen lawyers involved in the contentious
campaign, did not address the issue raised by Soares opponents that the
Democratic nominee accepted thousands of dollars in illegal campaign
contributions. Malone scheduled a hearing for Oct. 7. Republicans,
Independence and Conservative party members and supporters of incumbent
District Attorney Paul Clyne filed a lawsuit claiming Soares wrongly
received $50,118 from the Working Families Party.
The group also wanted the downstate Drug Policy Alliance Network --
which donated $76,000 to the WFP -- to be banned from further donations,
since they claimed it had exceeded the $5,000 cap on donations for
corporations. The alliance is opposed to the state's strict Rockefeller
Drug Laws, which Soares, 34, campaigned to repeal.
After the conference in Malone's chambers, Westchester Democratic
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, an attorney who is representing the WFP in
the matter, produced evidence he said proved that the alliance gave money
to the WFP through a political committee doing business as The Center For
Policy Reform. Jeff Buley, a lobbyist and lawyer who represents
Republicans, said he'd found no evidence the committee existed.
"Perhaps making a phone call might have helped," Brodsky remarked of
the information he said was readily available on the Internet. "But it was
never placed. Brodsky accused Republicans of filing a frivolous complaint
that tried to use the state court system to sink Soares' candidacy.
"We are now having an election law dispute," Brodsky said. "We could be
right. They could be right. That's up to the state Board of Elections.
What they did is unconstitutional, unjustifiable and illegal." Operatives
unfairly trampled on Soares' and the WFP's constitutional rights, he
added: "They showed up as their own political police force ... when they
had no right to enforce state election law. And they had no right to
muzzle the campaign of a duly designated candidate."
In his oral argument before Malone, Buley said he wanted Soares to be
required to repay the WFP, since it is clear the third-party group helped
him directly influence the Democratic primary: "They knew that without the
Democratic line it wouldn't be enough to win in November.But Brodsky said
the Republican offensive was simply meant to deprive Albany County
residents of the right to participate in a free political process.
"This is not Florida," Brodsky said. "It's not Iran. ... Does the
executive director of the Republican Party have a right to stall a
campaign? They showed up as their own political police force." As he left
the second-floor courtroom, Buley described the Center for Policy Reform
as a "rogue political committee." "It's important for a candidate to be
accountable for the way his campaign is financed," Buley said.
"Ultimately, the buck has to stop somewhere. And in my experience? It's
with the candidate." Soares said he was elated at the decision and
shrugged off Buley's implication he was somehow involved in the
controversial money flow.
"Today was a victory for democracy," Soares said outside his Central
Avenue campaign headquarters. "I'm not concerned about what Jeff Buley
said. I'm concerned about what the voters will say on Nov. 2." Soares, a
former assistant district attorney, stunned Clyne, the party's candidate,
in a bitterly fought primary Sept. 14. Top Democrats, including
Assemblyman Jack McEneny, state Sen. Neil Breslin, and Common Council
President Helen Desfosses then called for Clyne to step aside for Soares.
Clyne, who lost by a ratio of 2 to 1, will be on the Nov. 2 general
election ballot as the nominee of the Independence Party. The 44-year-old
insisted earlier this week he would not bow out for the sake of party
unity. Loudonville lawyer Roger Cusick, 54, has the backing of
Republicans and Conservatives.
Michele Morgan Bolton can be reached at 434-2403 or by e-mail at
mbolton@timesunion.com.
|
| |
Flash! September 15, 2004 : Albany DA defeated by Rockefeller Drug Law
Platform!
Clyne stunned in race for Albany County DA
Troy Record, NY - 11 hours
ago
... Soares mounted a spirited and costly campaign that
centered largely on reforming the controversial Rockefeller drug
laws that mandate harsh sentences for drug ...
Soares stuns DA Clyne Albany Times
Union
|
Soares stuns DA Clyne
Albany -- Rival's primary win against former boss sends shock waves
through Democratic leadership
|
| |
By
MICHELE
MORGAN BOLTON, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, September 15, 2004
|
| A young political newcomer delivered
a stunning upset to Albany's Democratic establishment Tuesday as
unofficial results showed that David Soares easily defeated incumbent Paul
Clyne for the nomination for district attorney.
With almost all precincts reporting, Soares had 14,030 votes to
Clyne's 8,684. If elected in November, Soares would be the first
African-American district attorney in Albany County.
|
Flash! September 12. 2004 : Albany DA Paul Clyne is ready to be defeated by
David Soares soley on the Rockefeller Drug Laws Issue!!!!
The race for DA
Albany Times Union, NY - 1
hour ago
... The race for district attorney had the potential to
attract statewide attention, as a referendum on the New York's Rockefeller
Drug Laws. ...
It's a shame. This is the most important election on Tuesday's ballot. The
race for district attorney had the potential to attract statewide attention, as
a referendum on the New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws. Despite his claims to the
contrary, Mr. Clyne resists any reform of those laws that is worthy of the name.
He goes so far as to suggest the Democrats in the state Assembly who do favor
reform actually want to see the laws stay on the books, if only to give them a
political cause to harp on year after year. The defeat of a county prosecutor
who defends the laws as Mr. Clyne does would send a powerful message,
particularly to the state Legislature that can't bring itself to change those
laws.
There's no question that Mr. Soares opposes those laws, and passionately so.
The problem is that he's not ready, at least not yet, to be the district
attorney, not after a career that consists primarily of nearly five years as an
assistant district attorney. If merely opposing the Rockefeller Drug Laws were
ample qualification to be district attorney, there would literally be tens of
thousands of prosecutors in waiting in Albany County.......
McEneny endorses David Soares Capital
News 9
Soares backers claim foul play Albany
Times Union
Council 82 endorses Clyne Capital News
9
all 7 related »
FLASH! August
18, 2004
Hip-Hop Summit Action Network Wins Victory for
Hip-Hop; State Supreme Court Judge Rules in Favor of HSAN and Declares Sections
of State Lobbying Laws Unconstitutional
ALBANY, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 2004--The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
claimed a major victory yesterday when State Supreme Court Justice Bernard
Malone ruled in favor of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Russell Simmons and
Dr. Benjamin Chavis, its Chairman and President, respectively, citing that
sections of the New York State Lobbying Laws are unconstitutional and don't give
those facing possible penalties the right to be heard. Malone ruled that two
sections of the Lobbying Act "violate the due process clauses of both the New
York state and the United States constitutions in failing to provide for notice
and a hearing prior to the commission determining whether a person or entity has
knowingly and willfully violated the Lobbying Act."
The ruling came as a result of an investigation by the New York State Commission
on Lobbying into the June 2003 rally by the HSAN to protest the unfairness of
the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Russell Simmons declared, "The fact is, we
should have the right to express our opinions about laws we deem unjust. I'm
happy about this ruling because, going forward, you won't have to be a
millionaire to say what's on your mind or stand up for your rights."
"The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is pleased that State Supreme Court
Justice Bernard Malone ruled in our favor by finding that sections of the New
York State Lobbying Law were in violation of our constitutional rights,"
emphasized Dr. Benjamin Chavis. "The right to due process and the right to
freedom of speech are very important, not only to the hip-hop community, but to
all Americans. We, however, restate our commitment to raise public awareness
about the unfairness of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, which are the most egregious
of the mandatory minimum sentencing laws in the nation. We will not be silenced
and, with today's ruling, we will step up our pace in raising awareness on this
issue. This is a significant victory for hip-hop."
Flash! 8/18/2004 NYS releases 75 year old greatgrandmother from
Rockefeller Drug Sentence! th
State's oldest drug con due out BY SEAN
GARDINER
Staff Writer Newsday
August 18, 2004
When Martha Weatherspoon walks out of prison today for the first time in 15
years, she'll need a cane to lean on.
At 75 years of age, Weatherspoon, a grandmother of 35 and great-grandmother to
more than 50, is believed to be the oldest woman incarcerated in New York
state's prison system.
Her age notwithstanding, opponents of the state's Rockefeller drug laws say
the septuagenarian is the poster-child for doing away with those laws. Born
into an Alabama farming family, Weatherspoon made her way north and eventually
settled in Syracuse. By the 1980s, the mother of five was eking out a living
picking vegetables and fruit on nearby farms when she fell off a ladder and
broke both her legs.
Daughter Alice Weatherspoon said her mother turned to the "easy, fast money"
available through the drug trade, which at the time was running rampant in
their apartment complex. On Dec. 12, 1988, Weatherspoon, then 60, was arrested
after buying eight ounces of cocaine from an undercover cop.
She turned down a plea deal that would have meant 3 to 6 years in prison,
according to Randy Credico, of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Radical
Justice, an anti-Rockefeller-law group that has championed Weatherspoon's
cause.
In 1989, Weatherspoon was convicted at trial. Under the Rockefeller drug laws,
enacted in 1973, the punishment for buying two or more ounces of narcotics was
made more severe than sentences for some murder and rape convictions.
Weatherspoon was sentenced to 20 years to life.
"The woman's been in there for almost 16 years," Credico said. "She's not Ma
Barker here. She did as much time as Joel Steinberg, more time than Robert
Chambers, and they were convicted of killing people. She did more time than
[Nazi war criminal] Albert Speer." Weatherspoon's attempts to be granted
clemency have fallen on deaf ears, despite the fact she's had a knee replaced
and a pacemaker inserted.
Three years ago, the state's Clemency Bureau, which advises the governor,
denied her bid, saying clemency is granted "only in the most compelling
circumstances." With time she has earned for good behavior, today is the first
day Weatherspoon is eligible for release.
"It made no sense; she wasn't a threat to anyone," Credico said. "Why would
the governor want to keep someone like this in prison?" After years of failed
attempts to secure their matriarch's release from the Bedford Hills
Correctional Facility, the family has decided to put aside any bitterness.
Weatherspoon has yet to meet many of her grandchildren and
great-grandchildren, so family members plan to drive to Syracuse today for a
family reunion, her daughters said. "We were bitter," Alice Weatherspoon, 53,
said. "But we can't change that, and we can't stay in the past. If you dwell
on the past, you can't concentrate on the future. We're going to enjoy the
time we have left with her here on this earth."
Martha Weatherspoon has told her family she already has plans for her second
day out of prison. "The thing she really wants to do is go fishing," Alice
Weatherspoon said. "She loves fishing, farming and gardening. That was her
life before."
Copyright © 2004,
Newsday, Inc.
Flash! August 10 : NY Daily News - Lets show the District
Attorneys what can happen to their jobs if they continue to support te
Rockefeller Drug Laws - Albany Couny DA Paul Clyne going down!!
| Valuable underdogs
|
| Even the long shots can shake up a static
political system
|
|
|
|
Incumbent politicians in New York almost never
lose, but that doesn't mean underdog efforts to unseat them are a waste of
time. When properly done, even a long-shot challenge can illuminate
glaring gaps between a pol and his constituents.Meanwhile, in Albany, a
Democratic primary race for district attorney has put incumbent Paul Clyne
on the spot. Challenger David Soares - a former assistant to Clyne who was
fired the day he let his boss know hewanted to run against him - is
campaigning on the issue of the expensive and needlessly punitive
Rockefeller drug laws.
Opinion polls show that most Albany County residents, like New
Yorkers generally, favor changing the drug laws, which are nationally
known as a failure. The laws impose crushing, mandatory 15-year
sentences on nonviolent offenders even if it's their first and only time
getting in trouble - a disparity that results in absurdities, like
nonviolent, drug-addicted couriers receiving stiffer sentences than
violent criminals.Clyne has been an outspoken backer of the laws, which
have filled state prisons at enormous cost to individual families and
the public. Soares, by contrast, favors a preventive approach to
crimefighting that includes drug treatment for addicts.
Soares is backed by the Working Families Party, which is tight-lipped
about its strategy but will likely run one of its signature door-to-door
campaigns. With about 25,000 voters likely to turn out, the party needs
to convince about 12,500 of the need for change.
Barbaro and Soares are both long shots. But their candidacies will give
voters in Staten Island and Albany a much-needed chance to see the
yawning gap between what they want from their politicians and what
they're actually getting - and to do something about it at the ballot
box.
Originally published on August 10, 2004 |
August 4, 2004 :
A group of private individuals opposed to the Rockefeller Drug Laws have begun
working on a new Pataki website. The site is a semi-clearinghouse for scads of
scandals associated with the New York Governor. Those who wish to
contribute ideas and stories please email to volcanic@ulster.net.
the site is a work in progress but can be seen at:
www.patakinoamigo.com
Flash :July 23, 2004
Drug
laws to get rapped
New York Daily News, NY - Jul 23,
2004
... There they'll stage a rally against the so-called
Rockefeller
Drug Laws, Simmons told me, noting that he expects to be joined by
Sean (P. Diddy) Combs, Jay-Z ... Security
will be so tight during next month's Republican National Convention that
protesters will be kept blocks away from Madison Square Garden - out of sight
and out of mind for President Bush and his co-partisans.But
hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons - with the AIDS activist
group Still We Rise, the New York Civil Liberties Union and other like-minded
folks - has somehow managed to obtain a permit to march right up Eighth Ave. to
the Garden, on the convention's opening day, Aug. 30.
There they'll stage a rally against the so-called Rockefeller Drug Laws,
Simmons told me, noting that he expects to be joined by Sean (P. Diddy)
Combs, Jay-Z, the Beastie Boys and
Mariah Carey.Their target: Gov. Pataki, who Simmons
claims is stopping the Legislature from correcting inequities in the laws that
mandate harsh sentencing by judges."I'm saddened and I'm disappointed and I'm
heartbroken that the governor is now seen as the stumbling block to fixing the
situation," Simmons said. "These are the most severe drugs laws in the country -
and they're insane and unjust."Simmons continued: "Ninety-four percent of the
people who go to jail under the laws are black and brown and poor. There's a lot
of prosecutorial discretion, but there's zero judicial discretion."Simmons, who
last year was sued by the state Lobbying Commission for his anti-drug-law
advocacy (which the commission said was lobbying that required Simmons to
register), defended his efforts as free speech."I spent $600,000 on lawyers to
fight this, so please make it clear that I'm not lobbying anybody, I'm just
giving my opinion as an American citizen," Simmons stressed.
Flash: July 21,2004
Rotting away in prison
Socialist Worker, IL - Jul 21, 2004
... ANTHONY PAPA is a victim of the
Rockefeller drug laws. He served 12 years of a mandatory 15-years-to-life
sentence for drug possession ...
Flash: 6/26/04 Newsday
LEGISLATIVE SESSION ENDS WITH NO BUDGET
Albany again plays the blame game
Among the other shortcomings, they didn't retool harsh
Rockefeller-era drug laws
Flash: 6/25/04
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/343/rock.shtml
Like a Rock: New York's Rockefeller
Drug Laws Survive Another Legislative Session
6/25/04
Despite protestations from all of New
York's key political actors that they are determined to reform the state's
draconian Rockefeller drug laws, another legislative session ended this week
with the laws unchanged. Last minute negotiations over "reforms" that were only
marginally acceptable to real reformers faltered after a last-minute
intervention by Republican Gov. George Pataki. Legislators will have to return
to Albany for a special summer session to deal with the state budget and other
issues, so there is a slim chance lawmakers could cut a deal then, but it
appears unlikely. And given the deal state Assembly leader Rep. Sheldon Silver
(D), state Senate leader Joseph Bruno (R) and Pataki were pursuing, reformers
are not spilling too many tears over its collapse.
Under the Rockefeller drug laws, in
place since the early 1970s, persons caught in possession of as little as four
ounces or selling as little as two ounces of a controlled substance get
mandatory minimum 15-to-life sentences, while other drug offenders earn
similarly harsh treatment. As a result, the state's prison population has
swollen, primarily with black or brown offenders. Drug prisoners now make up 38%
of the prison system -- nearly twice the national average -- and a staggering
93% of them are Latinos and African-Americans. Many are housed in prisons in
conservative, lily-white upstate counties where the Rockefeller drug laws serve
as an effective jobs program for prison guards.
After years of mounting pressure to
amend or undo the laws, Bruno and Silver appeared poised as recently as three
weeks ago to approve reforms that would have reduced sentences for "A" felons,
the ones doing 15-to-life (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/340/sortof.shtml).
But that measure would not have helped the much more numerous "B" felons and
other drug offenders, nor did it deal with other key issues for drug reformers,
including the restoration of sentencing discretion to judges and making any
reforms retroactive. Still, the deal was too much for Pataki, who, backed by the
state's powerful prosecutors, intervened at the last moment over the weekend
with deal-breaking demands to add sentencing enhancements to allow prosecutors
to seek longer sentences in some cases.
"I had a meeting with Bruno last week,
and he assured me we would have an agreement by Tuesday," said Michael Blain,
Policy Director for Drug Policy Alliance (http://www.drugpolicy.org)
and DPA's man in Real Reform 2004 (http://www.realreform2004.org),
an umbrella group formed this year to carry on the years-long struggle to kill
the Rockefeller laws. "But then Pataki weighed in and broke the deal by
attempting to add sentencing enhancements that he knew were unacceptable to both
the Assembly and the Real Reform coalition. Where's my deal? Was Bruno stringing
us along?"
But Blain conceded that even had the
deal succeeded, it would not have been the reform he was looking for. That was a
view universally shared by reform activists. "Even if anything had passed we
wouldn't have considered it reform," said Robert Gangi, head of the Correctional
Association of New York (http://www.corrassoc.org),
a member of the Real Reform coalition. "It was limited and cosmetic. It would
have reduced prison sentences for some categories of drug offenders, but the
effect would have been limited. We were not disappointed when we heard there
would be no deal, because what they were proposing was no real movement on the
issue. It was not real reform, and if politicians attempt to present it to the
public as reform, they are misrepresenting what they are doing," he told DRCNet.
|
|
|
members of Mothers of the NY Disappeared Wanda Best, Elaine Bartlett,
Regina Stevens, Jan Warren & Julie Colon with children, courtesy
15yearstolife.com |
|
"We thought there would be a small change
that we wouldn't be happy with," said Randy Credico of the William Kunstler Fund
for Racial Justice (http://www.kunstler.org)
and the prisoner family group New York Mothers of the NY Disappeared, also
members of the Real Reform coalition. "It would have been like going to Las
Vegas, dropping $200,000 in the slot machine, coming up with two cherries, and
calling yourself a winner. We cannot settle for a small payoff," he told DRCNet.
As reformers lick their wounds and
plot their next steps, some divisions have emerged.
"We have used the wrong approach,"
said Blain. "We need to tell legislators they need to reform those laws not
because the laws are wrong -- they don't seem to care -- but because there will
be consequences for them if they don't. They cannot continue to seek Latino and
African-American votes while ignoring drug law reforms that clearly affect the
African-American and Latino communities. As citizens and advocates, we have to
hold them accountable."
DPA and the Democratic-leaning
organization MoveOn.org attempted to do just that this week. In a message sent
out to more than 130,000 MoveOn subscribers Tuesday, the groups placed the blame
squarely on Gov. Pataki. "Pataki is trying to water down the reform proposal so
much as to make it almost meaningless," said the missive. "Pataki's on the verge
of killing our one chance for real reform this year... Governor Pataki needs to
keep his promise and reform the Rockefeller drug laws. Please call Gov. Pataki
now... Let him know you understand that he is the obstacle to real reform of the
Rockefeller drug laws, and ask him to support real reform, not kill it."
Credico differed tactically from Blain
on the question of momentum and incrementalism. While Blain argued that the
movement could build on small victories, Credico scoffed. "If the agreement they
were talking about passed, it would not have been sufficient, and it might have
killed any momentum for real reform. Remember, we don't want reforms on the
margins, we want to repeal these laws."
Credico's view is colored by the idea
that current New York drug laws serve a latent social purpose far beyond keeping
our kids safe from drugs. "These Rockefeller laws are about race and class and
social control," he said. "Right now, the drug laws are the vehicle to impose
that control. If the Rockefeller laws suddenly vanished, they would find another
way," he argued. "Race is the key issue here, and racism is just as deeply
embedded in New York as it is in Alabama or Mississippi," he said. "And if you
want to go a little further, the issue is capitalism. Right now, we are in what
looks like a near fascist moment in this country. We need another system because
this one is fundamentally broken. We need a revolution," said Credico, sounding
like a fire-breathing SDSer from the days of yore. "The legal system and the
courts are designed to put black and brown people in prison, and the appeals
courts are to keep them there."
While Credico sounds ready to take to
the streets, Blain is ready to return to the back rooms of Albany. "The
legislature has to come back this summer to pass the budget, and there are other
outstanding issues it has to deal with," he told DRCNet. "Something could still
happen on Rockefeller reform, but if it does it is likely to be only tinkering
around the edges. Even if we do something this summer, real reform means real
sentencing reductions, real sentencing discretion for judges, real treatment
opportunities, and retroactivity. This is a long-term campaign and it could take
years to dismantle these laws. That's not a defeatist statement," Blain
emphasized, "that's a determined one."
In his conversation with DRCNet,
Credico vowed repeatedly that he was done, burned out, finished working the
issue. But at the same time, he revealed why, despite all his frustrated talk
about dropping out, he remains active. "I try to step back, but then I get
another phone call. Someone like Darius King. He's in the third year of an 11
½-to-23 year stretch. He was sentenced as a prior felon for an offense 9 ½ years
ago. In six months, that offense wouldn't have counted. He supposedly sold a
nickel bag to a guy, even though the guy he supposedly sold it to wasn't found
with any drugs. The judge told him to cop a plea and he could have 4-to-8 years.
But Darius said he was innocent. He was found guilty, the judge said he should
have taken the deal, and gave him twice as much time. His daughter is 18 and
paralyzed from the neck down. His 73-year-old mother, Flora, has to take care of
her. There are too many stories like that," Credico sighed. "That's why I can't
quit."
If Credico sounds like a gloomy
fellow, well, he's not. In fact, he's a comedian, and he invites one and all to
Rocky Sullivan's club at 29th and Lexington in Manhattan for his Tuesday night
comedy shows.
Newsday June 21, 2004
Copyright 2004 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York)
June 21, 2004 Monday
CITY EDITION
SECTION: OPINION; Pg. A38
LENGTH:
HEADLINE: LETTERS
BYLINE: Anthony Papa
BODY:
Reform drug laws
Recently, the media spotlight has fallen on the political process of New York
State in its failure to pass important legislation such as the Rockefeller Drug
Laws ["Drug laws' rocky road, Editorial, June 14]. For the first time, the
Legislature opened its doors to the public to view its debates on the issue,
which traditionally have been held in secret.
Well, they should have kept the doors closed. We saw politics at its worst.
The first day, the Republicans and Democrats argued for hours and could not come
to an agreement. A month later, the negotiations stopped altogether.
These laws have been tossed around for the last 31 years without any change.
Each group blames the other, while the governor dances around the issue. Do we
blame the legislature, courts or the governor for shedding responsibility? Who
wants to get caught advocating to change an issue if it could ruin someone's
career by making them look "soft on crime"? And let's not forget the district
attorneys, who have been the most outspoken group to prevent any type of change.
But look at the consequences: Thousands of individuals are rotting away in
prison under these laws, which also affects thousands of families outside the
prison walls. Doesn't this matter?
Anthony Papa
Editor's note: The writer served 12 years of a 15-year- to-life sentence
under the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Long Island City
Flash! 6/10/04 Yes, the
NYS legislature sold us another dream!!!
|
Home »
DrugReporter »
Selling Us a Dream
By Anthony Papa,
AlterNet
June 10, 2004
Once again the legislature of New York state has failed to come to an
agreement to change the Rockefeller Drug Laws. The Associated Press
reported that the Senate's chief representative on the committee, Sen.
Dale Volker, accused Assembly Democrats of wanting to engineer a "jail
break" by easing punishments too much for some offenders. This is the same
individual that has a handful of prisons in his district, which are full
of non-violent drug offenders from the inner city.
According to Drug Policy Alliance, 27 other states have made changes in
similar laws in the last year, resulting in saved tax dollars and saved
human lives. The best reported piece that showed the dysfunctional ways of
the legislature was a recent NY Times article that pointed out that
finally, for the first time the legislature was going to open their doors
to the public to view their legislative hearings, which traditionally have
been held in secret. Well, they should have kept the doors closed because
now we had a chance to see politics at its worst.
The Republicans and Democrats argued for hours and could not come to an
agreement on how to agree. Assemblyman Jeff Aubry, who is the co-chairman
of a conference committee to change the Rockefeller Drug laws described it
"as a way of setting up what is on the table in real terms so that we can
know that we are getting something done". But a few days later the state
Senate's Republican majority said it saw no purpose in continuing the
conference committee.
To people outside the loop, it is seen as the standard trend in New
York States dysfunctional political process. So angry at the quagmire in
getting things done, it was also reported that a group of protestors in
wheel chairs recently barricaded a group of lawmakers in a hearing room in
Albany, NY forcing the Capitol police to rescue the legislators.
Rockefeller Drug Law reform is an issue that has been tossed around
between the legislature and the courts for the last 31 years without any
positive result. In the early years, the legislature had the gloves on
between the parties, blaming instead the court system. They said the
judicial process should change the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Let the courts
declare these laws unconstitutional, they cried. A convenient way to evade
responsibility. The New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in New
York State, in turn, denied addressing the issue and sternly declared it
was a matter that the legislature should decide. God forbid it was
declared unconstitutional. The judicial system would be bankrupt by the
thousands of lawsuits filed by criminal defendants.
After that judicial blow to the mid-section, the legislature began
dueling it out between the two parties. Each blamed the other for not
changing the laws, while the governor danced around the issue. Do you
blame the legislature or the governor for shedding responsibility? Who
wants to get caught advocating to change an issue that could ruin an
individuals career by looking "soft on crime"? And lets not forget the
district attorney's office, which has been the most outspoken group to
prevent any type of change. The same individuals live and die by their
rates of convictions. However, let's look at the reality of the
consequences. Thousands of individuals are rotting away in prison under
these laws, also affecting thousands of families outside of the prison
walls. Hey politicians, doesn't this matter?
The Wall Street Journal in an op-ed just reported that the former drug
czar of the United States General Barry McCaffrey co-authored a piece
calling to end NY's Rockefeller Drug laws. Ten years ago, I appeared on a
television show with him that declared draconian drug laws were a
violation of human rights. I was serving a 15-to-life sentence for a first
time non-violent drug crime under these laws From my 6'x9' cell in
Sing Sing, I remember as clear as a bell the stern look on the general's
face when he declared, "You can't lock your way out of the problem". In
New York, it seems that is untrue, especially if you keep filling your
prisons with drug offenders.
Since 1982, 33 prisons have been built in rural upstate communities,
primarily in Republican Districts, negating that notion.
So what do we do to solve the problem of New York's dysfunctional
political process caused by its politicians? I think I have the answer. In
1998 FAMM (Families Against
Mandatory Sentencing) held a convention named "Metamorphosis" in
Washington D.C. Its theme was change and transformation and several
speakers were former politicians who had fallen from grace. Among them was
Webbster Hubbell of the Clintons Whitewater scandal. Hubble, an associate
attorney general of the Untied States, wound up doing time for a
white-collar crime. Not serious time, but nevertheless, enough to get a
taste of imprisonment. He spoke of how his thought process on the system
dramatically changed while sitting in a jail cell during a prison lock
down.
The federal government had just passed crack cocaine legislation, which
led to several federal prisons to riot. As he sat in his cell like a caged
animal, his mind opened up, bringing up his past. It made him remember a
day when he signed a similar lock down order that would affect thousands
of prisoners. This was his road to Damascus experience that led him to be
an agent of change to seek a better system. As he spoke, I turned to
another ex-prisoner and said, "This is it, this is how we change the
system. We pass a law that makes it mandatory to spend some time in a jail
cell before taking a political position or governmental office". Maybe
then the system would benefit the people instead of those in power.
Anthony Papa is co-founder of the Mothers of NY Disappeared and
author of "15 To Life" published by Feral House in Fall of 2004. He was
granted clemency in 1997. For more drug war info go to
www.15tolife.com |
Flash! June 8, 2004 Bet your bottom dollar the Rockefeller Drug Laws
will not be changed again because of the legislature failure to come to an
agreement - total dysfuntionality at its worst!!!
Talks on Drug Laws Stall as State Deadline Nears
By MICHAEL COOPER
LBANY,
June 7 - New York's top officials have agreed for several years that the state's
Rockefeller-era drug laws are too harsh, but their efforts to overhaul them
appeared to founder yet again Monday when talks broke down without an agreement.
The state's drug laws are among the toughest in the nation, and there is
widespread agreement here that the long sentences they force judges to mete out
have clogged the prisons at great cost without stemming drug abuse or
drug-related crime. But for years the State Legislature and Gov. George E.
Pataki have failed to agree on how to shorten the sentences and when and how to
offer drug treatment instead of prison.
Last year, all sides briefly thought that they had a deal, but it unraveled
mysteriously in the middle of the night. This year the Democratic-controlled
Assembly and the Republican-controlled Senate took the rare step of forming a
conference committee to try to iron out their differences on the laws. But after
nearing agreement on many important areas, the committee ended its sixth meeting
here on Monday afternoon with no general agreement on what to do and no plans to
meet again.
Democrats on the committee asked to continue meeting, arguing that they were
close to a compromise, but Republicans left without agreeing to more meetings,
charging that the Democrats had been too inflexible. Two Republican Senate
officials said they were unlikely to reconvene the conference committee, and
added that the Senate might go ahead and pass a bill on its own without the
Assembly's agreement.
That left the effort to rewrite the state's drug laws effectively dead for
the year, or at least on life support with a poor prognosis, officials said.
The senators took a narrower view of their mission, saying that they wanted
to shorten the sentences that are doled out to people convicted of the most
serious drug charges. The Assembly agreed, but had a much broader series of
changes they wanted to make: they wanted to shorten the sentences more
significantly for lower-level offenders, and to give judges the option to
sentence offenders to treatment instead of prison.
Assembly members were unwilling to agree to only part of what they wanted,
for fear it would undo their leverage to get the Senate to agree to a broader
overhaul.
A group of women, many of them with sons serving long prison sentences for
drug offenses, sat in the hearing room. They listened as lawmakers debated
whether to keep talking and whether they should change drug laws that were harsh
but had not actually been passed during Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller's
administration.
"It looks like they're playing games,'' said Elaine Bartlett, 46, who was
arrested in 1983 for selling four ounces of cocaine and spent 16 years behind
bars as a first-time drug offender. She is the subject of a new book, "'Life on
the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett'' (Farrar, Straus & Giroux),
that helped rekindle the debate this year.
Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, a Queens Democrat and co-chairman of the
conference committee, urged his colleagues in the Senate to keep talking, saying
it was better to negotiate in public in a conference committee than behind
closed doors.
He alluded to last year's failed negotiations, when the so-called "three men
in a room" who control the state - Governor Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno - met behind closed doors with
a fourth man, Russell Simmons, a founder of Def Jam records, to try to reach an
agreement.
"This process is so vital and important, so it doesn't go back to three men
in a room, or three men in a room with a mogul, or however that process seemed
to have taken place last year,'' Mr. Aubry said. "What it ought to be is us, in
a public place, discussing this and resolving this."
But senators complained that the Assembly, by holding out for more changes,
was failing to sign off on the areas they all agreed on. And they said that time
was running out in this legislative session, which is scheduled to end on June
22.State Senator David A. Paterson, who leads the Democratic minority in the
Senate, wondered aloud at the meeting what other pressing business there was. "I
was actually wondering what we were going to do here for the rest of the week,''
he said.
One group of advocates pushing for change is blaming the Senate for the
inaction. The group, called Mothers of the New York Disappeared, has taken out
full-page ads in Spanish newspapers directed at New York City Republicans in the
State Senate who are seen as vulnerable this fall, when the state's legislators
face re-election."We're like Sisyphus,'' said Randy Credico, an organizer of the
group. "This is seven years in a row.''
Flash! 6/6/04 Statement from Andrew Cuomo & Mothers of the NY
Disappeared
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ashley Cotton
917-328-4313
Statement from Andrew Cuomo on the proposed legislation to reform
the Rockefeller Drug Laws
June 6, 2004—Last week
Republican lawmakers announced their “agreement” to reform the Rockefeller Drug
Laws—the harshest and most unjust in the nation. New York’s Rockefeller Drug
Laws, which have been in place for 31 years, imprison thousands of non-violent
men and women who would be better served by shorter sentences or alternatives to
incarceration such as drug treatment. The average cost for a prison cell is over
$69,000 per year, while the
cost for drug treatment is approximately $20,000 per year. Over 93% of the
people imprisoned under these laws are black or Latino. The laws are a waste of
taxpayers’ money and of human lives.
The Republican announcement of an “agreement” to reform these laws after 10
years of promising real reform is a cynical public relations gesture. Their
“agreement” would only address those charged with A felonies—a mere handful of
the prison population. The vast majority of those imprisoned under the
Rockefeller Drug Laws—B felonies—would be unaffected by their “agreement.”
The Republicans saying their action amounts to reform is reminiscent of
President Bush declaring “Mission Accomplished” in the Iraq war. It would be
laughable if it weren’t so tragic.
Tomorrow may be the last chance for real legislative reform this session.
We must not squander another year of lost lives and lost dollars.
Statement from Anthony Papa
and Randy Credico, co-founders of the Mothers of the NY Disappeared on behalf of
the organization
June 6, 2004—The
Mothers of the NY Disappeared have
been leading the way to repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws since May 8, 1998. Our
group is comprised of family members of prisoners and ex-prisoners who have
suffered personally the injustice of these laws. We feel we have absolute
standing in determining what changes should be made to the laws. The
Republicans’ recent assertion that the B-level drug offenses are not part of the
Rockefeller Drug Laws is not true. The only way we would support a plan for
reform is if lawmakers adopt all the changes for B felonies that the Democrats
have proposed and apply them retroactively.
For 31 years these laws have caused
undue misery and pain, not only for those imprisoned, but also for their
communities, families, and friends. It is time for our elected leaders to
walk common ground together and follow the path of other states that have
reformed similar laws. Doing so would save human lives and valuable tax dollars
that could be used for better purposes.
It is respectfully hoped that these laws be reformed now.
###
Flash! June 4, 2004 Change is
coming. If not the New York Legislature is going to look pretty
dysfunctional. More to follow.
By JOEL STASHENKO
Associated Press Writer
June 4, 2004, 4:18 AM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York lawmakers are ready to roll back the state's infamously
harsh Rockefeller drug laws if they can agree on how to reform mandatory
sentences for less serious drug violations.
This week, members of a legislative conference committee verbally agreed to
reduce the 15 years-to-life mandatory sentences for the most serious offenses to
as little as 3 to 10 years.
Gov. George Pataki and most legislators have called it an injustice that a
first-time offender could face a life sentence for possessing as little as 4
ounces of a controlled substance or for selling only 2 ounces.
"We have never gotten this close to an agreement," said state Sen. Dale Volker,
the committe's Republican co-chairman. "Now we are right down to the nitty
gritty."
The sticking points between the Republican-controlled Senate and the
Democrat-controlled Assembly both address the issue of treatment for nonviolent
offenders.
The Assembly wants those offenders to get treatment, in many cases with no
prison time, and wants to remove the veto power that district attorneys now have
over courts' decisions to send offenders to treatment.
The Senate opposes both steps.
Letting offenders avoid prison entirely under drug law reform would represent a
"dramatic change in our entire sentencing scheme," Volker said.
"You're absolutely correct," said the committe's other co-chairman, Democratic
Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, arguing that such sweeping change is needed.
Republican senators also say prosecutors need the threat of longer prison
sentences to give offenders incentive to successfully complete treatment.
New York spends more than $500 million a year to incarcerate nonviolent drug
offenders, many of whom can rebuild their lives faster if they receive
treatment, said Michael Blain of the Drug Policy Alliance, an organization that
espouses reducing both drug misuse and drug prohibition, and promoting the
sovereignty of individuals.
"We're talking about human lives and wasted resources," Blain said Thursday.
"These people, we call them inmates, thugs, convicts, but they are brothers,
fathers, sisters, mothers of someone. That's what's on the table now."
Twenty-seven states have rolled back mandatory minimum sentences for drug
offenses, liberalized drug treatment options or otherwise eased drug statutes in
the last year, Blain said.
Former Gov. Nelson Rockefeller pushed the statutes through the New York
Legislature in 1973 and 1974, at a time when he felt the state's inner cities
were being lost to heroin addiction and judges were balking at imposing stiff
sentences on drug offenders.
About 2,000 inmates are serving up to life in New York prisons under the
Rockefeller drug laws. More than 13,600 others are serving shorter mandatory
sentences for less-severe drug violations.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
FLASH!!!! June 3, 2004
Agreement On Rockefeller Drug Law Reform; Negotiations Continue
(Albany, NY) AP-Joel Stashenko 06/03/04 - With no
fuss or fanfare, negotiators for the New York State Assembly and Senate this
week agreed to ease back on the harshest of the drug laws that a panicky Gov.
Nelson Rockefeller pushed through the state Legislature in the mid-1970s.
A joint legislative conference committee verbally agreed to reduce the
15-years-to-life sentence contained in the statutes. In doing so, it agreed to a
plan advanced last year by Gov. George Pataki to reduce the mandatory minimum
sentence for offenders to as little as 3-10 years.
But committee members said their deal is subject to an agreement on the
overarching issue surrounding drug law reform--changing the provisions of the
state's mandatory sentencing laws for lower-level drug offenders.
For years, proponents of reforming the drug laws have focused on the most
serious of the statutes, on the books as "A1" and "A2" felonies, which carry
minimum sentences of 15 years to life.
Those harsh penalties, which can be applied to first-time offenders caught
selling or holding relatively small amounts of narcotics, have been used to
symbolize the fundamental unfairness of the drug laws created in 1973 and 1974.
At that time, Rockefeller feared the state was losing its inner cities to heroin
addiction.
But it's the lower-level offenders, chiefly those sentenced under the "B"
subsection of the state's illegal substances law, that are really at issue in
the drug law reform debate.
"The B felonies are not Rockefeller drug laws," said state Senator Dale Volker,
who was a state assemblyman in the mid-1970s, when the mandatory felony
sentencing laws were established.
He is co-chairman of the drug law conference committee with Assemblyman Jeffrion
Aubry (D, Queens).
"What we are really concerned about are what's known as the 'B's," said NYS
Senator David Paterson (D, Manhattan).
Like most black or Hispanic legislators, Paterson complains that those lesser
offenses have been applied against minority defendants out of all proportion to
their numbers in society and are primarily responsible for ruining lives,
families and neighborhoods in communities of color.
The B statute requires that offenders with prior nonviolent felony convictions
on their records-- not uncommon for drug-addicted defendants--be sentenced to at
least 4 1/2 to 9 years in state prison. There are currently more than 5,000
inmates serving time for B felony drug offenses, more than twice as many as have
been sentenced under the A-1 and A-2 sections of the drug laws.
More than 8,600 other prisoners are serving shorter mandatory prison sentence--
which average about 30 months--under the lesser provisions of the drug statutes.
Republicans and Democrats on the conference committee remained split this week
over two fundamental questions about B-level drug offenders: Should they be
admitted to drug treatment without serving any prison time? And: Should district
attorneys lose their power to veto diversion of offenders to treatment programs?
No other B-level felony offenders in New York law--like those charged under
assault or sex offense statutes, for instance--can avoid prison, Volker said.
Letting them to do so under drug law reform would represent a "dramatic change
in our entire sentencing scheme," the Erie County Republican said.
"You're absolutely correct," Aubry said, arguing in favor of sweeping changes.
On district attorneys and their power to block treatment diversions, Democrats
say prosecutors will still be able to recommend prison sentences, but judges
will make the final call.
State Senator Martin Golden (R, Brooklyn) said it is "ludicrous" for the
Assembly to believe the Senate would take prosecutors out of the diversion
equation.
A policeman-turned-legislator on the committee, Asemblyman David Townsend
(R, Oneida County), said Assembly Democrats wanted to take this "B-bit" too far
by weakening the B-felony statute.
On Wednesday, a group naming itself "Law Enforcement Coalition Against Drug
Decriminalization" announced its formation.
Comprised of the state District Attorney's Association, the state Association of
Chiefs of Police, the state Sheriffs' Association and police unions, the group
said it would resist weakening the state's drug statutes. In particular, the
group said it is against changes allowing repeat felony offenders to avoid all
prison time in favor of treatment.
In past years, the voice of prosecutors and police in the drug law reform debate
has been persuasive, if not decisive, in the state Senate's position on the
issue.
Joel Stashenko is Capitol Editor for The AP in Albany. He can be reached
at P.O. Box 7165, Capitol Station, Albany, NY, 12224.
©2004 Associated Press. All
rights reserved
Flash! May 31, 2004 NYS's
Disfunction Government Process is the recent trend in the news
http://www.thejournalnews.com/letters/30ltr1.htm
State drug laws must be
changed
(Original publication: May 30,
2004)
The reason why the Rockefeller drug laws have not changed in 31 years is
because of New York state's dysfunctional governmental process. Why is it that
New York does not take the lead from other states that have changed similar laws
that do not work, resulting in saving tax dollars and human lives?
I have been listening to New York's leaders debating for years over this
issue, from 1984 in my 6x9 cell where I was sentenced under these laws to 15
years to life for a first-time, nonviolent drug crime, and up in Albany for the
last six years trying to convince our leaders to compromise for the good of all.
It's time to stop debating and let's change the laws!
Anthony Papa, Bronx
The writer is the author of "15 to Life/Feral House" and was granted clemency
by Gov. George Pataki in 1997.
Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV - 6
hours ago
... The reason why the Rockefeller drug laws have not changed in
31 years is because of New York state's dysfunctional governmental process. ...
Saturday, May 29, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
LETTERS:
Drug laws
To the editor:
In response to your May 26 editorial "Drug law sentences":
Gen. Barry McCaffrey is right on point. About 10 years ago
while serving a 15-year-to-life sentence, I appeared on a TV show with him
arguing how mandatory drug sentencing was a violation of human rights. The
general went on to say that you can't lock your way out of the problem.
The point is, this was said 10 years ago. The reason why
the Rockefeller drug laws have not changed in 31 years is because of New York
state's dysfunctional governmental process. Why is it that New York does not
take the lead from other states that have changed similar laws which do not
work, resulting in saving tax dollars and human lives?
I have been listening to New York's leaders debating for
years over this issue. From 1984 -- in my 6-by-9 cell, where I was sentenced
under these laws to 15-to-life for a first-time, nonviolent drug crime -- until
up in Albany for the past six years trying to convince our leaders to compromise
for the good of all. It's time to stop debating. Let's change the laws.
ANTHONY PAPA
NEW YORK, N.Y.
The writer was granted clemency by N.Y. Gov. George Pataki
in 1997.
Flash! May 21,2004 Once again politicians up in Albany
show how disfunctional they are. Meeting for the first time where the
public can see how NY politics work, Democrates and Republicians showed they
could not even decide on how to decide. Read about it below.
May 21, 2004
Republicans and Democrats Clash on New York Drug Laws
By MICHAEL COOPER
LBANY,
May 20 - One of the enduring mysteries here in recent years is why the state has
been unable to overhaul the Rockefeller drug laws, which force judges to
sentence drug offenders to lengthy prison terms that the three most powerful
state officials, Gov. George E. Pataki and the leaders of both houses of the
Legislature, agree are draconian.
Officials came within a hair's breadth of rewriting the laws last year, only
to have the deal dissolve in the middle of the night behind closed doors.
This week, members of the Republican-controlled Senate and the
Democrat-controlled Assembly began negotiating with each other in public. Their
hearings offered a rare chance to see how the sausage gets made in Albany. They
laid bare some of their many policy and political differences, and showed why
even their broad areas of agreement might not be enough to bring about change.
The problem boils down to this: The Assembly wants to go much further than
the Senate does in changing the state's drug laws. So Assembly members fear that
if they agree right off the bat to the Senate's proposals to reduce sentences
for the most serious drug offenses, which would affect only a tiny fraction of
the state's inmates, they will have no leverage left to persuade the Senate to
go along with their own proposals. They want to reduce the sentences for much
more common and less serious drug crimes, and to give judges the authority to
send some drug offenders to treatment centers instead of prison.
At a hearing here on Thursday, the senators tried to persuade the Assembly
members to agree to their proposal on the most serious crimes first, and debate
their differences afterward. Assembly members countered that they should debate
their differences first and agree on their areas of common ground later. Neither
side wanted to budge.
Senator John A. DeFrancisco, a Syracuse Republican, called for agreeing to
some compromises right away. He noted that both sides wanted to reduce the
sentence for the most serious class of nonviolent drug offenses, which are now
punishable by up to life in prison. The Senate would like to see the sentence
reduced to 10 to 20 years in prison. The Assembly favors 8 to 20.
"Let's do 9 to 20,'' Senator DeFrancisco suggested, splitting the difference.
But Assembly members were reluctant to agree formally without some indication
that the Senate would consider its other priorities.
"It is merely setting up what is on the table in real terms, so that we can
know that we're getting something done,'' said Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, a
Queens Democrat who is co-chairman of the conference committee. Senator Dale M.
Volker, a Republican from the Buffalo area who is the other co-chairman of the
conference committee, tried to assure the Democrats that their issues would get
a fair hearing. "We agree to talk about it,'' he said. "We don't agree to agree,
but we agree to talk about it.''
The Democrats said the current policy has created a system in which 93
percent of the inmates serving time on drug charges are black or Hispanic,
despite national studies showing that the majority of drug users are white. The
Republicans spoke of the rights of victims, and tried to maintain a
tough-on-crime stance while agreeing to soften the most severe drug laws.
Even the makeup of the panel reflected different backgrounds. Three of the
five Republicans are former police officers: Senator Volker, Senator Martin J.
Golden of Brooklyn and Assemblyman David R. Townsend Jr. of central New York.
Assemblyman Aubry, the Democratic co-chairman, has led a social service agency
that provides drug counseling and has taught inmates at a prison in New Mexico.
Flash!
The NY Times finally has the courage to print the truth of why
the Rockefeller drug laws have not changed in 31 years. Read the history
of our struggle below.
NY Times: April 26, 2004
A Rocky Reform
ven
a bad law has its beneficiaries who will roar mightily at the first sign of
potential reform. That's why it is important to avoid passing lousy legislation
in the first place. That's also why the state of New York has lived for more
than 30 years now with the unfair Rockefeller drug laws.
Gov. Nelson Rockefeller pushed through these laws — which require enormous
minimum sentences for drug-sale convictions — to get tough on crime. While they
didn't stop drug use, they did make one group — the state's prosecutors — very
happy. Suddenly, they had a sledgehammer. Judges and juries had little recourse
when dealing with small-time, nonviolent drug addicts who faced charges under
the Rockefeller laws. If they were guilty, they went to prison for a very long
time, even if they were clearly candidates for a far cheaper drug treatment
program. Defendants and their lawyers tended to plead guilty to almost anything
rather than risk being tried under the laws.
The Rockefeller drug laws have simply warped the American legal system,
turning the accuser — the prosecutor — into judge, jury and defense. Over the
years, the more thoughtful prosecutors have found their own way of mitigating
the laws' harshest effects, and governors, including George Pataki, have cut
short some of the more outrageous sentences with pardons. But the skewed system
is still in place. State Senator David Paterson recently released a study that
found that New York's laws were harsher to low-level drug sellers than those of
any other state — even Texas. When Texans are telling New Yorkers their laws are
harsh, you know we have a problem.
Yet in this election year, the Rockefeller drug laws are barely being
mentioned. The lawmakers are terrified that prosecutors — the powerful district
attorneys — will say that they are "soft on crime." So last week the halls of
New York's State Capitol echoed with make-work legislation — old laws passed in
only one house, one so old that it mentioned the rising crime rates of the past.
Even the leaders, who are supposed to be working on an already late state
budget, meet for little more than an hour a day.
Voters, it is time to ask yourselves — what do those people do all day in
Albany? Whatever it is, it's not the big stuff.
|
Mothers united by pain of loss
Albany-- Argentine protest group inspires New Yorkers in push for
changes in strict narcotics crime penalties
|
| |
By
ELIZABETH
BENJAMIN, Capitol bureau
First published: Thursday, April 15, 2004
|
| Tati Almeida knows all too well the
pain of always wondering about the fate of someone you love. Her 20-year-old
son, Alejandro, a student activist, disappeared in 1975 at the hands of the
Argentine military. She hasn't seen him since.Norma Arenas, 77, knows where
her son Miguel is -- serving his 12th year of a 15-year-to-life sentence in
a state prison for selling two ounces of cocaine. But Norma Arenas' health
is failing; she has diabetes and a heart condition. Friends worry she won't
live to see Miguel, 40, released from prison.
The situations of Tati Almeida, 73, and Norma Arenas seem unrelated.
But to Almeida, one of four Argentine women who traveled to Albany Tuesday
to lobby state leaders on behalf of mothers who have "lost" children to
prison under the Rockefeller Drug Laws, the connection is clear. "Their
struggle is a struggle for life," translator Alexandra Tejeda explained of
Tati and her fellow Madres de Plaza de Mayo, who have demonstrated every
Thursday for 28 years in Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo, bearing photos of
their lost relatives and demanding to know what happened to them.
"Their children are disappeared permanently, physically, but they can
relate to the pain of the mothers in New York," Tejeda said. The
persistent activism of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo helped topple the
Argentine military dictatorship. But the madres have not stopped their
demonstrations. And what began as something very personal has become a
movement.
"At first, we were desperate because of the disappearance of our
children, but that changed into an active resistance, which transformed us
into an organization of human rights," Enriquetta Maroni, 77, explained
through Tejeda. "We believe the Rockefeller Drug Laws violate the rights
of the people that are affected by them, that's why we're here." A group
known as the Mothers of the New York Disappeared, made up of former drug
offenders and relatives of offenders serving time under the Rockefeller
Drug Laws, was inspired by the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. The 1973 laws
mandate long to life sentences for selling or possessing relatively small
amounts of narcotics.
The Argentine madres and several of the New York mothers met Monday
with Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who professed support
for a series of hearings on Rockefeller Drug Law reform, held by the state
Senate Democrats, which will begin next Wednesday in Albany. The New York
State District Attorneys Association has opposed reform that would return
sentencing discretion to judges and lessen sentences for anyone at or
below the level of a B felony.
On Tuesday, the madres met with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, whose Democrat-dominated chamber
re-approved the drug law reform bill it passed last year. The madres later
returned to New York City, where they were scheduled to meet with state
Director of Criminal Justice Services Chauncey Parker. Silver said the
Assembly Democrats' bill returns some discretion to judges and allows drug
treatment rather than prison for first-time nonviolent offenders. He
added, "This separates our meaningful reform from anything else that has
been proposed."
The Republican-controlled Senate has not yet taken up the issue of drug
law reform. But last year, it passed a bill proposed by Gov. George Pataki
that would eradicate life sentences for the highest-level, or Class A,
drug offenders, but did not address B-level offenders, who make up the
bulk of those in prison on drug charges. Bruno spokesman John McArdle said
the Senate will again pass Pataki's legislation this year. He called on
the Assembly to do the same, which the Pataki administration says would
result in the immediate release of roughly 400 drug offenders -- some of
whom are related to the Mothers of the New York Disappeared.
Silver on Tuesday said he's worried about "giving a sound bite of
reform, which is no reform at all, and then we will never revisit the real
issue." But Randy Credico, spokesman for the Mothers of the New York
Disappeared, disagreed."If we could just get something done incrementally,
we would be happy," he said. "We've been waiting 27 years."
|
| |
NY Daily News Albor Ruiz 4/15/04
Moms add muscle
to reform drug laws
|
|
Taty Almeyda, whose 20-year-old son, Alejandro, was "disappeared" by a
paramilitary group in Argentina in 1975, knows much about pain and
injustice.
"He was a first-year medical student," Almeyda said, her clear voice
tinted with emotion. "He left for school one day and never came back."She
also knows that wherever pain and injustice show their ugly faces, they
must be denounced and opposed. And that is why she came from Buenos Aires
on Friday with three other mothers of disappeared children, all of them
members of the internationally revered human rights group Madres de la
Plaza de Mayo.
Their purpose: to support, with all the weight of their moral strength,
the plight of Mothers of the NY Disappeared, a group they inspired. Their
mission of demanding justice is the same here as in Buenos Aires.The
Argentine group is made up of the mothers of some of the 2,000 people who
disappeared in 1974-75 under the government of President Isabel Perón, and
of the 28,000 more who vanished in 1976-83, under the murderous military
junta.
Risking their lives - the founder of the group, Azucena Villaflor,
later was disappeared - they began to march every Thursday at the Plaza de
Mayo, outside the Casa Rosada, the Buenos Aires equivalent of the White
House."We want justice, we want to know what happened to our children, we
want the criminals punished," Almeyda said passionately.
The New York group is at the forefront of the struggle to repeal the
state's Draconian Rockefeller drug laws, which have unfairly thrown
thousands of people - mainly young members of minority groups - in prison
for many years."We met the Mothers of the NY Disappeared in Buenos Aires
in February, and they told us about their plight," Almeyda said. "Their
children and relatives are also desaparecidos, unjustly taken away
from family and society for years on end."We are with them demanding the
abolition of the unfair Rockefeller laws," Almeyda added.
And not only with words. As they have done for 27 years in Buenos
Aires, today the Madres will hold their march at 1:30 p.m. in front of the
New York City office of Gov. Pataki on Third Ave. and 40th St.They also
will deliver a letter to the governor's office that reads in part:
"[Having learned] through the Mothers of the New York Disappeared of the
inhumane conditions of detention and prolonged sentences in the State of
New York, we ask Gov. George Pataki for the annulment of the Rockefeller
laws, as they violate those [human] rights and attempt against the dignity
of the person."
Yesterday, they and the NY Mothers went to Albany to talk with state
politicians, and on Tuesday, they met with Manhattan District Attorney
Robert Morgenthau, who expressed support for a reexamination of the
law.With an estimated 80% of those incarcerated under the Rockefeller laws
addicts, not drug traffickers, the district attorney's words are to the
point.
As Manhattan Councilwoman Margarita López said, "What they need is
treatment, not prison terms. And 95% of them are black and Latino, which
makes clear that there is something wrong with these laws."The 30-year-old
drug laws should be abolished. And no one can better make the case for
finally doing away with them than the long-suffering New York and
Argentine mothers of desaparecidos.
Originally published on April 15, 2004 |
http://www.ny1.com/ny/Search/SubTopic/index.html?&contentintid=38922&search_result=1
 |
Manhattan D.A. Ready To Help Push Drug Law Reform
 |
| Mothers members Jan Warrren & Anthony Papa with D.A.
Morgenthau
APRIL 13TH, 2004
An unlikely ally may prove to be a big help in the push to overhaul the
state's drug laws. NY1’s Michael Scotto has the story.
The movement to overhaul the state's Rockefeller-era drug laws got a huge
boost, after advocates sat down with one of the state's most prominent
district attorneys.
“Right now I support hearings to discuss it overall and clearly the
changes that need to be made,” said Manhattan D.A. Robert Morgenthau.
The meeting comes as the State Senate prepares to begin a new round of
hearings on what is now an annual topic up in Albany.
Rewriting or repealing the Rockefeller-era Drug Laws has been under
discussion for years.
They impose what many consider to be harsh prison sentences on first time
drug offenders. Lawmakers have never been able to reach an agreement on
how to change them, but now Morgenthau is pushing for reform.
That's good news for those who have been leading the fight.
“We believe it’s the most significant movement in the process of having
these laws changed,” said Randy Credico of Mothers of the Disappeared New
York.
Mainly because Morgenthau could help eliminate one of the biggest
obstacles to change: district attorneys.
“We’re very encouraged that the district attorney’s willingness to speak
up about this is going to encourage other district attorneys to take a
second look and start to support reform,” said State Senate member Eric
Schneiderman.
The New York State District Attorney Association has long opposed a major
overhaul to the laws, but says it's willing to participate in a debate.
But Albany is also a problem. Lawmakers have never been able to reach an
agreement.
Last summer they came close, but talks between the governor, the State
Senate and the Assembly fell apart at the last minute.
Now the topic is heating up again.
The senate plans to hold a hearing on April 21st and the Assembly says its
long-standing bill will be reintroduced on Wednesday.
That’s when activists will be back in Albany, meeting with the leaders of
the legislature, with the hope that all sides will finally reach an
agreement.
– Michael Scotto
|
March 18, 2004, Thursday
METROPOLITAN DESK
Metro Briefing | New York: Albany: Morgenthau Supports Hearings On Drug Laws
By Al Baker (NYT); Compiled by Ian Urbina
District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau of Manhattan added his support yesterday
to an effort to push for changes to New York's mandatory sentences for drug
crimes, a legislative initiative that has been virtually dormant since last
summer. Mr. Morgenthau, in office since 1975, stopped short of advocating
specific reforms to the drug laws that were enacted in the 1970's under Gov.
Nelson A. Rockefeller. But he said that in his experience, the laws that impose
mandatory prison sentences for certain drug felonies could, at times, ''be
unnecessarily harsh.'' He hailed a move yesterday by State Senator David A.
Paterson, a Manhattan Democrat, to hold public hearings on proposals to change
the laws, including greater sentencing discretion for judges. Al Baker (NYT)
4/16/04 del mundo y el diario
} }
De izq. a der., las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo Enriqueta Maroni, Carmen Lapacó,
Tati Almeida y Aurora Beloquio/ FOTO PEDRO MENA
Por Elia Piedras
Noticias del Mundo"El
gobernador ha fallado en cumplir su promesa de reformar esta ley draconiana",
dijeron las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, en una protesta realizada ayer en las
afueras de las oficinas de la primera autoridad del estado, el gobernador George
Pataki, ubicadas en Manhattan.
Una comitiva de la emblemática organización, que durante 28 años ha liderado
movilizaciones en Argentina con el propósito de derogar legislación impuesta por
la dictadura de Jorge Videla, se encuentra en la capital neoyorquina para
respaldar a las agrupaciones que abogan por la abolición de la llamada Ley
Rockefeller.
"Nosotras en el comienzo también tuvimos mucha indiferencia, pero al final el
pueblo entendió. Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo transformamos nuestro dolor en
lucha y resistencia activa. Los neoyorquinos deben unirse para combatir esta
violación a los derechos humanos", dijo Enriqueta Maroni, madre de dos detenidos
desaparecidos. Establecida en 1973 por el gobernador Nelson Rockefeller, la
normativa obliga a los jueces a dictar condenas mínimas de prisión de quince
años para quienes sean sorprendidos en posesión o venta de drogas, aunque se
trate de pequeñas cantidades de alucinógeno y el inculpado no tenga antecedentes
penales.
Actualmente, más de 18 mil personas -que en un 93 por ciento corresponden a
hispanos y afroamericanos- se encuentran en las cárceles del estado bajo los
términos de esta legislación.
"Pataki ha dicho que está a favor de la reforma, pero no ha hecho nada al
respecto. El gobernador debe liderar un acuerdo entre demócratas y
republicanos", agregó Maroni sobre una plataforma en la Tercera avenida. Algunos
conductores que circulaban por la transitada vía, detenían sus coches al ver a
las mujeres de pañuelos blancos y tocaban las bocinas en señal de respaldo.
"Mi hijo murió en la cárcel antes de que pudiéramos cambiar la ley. Tenía una
condena de 23 años y alcanzó a cumplir siete. Me dijeron que falleció por un
problema respiratorio, pero su deceso nunca fue aclarado", señaló Teresa Avilés,
miembro de "Madres de Desaparecidos de Nueva York", una agencia que lucha por la
derogación de la Ley Rockefeller. Según la mujer, su hijo Isidro fue condenado
por conspiración y la única prueba en su contra fue una reducida cantidad de
dinero que tenía en su poder, al momento de la detención.
Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo, que marcharon ayer por la Tercera avenida como
acostumbran hacerlo cada jueves en Buenos Aires, llegaron a la ciudad
neoyorquina el pasado 9 de abril y fueron recibidas por el Concejo municipal, el
fiscal de Manhattan Robert Morgenthau y los líderes de las mayorías del Senado y
la Asamblea estatales, Joseph Bruno y Sheldon Silver, respectivamente. La
comitiva regresará a la Argentina el próximo 18 de abril.
"Nos vamos contentas, porque al menos hemos movilizado a algunas autoridades.
Desde Argentina, seguiremos trabajando con las 'Madres de Desaparecidos de Nueva
York', hasta conseguir la abolición de esta ley injusta", recalcó Maroni.
Repiten en Nueva York su
Madres marchan frente a Pataki
Eva Sanchis
"Pataki recordó que él ha sido el primer gobernador que ha propuesto una
reforma ‘comprensiva’ a estas leyes "
Nueva York — Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo esperaron ayer a que el reloj
marcase las 2:30, como lo han hecho durante los últimos 28 años, para realizar
su tradicional marcha silenciosa de protesta. Pero ayer el lugar y las
circunstancias eran muy distintas. En vez de la Casa Rosada de Buenos Aires, las
Madres se congregaron frente a las Oficinas del Gobernador George Pataki en el
Medio Manhattan para exigir la abolición de las Leyes Rockefeller contra las
Drogas.
Pataki no apareció, pero la noche anterior su director de Justicia Criminal,
Chauncey Parker, se había reunido por instrucciones del gobernador con las
madres para asegurarles que la reforma de las Leyes Rockefeller es un asunto
prioritario para él.
En un comunicado de prensa, tras la protesta, el gobernador recordó que él ha
sido el primer gobernador que ha propuesto una reforma “comprensiva” a estas
leyes desde que fueran aprobadas en mayo de 1973. Esta reforma, anunciada el
pasado mes de julio, no prosperó por discrepancias entre los legisladores sobre
cómo reducir las penas y tratar a los que se encuentran ya en prisión.
El gobernador Pataki no quiso realizar ningún comentario sobre el proyecto de
ley que el demócrata de Queens Jeff Aubry presentó en la Asamblea Estatal el
pasado miércoles.
“El gobernador tiene que revisar antes la ley aprobada ayer”, aseguró un
portavoz de su oficina de prensa.
Hace dos meses, cuando las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo aceptaron una invitación
de las Madres de los Desaparecidos de Nueva York para protestar contra las leyes
estatales de la droga, pocos pensaron que se iba a rescatar el debate sobre su
reforma, a dos meses del cierre de la sesión legislativa.
“Pero no ha sido así”, explicaba ayer Teresa Avilés, cuyo hijo murió en prisión
y es miembro de las Madres de los Desaparecidos de Nueva York. “Estábamos
cansados de ir a protestas y hacernos fotos con políticos, y de que después no
pasara nada, pero ellas han renovado este sentido de compromiso”.
Randy Credico, fundador de las Madres de los Desaparecidos de Nueva York, se
mostró satisfecho por el resultado de la visita de las argentinas, que concluye
oficialmente hoy: “Llevo un año intentando reunirme con la oficina del
gobernador para hablar de la ley, pero sólo ahora ha sido posible”.
Shayna Kessler, quien recogía firmas para la coalición “Drop the Rock” entre el
centenar de manifestantes, aseguró que no le había sido difícil reunir 70 en una
hora.
Eleanor Preiss, de 66 años, quien acudió a la protesta tras escuchar la noticia
por WBAI, fue una de sus firmantes contra las Leyes Rockefeller.
Otro firmante, el argentino Pablo Elizaga, de 35 años, afirmó que desconocía la
existencia de las leyes hasta que emigró hace un año y medio a Nueva York con su
mujer Ana y su hija de cuatro años. Elizaga respaldó la presencia de las Madres
de la Plaza de Mayo en Nueva York: “Ellas siempre han luchado por la justicia y
los derechos humanos. Son lo único auténtico”.
La protesta concluyó con una marcha silenciosa con el grito del legendario lema:
“Por los 30.000 desaparecidos: presentes, ahora y siempre”.
Andrew Cuomo threatens rally at GOP convention
By MICHAEL GORMLEY
Associated Press Writer
April 14, 2004, 12:39 PM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Andrew Cuomo said he will call off a potentially embarrassing
demonstration at the Republican National Convention in August only if Gov.
George Pataki and Republican leaders reform the state's drug laws first.
"If they don't want us to do the rally, they should change the laws, which
they promised to do," said Cuomo, the former federal housing secretary and
Democratic candidate for governor.Cuomo spokesman Shane Kavanagh said
Wednesday that Cuomo and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons have filed for the
permit to hold the demonstration outside Madison Square Garden, where the GOP
convention is scheduled. Cuomo said 50,000 people are expected to attend the
demonstration on the first day of the convention, Aug. 30.
Flash! April 12: HISTORIC MEETING WITH ARGENTINA & NY MOTHERS & NYC D.A
Rpbert Morganthau!!! HUGE PROTEST TO FOLLOW ON 4/15/03 IN FRONT OF
GOVERNOR PATAKI'S NYC OFFICE (READ MORE BELOW)!!!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
Randy Credico 212 924 6980
Anthony Papa 917 754 1008
Eric Schneiderman 212 928 5578
Tuesday April 13, 10:30 Manhattan DA's office
Madres de Plaza De Mayo, Mothers of the NY Disappeared
and maverick NY Senator Eric Schneiderman to meet with New York's
foremost District Attorney Robert Morganthau
regarding Rockefeller Drug Laws;Highly Respected District Attorney is first New
York DA to
meet with families of Rock law prisoners Wednesday 4/14/ Madres and
Mothers on to Albany for
meetings with Sen. Dems, Bruno, Silver, Black and Latino Caucus
Albany Times Union 4/12/04
|
Members of the Madres de Plaza De Mayo, an Argentinean group that
pressured their country's military junta for answers about their missing
loved ones, will meet with top New York state officials Wednesday to lobby
for reform of the strict Rockefeller Drug Laws.
The madres have appointments with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno,
R-Brunswick, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, as well as
members of the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Legislative Caucus. The
meetings will need a crack translator; none of the women "speaks a lick of
English," according to drug law reform activist Randy Credico. Credico,
who will accompany the madres, is spokesman for the Mothers of the New
York Disappeared, a group of formerly incarcerated drug offenders and
relatives of offenders currently serving long sentences The New York group
was inspired by the madres, who have demonstrated every Thursday at 3:30
p.m. for years in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires. They wear white head
kerchiefs and carry signs bearing the names and photos of the missing. The
New York mothers do the same, except their "missing" relatives are
incarcerated under the drug laws, which mandate long sentences, up to
life, for sale or possession of relatively small quantities of narcotics.
"We haven't been able to change the Rockefeller Drug Laws, yet these women
were able to change a military government in Argentina," Credico said.
"We're hoping a little of their magic rubs off." The madres, enormously
popular in the Latino community, will demonstrate in front of Pataki's
Manhattan office on Thursday, Credico said. Fellow members of the group
will simultaneous stand vigil back home at the Plaza de Mayo.
|
Flash! April 8th: MONEY TALKS!
The long battle between Russell Simmons and the State Lobbying commission has
ended in a victory for Rockefeller Drug Law activists!! Albany Times Union
4/7/04 : Agency Told To Back Off - Albany New York: Judge's ruling seen as
possible brake on Lobbying Commission .The state Lobbying Commission
overstepped its bounds in a probe of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons' campaign
against New York's strict drug laws, a state Supreme Court justice ruled
Tuesday.
Flash! March 25: Argentina's
MADRES DE PLAZA DE MAYO LINEA FUNDADORA will be coming to NYC the second week of
April to join forces with the Mothers of the NY Disappeared to fight the
Rockefeller Drug Laws. A series of events are scheduled with politicians
and others to highlight the issue of human rights violations.
A delegation, including its leader Taty Almeida, of the Argentine
Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo
www.madres-lineafundadora.org) will be making an historic 10 day trip to New
York City in April as guests of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial
Justice and in support of their friends, Mothers of the NY Disappeared, in their
endless and tireless efforts to change the Rockefeller Drug Laws and be reunited
with their loved ones.
Below is a partial list of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo itinerary.
Arrive April 9, JFK 6:30 AM. and will be met by the Kunstler Fund , the
Mothers of the NY Disappeared and Argentine reps and NY officials. A noon Press
conference at city hall steps with Margarita Lopez and other politicos along
with Rockefeller Drug Reform activists
Saturday April 10, A private reception with women in the civil rights
struggle at the home of Kunstler Fund founder and civil rights attorney Margaret
Ratner Kunstler; meetings with latino mothers of the disappeared in their homes
Sunday April 11: Easter in Washington Heights church TBA
Monday April 12 City Council Hearing with Mothers of the NY Disappeared
organized and sponsored by Councilwoman Margarita Lopez and the William Moses
Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice. A reception will follow inside city hall.
Tuesday April 13: MEETING WITH D.A. ROBERT MORGANTHAU!! Lunch
at offices of Drug Policy Alliance HQ at 70 west 36 street. A meeting at the
Correctional Association to hear grim testimony about Special Housing Units
Tuesday Night: A private reception at the home of longtime WMK Fund,
Mothers of the NY Disappeared supporters and fervent anti-drug war activists
Wendy and Jason Flom of Lava Records
Wednesday April 14:
WednesdayApril 14: Albany New York for meetings with Speaker Sheldon
Silver and other members of the NYS assembly; meeting with democratic leaders in
the state senate; a press conference will follow ( the mothers hope to meet with
Gov. Pataki and Joe Bruno
Thursday April 15 The Madres de Plaza de Mayo for the past 27 years have
held vigils/marches at the Plaza e Mayo in Buenos Aires at 1:30 PM EST.
OOn this day they will hold their vigil/march in front of the New York City
office of Governor Pataki on 3rd Ave and 40th streets
Thursday Night April 15 7;30PM: a party/reception/fundraiser open to the
public at Taci's on Broadway on 110 and Broadway to be sponsored by the WMK
Fund, Actor Charles Grodin, State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Documentary
producer Peter Greer, Wendy and Jason Flom and the Drug Policy Alliance
Friday April 16: TBA
Saturday TBA
Sunday April 18 return to Buenos Aires
The mothers will meet with attorney general Elliot Spitzer, mogul Russell
Simmons and longtime activist Grandpa Al Lewis during the week of the 12th.
contact:
Randi Credico 212- 924-6980
Anthony Papa 917 - 754-1008
Tony Newman Drug Policy Alliance 212 613 8026
BIO'S OF MADRES
Enriqueta Maroni,
75, has four children, of whom two were "disappeared" in 1977 by the
Argentine Junta. Their names are Juan Patricio Maroni, who was 21, and Maria
Beatriz Maroni, who was 23 when she was taken. Maria Beatrizs husband Carlos was
also disappeared. Juan Patricio studied sociology, and Maria Beatriz was a
licensed social worker. Their family was Catholic, and both Juan Patricio and
Maria Beatriz were very religious. Gradually, they became involved in a Peronist
youth movement, which was critical first of Isabel Peronâs government, and then
of the military dictatorship. They were both taken on the same night, the 5th of
April, 1977. Juan Patricio's 11-month-old daughter, Paula, was left with
Enriqueta and her husband, and they raised her. Enriqueta joined the madres de
la plaza in the fall of 1977.
.
Aurora Bellochio,
82, worked as a dress maker. She had 8 children, one of whom died in
infancy. Her fourth child, Irene , and her daughters' husband Rolando Pisoni,
were disappeared the 5th of August, 1977. Her daughter was in her third year of
studying architecture at the University of Buenos Aires, her husband was in his
fourth year of engineering at the same school. The daughter worked at the Banco
de Galicia in B.A., where she was a union representative. A year and a half
prior to her disappearance, someone went looking for her at the bank where she
worked. She managed to escape, and never went back to work and she went into
hiding, and subsequently got pregnant. She gave birth to the baby (Carlos)
in a hospital where she had been assured she would be safe by a friend who
worked there. 36 days after the birth of her only son, Irene and Rolando were
found and taken away from where they had been living in hiding. A neighbor was
given the new-born baby carlos and took him to his grandparents, Aurora and her
husband. Aurora raised Carlos as a son. After presenting her habeus corpus about
her daughters disappearance, Aurora gradually began to run into other mothers of
disappeared people, at church and at the court. Because she was working and also
had children still to raise, she did not have much time to get involved, but
eventually she joined and has become a very active Madre de Plaza de Mayo.
Carmen La Paco
, 77. Carmen's daughter Alejandra was 19 years of age and studying
anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires in the spring of 1997. Her
boyfriend was was a history student. At 11 PM on the night of March
16th, 1977, Carmen, her nephew, her daughter Alejandra and her boyfriend were
sitting around the table drinking coffee , when a knock came on the door and a
group of 9 or 10 armed thugs barged into the house. With the exception of
Carmen's mother, they were all taken to the basement of the Club Atletico, where
they were tortured for three days. At one point, Carmen encountered her own
daughter (whom she identified by her shoes, because she was chained to the
ground and could not look up). Her daughter told her that she had returned from
being tortured, and that she thought she was going to die. That was the last
time that she saw her daughter alive. Carmen says of the experience, those three
days, I lived hell. Hell not only for myself, but for what they did to my
daughter. She and her nephew, a law student, were released together after
those three days. It was a Saturday. Two days later, on Monday, Carmen did her
Habeus Corpus, and she began her fight to find out what had happened to her
daughter.
Lydia 'Taty' Almeida.
This charismatic, affable and tireless 74 year old woman actually comes from a
military family: her brother was a colonel, her father was a colonel. She has
three children. Her son Alejandro was 20 years old when he was disappeared in
1975. She says that the perception is that disappearances only happened after
the 1976 military coup, but that in fact, under the ˜constitutionalâ government
of Isabel Peron 2,000 people were disappeared, and clandestine torture
centers were established. . Alejandro, a medical student, left his house to go
out on the 7th of June, 1975, and he never returned home. Being anti-Peronista,
Taty assumed that it was the Peronist government that had taken her son, and she
rejoiced when the military coup happened. Then she realized that the
disappearances continued. When the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo formed in 1977,
Taty was hesitant about joining, because she assumed that they would think she
was a spy, because of her family âs military connections. But after awhile, she
did join, and it was "best thing she could have done." In 1985, she met
some of her son âs friends, who told her that they were alive thanks to
Alejandro, who had not told their names even when he was tortured. Since then,
she has met more of his friends, and she continues to fight. She says, Our
struggle is for memory, truth and justice.
www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/329/dirtywar.shtml
3/19/04
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=18228 3/24/04
New York's Dirty War
by Anthony Papa, Mothers of the New
York Disappeared and 15yearstolife.com
On February 5, 2004, an historic march
took place at the Plaza de Mayo circle in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Traditionally
for over 25 years, Argentina mothers have come to the circle to protest against
the disappearance of their love ones from the despicable acts of the
dictatorship of Argentina, which formed in 1976. What made the day different was
that members of the Mothers of the New York Disappeared joined them. They came
to Argentina to pay homage to the Mothers who had inspired them in their
seven-year struggle against the Rockefeller Drug Laws of New York State. Two
groups of mothers from worlds apart united against the violation of human
rights.
It was a bright sunny day. The air was
sharp as crowds of tourists gathered to watch the mothers prepare themselves for
their vigil. Tens of dozens of elderly women, most in the twilight of their
lives, entered the arena of hope praying that their dedication might somehow
bring justice to the children of the disappeared. Old women from the Asociación
Madres de Plaza de Mayo (http://www.madres.org),
the most radical of several groups. began the march waving bright blue flags
proudly displaying their logo. Women with hearts full of passion whose frailed
hands held tightly onto a banner that read "Ni Un Paso A Tras!!" -- "Not One
Step Back" when translated. A sea of white handkerchiefs adorned the heads of
the Argentinean mothers as they gracefully marched in protest against atrocities
that were committed against them and their families. They were unspeakable
crimes against humanity. It is estimated that 30,000 people had been kidnapped
and murdered in the reign of terror that existed from 1976 to 1983.
In 1973, a similar reign silently
began in New York State. Men and women, many nonviolent offenders, were being
convicted of drug crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment. They had in fact
disappeared from the roles they played in society. For over thirty years, these
draconian laws have devastated and destroyed families, especially affecting the
lives of children. Although it cannot be said that the acts of the legislature
were of the same caliber as those implemented by the Argentinean dictatorship,
the enactment of the Rockefeller Drug Laws has led to the systematic
imprisonment of men and women of black and Latino decent. Over 94% of the
population of New York State prisons are persons of color. It was not a concrete
act of genocide, but no less a form of it, and for sure, a violation of human
rights.
In 1998 the Mothers of the NY
Disappeared was formed to fight to repeal these laws. In five years, using
street level protests inspired by the Argentine mothers, they managed to change
the political climate of New York State by putting a human face on the issue of
the drug war. In 2001, for the first time in 27 years, the governor of New York
along with the Senate and Assembly all agreed that the laws must be changed.
However, for three consecutive years this was not done because of disagreement
on what changes should be made. In the meantime, over 16,000 men and women
convicted under these laws are wasting away in New York State prisons.
One member of the Mothers group from
New York was Julie Colon, an aspiring actress whose mother, Melita Oliviera, a
first time nonviolent offender, had served 13 years of a 15 to life sentence for
the sale of cocaine before she was granted clemency two years ago by Governor
George Pataki. "My mother had made a mistake, and she paid dearly for it" said
Colon. "I am here to join with other mothers and family members to share the
pain of losing someone dear. Although it was not final, the act of her being
taken from my life for all those years was devastating to me." Julie was placed
in foster care. Her case is representative of many others in the New York group,
including Arlene Olberg, whose baby was born in prison while she was serving
time under the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
The day before, a meeting took place in
the office of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, the Grandmothers of the Disappeared,
a group that was formed on October 22, 1977, dedicated to finding the children
that were stolen from them. One of the vile acts of the dictatorship was to
kidnap pregnant women and put them in concentration camps where their children
were born. Then they were murdered and their children were put up for adoption.
It was a method of political repression. To date 77 children have been found
through DNA testing. We spoke to their president, Estela de Carlotto, whose own
daughter was kidnapped on November 26, 1977. Estela, an attractive, soft-spoken
woman in her 70's, has felt the pain of losing a child first hand. She said, "We
had warned her of the danger, but she wanted to change the country." Her
daughter, Laura Estella de Carlotto, had been a militant student at the
university. On August 25, 1978, the military police called her, saying that her
21-year-old daughter had been assassinated.
When asked if she was afraid to
protest their actions, she responded, "Yes, it was dangerous, some of us were
kidnapped and assassinated. But for the most part because we were women so they
left us alone. They felt we were no threat." Their perseverance paid off.
Recently the government has annulled two immunity laws protecting those who
committed the atrocities, allowing the law to be able to prosecute them. She
told us that "the new president opens his doors to us all the time because he
belongs to the same generation of the children that disappeared."
It was a similar story that was told
by a half dozen members of another group called the Madres de Plaza de Mayo
Línea Fundadora. Their office walls were adorned with photos of loved ones that
had disappeared. Some of the women had pictures of murdered family members
draped around their necks in the place of jewelry. A roundtable discussion took
place, exchanging information about each groups' struggle. At the end of the
meeting their leader suggested that she would write an open letter to the
governor of New York State, asking him repeal the laws. The letter would be
signed by many organizations that fight for human rights in Argentina. "We
thanked them for their generosity and understanding. We went there not knowing
how they would accept us," said Luciana, the wife of a former Rockefeller drug
offender who attended the meeting. "Seeing these women gives me the strength to
continue my fight to change these laws."
Some might argue that the families of
those incarcerated under the Rockefeller Drug Laws have not suffered as the
Madres in Argentina. But, I would point out that for thirty years the oppression
of these laws has been felt in the context of the social death implemented by
the punitive laws of New York State. There are haunting similarities which make
one think of what the difference is between a democratic society and a
dictatorship. For both groups of mothers, worlds apart, they are connected by
their respective struggles. One day it is hoped that both groups find peace when
justice is found.
In the second week of April 2004, the
Madres de Plaza de Mayo Línea Fundadora will visit New York as guests of the
William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice to meet with New York politicians
and others to voice their protest. Visit
http://www.15yearstolife.com/imothers.htm for more information on the
schedule of events.
Anthony Papa is cofounder of the
Mothers of the NY Disappeared. He served 12 years of a 15-to-life sentence under
the Rockefeller Drug Laws. His book "15 To Life" is being published in fall 2004
by Feral House.
-- END --
Flash! February 24, 2004
In the long war between the lobby commision and Russell Simmons and others
that has been around since the June 4th 2003 rally fighting the Rockefeller Drug
Laws, the director now is against the laws he is enforcing. This is because if
Simmons goes forward with his law suit and wins, the courts would take away
their power and outline what they can and cannot do.
New York Times
By MARC SANTORA
Official Says Lobbying Law He Enforces Is Too Weak
In a surprisingly blunt criticism of the law he is charged with enforcing,
the director of the state's lobbying commission said on Monday that the existing
lobbying statute was "a pretty weak law" that may be unconstitutional.
The official, David M. Grandeau, the executive director of the Temporary State
Commission on Lobbying, also said he would recommend that all civil penalties in
cases pending before the commission be suspended. ...Mr.
Simmons, who has helped lead a campaign to soften the state's Rockefeller-era
drug laws, has been fighting attempts by the lobbying commission to fine him for
not declaring lobbying expenses. Mr. Simmons has contended that he was not
lobbying but simply expressing his views in a public forum.
Flash! Feb. 18, 2004 :
Madres of Argentina write a letter to Governor Pataki urging him to repeal the
Rockefeller Drug Laws!!! Featured in the El Diario Newspaper on 2/17/03
Original letter below this.
To Mr.
Governor of the
State of New York
George Pataki
Mothers of Plaza de Mayo -Founder Line- is an organization for (in favor
of) life. We have worked during 27 years in favor of Memory, Truth and
Justice in our home country.
As a human rights movement we worry that they are fulfilled, not only in our
country but anywhere in the world where they are subjugated.
Knowing through the institution Mothers of the New York Disappeared (Madres de
los Desaparecidos de Nueva York) of the inhumane conditions of detention and
prolonged sentences in the state of New York, we ask the Governor George Pataki
for the annulment of the Rockefeller Laws, as they violate those rights and
attempt against the dignity of the person.
The indefatigable struggle of the Mothers and family members of that institution
have transformed, as we have, pain into an active resistance from our place as
Mothers of the detained-disappeared, demanding TRUTH AND JUSTICE, which we
extend to, in this opportunity to the family members of the incarcerated in the
state of New York.
For all of this we ask the Governor to become involved as responsible for the
injustices committed in the prisons and accelerate carrying through all
necessary for the annulment of the Rockefeller Laws, thus, assuming a direct
commitment to find a humanitarian exit to put an end to this situation.
Through this letter we want to send our affection and solidarity to the
incarcerated, mothers and families of that State, and commit with this cause in
which we are accompanied by our:
30,000 DETAINED-DISAPPEARED
PRESENT
Respectfully,
Taty Almeida
Enriqueta Maroni
MADRES DE PLAZA DE MAYO
LINEA FUNDADORA
ORIGINAL LETTER IN SPANISH
Buenos Aires, 8 de febrero 2004
Al
Sr. Gobernador Del
Estado De Nueva York
George Pataki
Madres de Plaza de Mayo-Linea Fundadora- es una organizacion por y para la
Vida. Durante 27 anos hemos trabajado por la Memoria, la Verdad y la
Justicia en nuestra patria.
Como organismo de Derechos Humanos nos preocupamos que estos sean cumplidos
no solo en nuestro pais sino tambien en cualquier parte del mundo donde sean
avasllados.
Conocedoras por la Instucion Mothers of the New York Disappeared (Madres de
Los Desaparecidos de Nueva York) de los condiciones inhumanos de detencion y
las condenas prolongadas del Estado de Nueva York, solicitamos al Sr.
Gobernador Gerorge Pataki la anulacion de la Ley Rockefeller, ya que viola
esos derechos y atenta contra la dignidad de la persona.
La
incansable lucha de las Madres y los familiares de esa institucion han
transformado, al igual que nosotras, el dolor en una resistencia activa que
acompanamos desde nuestro lugar de Madres de detenidos-desaparecidos
exigiendo VERDAD Y JUSTICA la que hacemos extensiva, en esta ocasion,
a los familiares de los presos del Estado de Nueva York/
Por
todo esto pedimos al Gobernador que se involucre como responsable de las
injusticias que se cometen en las carceles y acelere los tramites necesarias
para anular la Ley Rockefeller, asumiendo de esta manera, un
compromiso directo para encontrar una verdadera salida humanitaria que ponga
termino a esta situacion.
A
traves de esta carta, queremos hacer llegar nuestro afecto y solidaridad a
los presos, madres y familiares de ese Estado y comprometernos con esta
causa en la que nos acompanan nuestros:
30,000 DETENIDOS-DESAPARACIDOS
PRESENTES
Respetuosamente,
MADRES DE PLAZA DE MAYO
LINEA FUNDADORA
Taty Almeida Enriqueta Maroni por Madres de Plaza
de Mayo- Línea Fundadora
|
http://www.november.org/stayinfo/breaking/Mothers.html
FULL COVERAGE
IN NOVEMBER COALITION'S NEWSLETTER ABOVE
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/323/mothers.shtml
| Mothers to Mothers: New York
Drug Reform Activists Visit Argentina
2/6/04
Members of the Mothers of the New
York Disappeared, a group devoted to repealing
that state's draconian Rockefeller drug laws, traveled this week to
Argentina to meet with their namesakes and inspiration, Argentina's Mothers
and Grandmothers of the Disappeared (http://www.madres.org
and
http://www.madres-lineafundadora.org). In a gesture of solidarity and
support that stretches across the hemisphere, the two groups fighting
against repression and for human rights met for the first time in Buenos
Aires this week.
The New York Mothers, part of a
large and growing coalition to "Drop the Rock," or repeal the Rockefeller
laws, are made up of family members of some of the more than 20,000 people
serving lengthy mandatory minimum sentences in the state. Their Argentine
counterparts formed in the 1970s to demand that the Argentine government
account for the thousands of people who "disappeared" at the hands of the
rightist military dictatorship that took power in 1976.
The Argentine junta's "dirty war"
against leftist opponents -- armed and unarmed alike -- was one of the
darkest chapters of 20th Century Latin American history. Somewhere between
10,000 and 30,000 students, trade unionists, peasants, human rights workers,
and complete innocents were kidnapped, tortured, and killed by the military
regime with the quiet acquiescence of successive US governments, who viewed
the Argentine atrocities as part of a larger hemispheric struggle against
communism. Many were tortured at the Naval Mechanics School in Buenos Aires,
then drugged and tossed unconscious from Argentine Air Force planes into the
frigid waters of the South Atlantic. Others were executed, then dressed in
guerrilla uniforms and displayed as battle casualties. Still others were
buried in mass graves. Pregnant women gave birth in captivity, then were
killed, their infants disappearing into military families.
The Argentine Mothers of the
Disappeared (also known as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) were forged in
this terrible crucible. Beginning while the military junta still held power,
they confronted the military with the moral authority of wronged parents.
The Mothers, in their trademark white scarves, endured the sneers and scorn
of regime supporters, as well as threats, assaults, and kidnappings, as they
marched without fail every Thursday in front of the presidential palace
demanding justice. And they still march, for justice has not been done.
While some leaders of the junta have since been jailed, the ultimate fate of
thousands of "disappeared" remains unknown, as do the whereabouts of the
babies born into captivity.
|
New York Mothers cofounders Randy
Credico of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Social Justice (http://www.kunstler.org)
and former Rockefeller drug law prisoner Anthony Papa (http://www.15yearstolife.com)
were joined by group member Julie Colon for the trip. Colon is the daughter of
Melia Oliveira, who was arrested at JFK Airport in 1988 carrying cocaine and
sentenced to a mandatory minimum 15 years in prison. Oliveira was granted
clemency by New York Gov. George Pataki (R) in December, but now faces
deportation to her native Peru as a "criminal alien."
The New York Mothers of the
Disappeared came to meet their counterparts with some anxiety and trepidation
because they were unsure whether the Argentine Mothers would see their cause as
worthy, said Credico. "We were a little nervous," he said. "It's one thing to be
in jail for drugs and quite another to be secretly tortured and killed for your
political beliefs. But they understood. They could see the political
ramifications of the drug war, and while there are different levels of
repression, they could see that these policies target the poor and the
non-white."
Credico contacted the Mothers' groups
in Argentina because he wanted to honor them as role-models and explain the New
York Mothers' struggle to their Latin American counterparts. "We decided we
would go to show some gratitude and see if we could come up with some support
for our movement in New York," an exhausted Credico said by phone from Buenos
Aires Tuesday night.
Editor's Note: DRCNet had arranged
interviews with the Argentine Mothers to be conducted Thursday afternoon, but
was foiled by busy international phone lines all day long.
The New Yorkers spent a busy week in
Buenos Aires, meeting on Tuesday with two groups of Mothers of the Disappeared,
Wednesday with the Grandmothers of the Disappeared, and participating Thursday
in the Mothers' weekly vigil at the Plaza de Mayo and at a well-attended press
conference following the vigil. This week's vigil honored the New York Mothers
of the Disappeared.
"The Argentine Mothers researched the
Kunstler Fund and the New York Mothers before we came down," said Credico. "They
knew about the two million people in prison in the United States, they
understood the racist aspect of the drug war. They know what it means to have a
person disappear from your life, whether it's in Greenhaven state prison or an
Argentine torture chamber. We are flabbergasted, ecstatic, I'm at a loss for
words," said Credico, who rarely is.
"We are fighting the same fight," said
Papa. "I went into their offices and saw the posters on the walls and I broke
out it chills. It was just like my office, but these posters had the names and
faces of people killed or disappeared in the dirty war. The Mothers understand
that the drug war is our dirty war." And they are lending a hand, Papa said.
"They are writing a letter to Gov. Pataki to ask him to change the Rockefeller
laws, and they are getting all the other human rights groups to sign on."
"I was kind of scared to meet with
them at first," said Julie Colon, the only Spanish-speaker among the New Yorkers
making the trip. "I didn't know what to expect. But they embraced our cause,
they understood our suffering, and they support us."
"They are a real inspiration," said
Credico, "there is so much strength and courage. And they are old, some in their
70s and 80s. "They say 'we're not special heroes; these are our children.' They
kept going and going and going, and even though their activism brought down the
military government, they're still not satisfied and they continue to fight.
Just as once we destroy the Rockefeller laws, we will still be on the street
fighting for justice."
THREE STORIES FROM EL DIARIO REPORTING THE ARGENTINA
MEETING
Madres de
Plaza de Mayo’
2/17/03
Piden anular Ley Rockefeller
MANUEL E. AVENDAÑO
Activistas por
derechos humanos de Nueva York aparecen en las officinas de la
organizacion 'Madres de Plaza de Mayo' durante la reciente visita que
hiceran a Buenos
Aires, Argentina. En el centro, Randy Credico y Tony Papa, de '
Kunstler Fund' y 'Mothers
of the NY Disappeared'. A la derecha, Julie Colon, portando un afiche con la
foto de su
madre, Melita Olivera, que estuvo presa durante 13 anos en aplicacion de la
Ley Rockefeller.
NUEVA YORK — Las “Madres de Plaza de Mayo” de Buenos Aires, Argentina,
pidieron al gobernador de Nueva York, George Pataki la anulación de la Ley
Rockefeller y una “verdadera salida humanitaria” que ponga fin a las
injusticias que se cometen en las cárceles neyorquinas, según una carta que
EL DIARIO/LA PRENSA obtuvo ayer en exclusiva.
La misiva, que es portada por un activista neoyorquino y que será entregada
al gobernador en los próximos días, está fechada en Buenos Aires, el 8 de
febrero último y autodescribe a la “Línea Fundadora” como “una organización
por y para la vida”.
“Durante 27 años hemos trabajado por la Memoria, la Verdad y la Justicia en
nuestra patria”.
Agrega que “como organismo de Derechos Humanos nos preocupamos que éstos
sean cumplidos no sólo en nuestro país, sino también en cualquier parte del
mundo donde sean avasallados”.
“Conocedoras por la Institución ‘Mothers of the New York Disappeared’
(Madres de los Desaparecidos de Nueva York) de las condiciones inhumanas de
detención y las condenas prolongadas del Estado de Nueva York, solicitamos
al señor gobernador George Pataki la anulación de la Ley Rockefeller, ya que
viola esos derechos y atenta contra la dignidad de la persona”.
La carta fue obtenida en Buenos Aires por el “Kunstler Fund”, a través de su
representante y co-fundador Randy Credico, en un viaje que realizaron varios
activistas neoyorquinos a la capital argentina.
“La incansable lucha —prosigue la carta— de las Madres y los familiares de
esa institución han transformado, al igual que nosotras, el dolor de una
resistencia activa que acompañamos desde nuestro lugar de Madres de
detenidos-desaparecidos exigiendo VERDAD Y JUSTICIA la que hacemos
extensiva, en esta ocasión, a los familiares de los presos del Estado de
Nueva York”.
“Por todo esto pedimos al Gobernador que se involucre como responsable de
las injusticias que se cometen en las cárceles y acelere los trámites
necesarios para anular la Ley Rockefeller, asumiendo de esta manera, un
compromiso directo para encontrar una verdadera salida humanitaria que ponga
término a esta situación”, indica la comunicación.
“A través de esta carta, — prosigue — queremos hacer llegar nuestro afecto y
solidaridad a los presos, madres y familiares de ese Estado y comprometernos
con esta causa en la que nos acompañan nuestros 30.000
detenidos-desaparecidos, presentes”.
Firman la misiva las directivas de Madres de Plaza de Mayo, Línea Fundadora,
encabezadas por Taty Almeida.
Según anunció Credico, una delegación de la organización argentina, viajará
a Nueva York el próximo 8 de mayo para participar en actividades, con
ocasión de cumplirse el 31 aniversario de la Ley Rockefeller. “Han sido 31
años de violación de los derechos humanos en una nación que defiende la
libertad”, sentenció finalmente el activista.
Una causa
2/16/03
manuel avendañO
PATERSON — Julie Colón, hija de Melita Olivera, viajó recientemente a la
Argentina — junto a un grupo de activistas de derechos humanos de Nueva York
— para dar a conocer el caso de su madre.
Entre el 2 y 11 de febrero se llegó a reunir con las principales dirigentes
de la organización “Madres de la Plaza de Mayo”, que lleva una campaña de
casi tres décadas por sus familiares desaparecidos.
“Yo fui para agradecerles la inspiración que me habían brindado en el caso
de mi madre”, declaró ayer Colón.
“Aunque no son casos exactamente iguales, se parecen en lo que se refiere a
la separación familiar. Aprendimos mucho de ellas”, agregó.
“Ellas han peleado durante décadas por sus hijos muertos y por sus nietos
arrebatados, nosotros luchamos por una madre que no estuvo a nuestro lado
durante muchos años, debido a un sistema injusto”, relató Julie.
Agregó que el caso de su madre fue dado a conocer como un ejemplo de las
llamadas Leyes Rockefeller, por la que muchos latinos y negros “pasan
injusta prisión en estos momentos”. Julie fue acompañada por miembros de la
organización “Madres de Desaparecidos en Nueva York” y el “ Kunstler Fund”.
“Ha sido un tremendo logro haber conseguido su reconocimiento y logrado su
apoyo”, dijo Randy Credico del “Kunstler Fund”, organización que fundó en
1998, junto a Tony Papas, en defensa de los derechos humanos.
Dijo que logró obtener un carta suscrita por las activistas de las “Madres
de la Plaza de Mayo” dirigida al gobernador Pataki, pidiendo la derogación
de las temidas Leyes Rockefeller.
Anunció que un grupo de estas activistas visitarán Nueva York el próximo 8
de mayo para participar junto a las “Madres de los Desaparecidos en Nueva
York” en la conmemoración del 31 aniversario de las Leyes Rockefeller. “Son
31 años de injusticia”, dijo Credico.
“Nosotros dijimos en Argentina que lamentábamos que la violación de los DDHH
— atribuida siempre a Latinoamérica — se dé también aquí, en el propio
EEUU”.
La madre
peruana que se
Nueva angustia para Melita
2/16/03
MANUEL E. AVENDAÑO
PATERSON — Para Melita Olivera los problemas parecen nunca acabar. Fue
separada de su familia durante 13 años — desde 1987 — por la drástica
aplicación de las Leyes Rockefeller en Nueva York. No vio crecer a sus hijos
y, cuando logró un indulto del gobernador George Pataki, en el 2001, tuvo
que enfrentar un proceso de deportación que, finalmente, quedó nulo ante el
perdón que consiguió de las autoridades de inmigración.
Sin embargo, luego de quedar en libertad, no pudo regresar a su hogar de
Paterson, Nueva Jersey, hasta conseguir una oferta de trabajo en ese estado.
Así se pasó un par de años más hasta conseguir que la Autoridad de
Estacionamientos de esa ciudad la contratara como empleada.
Melita acababa de regresar a su vivienda de Paterson, reuniéndose nuevamente
a sus hijos Julie y Esly, cuando otra separación la volvió a atacar. Esta
vez era su hijo — policía en la ciudad de Clifton y reservista del Ejército
de los EEUU — que fue activado y partió para la guerra en Irak.
Esly fue llamado en abril del año pasado y se mantenía en permanente
comunicación con su madre, con llamadas y cartas. El dolor de Melita no
quedaría allí. Cuando el 21 de abril se enteró que su hijo estaba en Kuwait,
listo para cruzar hacia Irak, su preocupación creció al máximo.
“A los dos días de saber la noticia, sufrí un derrame cerebral”, declaró a
este diario que la visitó ayer en su casa de la calle Summer.
Relata que se encontraba en su trabajo cuando, de pronto, no pudo caminar y
se cayó. De allí fue llevada a la sala de Emergencias del Hospital General
de Wayne donde quedó hospitalizada durante tres semanas.
“Se me había paralizado la mitad izquierda del cuerpo y desde esa fecha tuve
que dejar de trabajar”, agrega. Se muestra agradecida, sin embargo, al
director de la Autoridad de Estacionamientos de la ciudad de Paterson. “Ese
señor Tony Pérez me dio la oportunidad de reunirme con mi familia y volver a
mi hogar en Paterson”.
Sin embargo, en medio de toda esta angustia, Melita se muestra positiva. “Yo
espero que él regrese muy pronto, sano y salvo”, nos dice mirando las cintas
amarillas que ha amarrado en las columnas a la entrada a su casa en señal de
esperanza, como muchas otras familias que han visto a sus hijos partir a la
guerra. Lo que también la anima mucho es que su caso haya traspuesto las
fronteras y se conozca a nivel internacional.
En 1987, cuando regresaba del Perú, recibió el encargo de traer un paquete
con joyas, pero cuando pasó revisión en el aeropuerto John F. Kennedy de
Nueva York, el tal paquete era un pequeño cargamento de droga. Melita
mantuvo su inocencia en todo momento e, incluso, cuando la fiscalía le
ofreció una condena leve a cambio de declararse culpable — para así evitar
juicio — ella prefirió ser procesada. La condena judicial fue de 15 años en
prisión.
Sus hijos crecieron sin ella, pero aprendieron a solidarizarse con el ser
que les dio la vida. Julie y Esly emprendieron una campaña que fue apoyada
fuertemente por activistas. Al final de tanta presión, se logró el indulto
de Pataki en la Navidad del año 2000.
|
-- END --
Translation of excerpt from an article that appeared on 2/3/04
in a Buenos
Aires Newspaper about the Mothers of the NY Disappeared. Original
Spanish text below.
PAGINA12 buenos aires, 3 of February Report: Martina Noalilles
"Since 1998, when a person in New York hears the phrase
"disappeared
person," they associate it with more than the thirty thousand Argentine
victims of the dictatorship. That year a group of family members of
persons condmened by the controversial Rockefeller drug laws became the
Mothers of the New York Disappeared to fight against the racist and
draconian laws. Members of this organization met yesterday with the
Mothers of Plaza del Mayo, whom they thanked for inspiring their
struggle for justice."
PAGINA12
Buenos Aires, 3 de febrero
Informe: Martina Noalilles
Desde 198 cuando en Nueva York se
escucha la palabra "desaparecido"
no se associatan sólo con los treinta mil argentinos víctimas de
la
dictadura. Ese año un groupo de familiares de personas conenadas
por la
polémica Ley Rockefeller a más de 15 años de prisión por tenecia
o
venta de drogas se reunió baja el nombre Mothers of the New York
Disappeared ( Madres de los Desaparecidos de Nueva
York)parapalear por
la derogación de esta norma considerada "racista y draconiana".
intergrantes de la organización conocieron ayer personalmente a
la
Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, a quienes les agradecieron "porque su
fuerza inspiró nuestra lucha" y les pidieron su apoyo para
condenar la
ley que se aplica desde 1973.
"Los estudios demuestran que la
mayoría de las personas que
consumen y expenden drogas en Nueva York son blancos. Sin
embargo, el
94.2 por ciento de los presos por la Ley Rockefeller son negros y
latinos" Randy Credico, cofundadorde de la organización
neoyorquina,
despliega eso datos junto a decenas de recortes de diarios que
cuentan
las historias de los condenados y de sus familiares. Las que lo
escuchan son las Madres de Plaza de Mayo Línea Fundadora. Aunque
no
sólo oyen. También les transiten su propia experiencia de más de
viente
años: " Saber que luchan por familiares que están vivos tiene
que
darlas mucha más fortaleza aún. No se detengan".
La Ley Rockefeller condena perpetua a quienes poseen más de
cuatro
onzas or vendan más de dos de cualquier narcótico (una onza
equivale a
28 gramos). Lá unica forma de obtener una pena más leve es
declarándose
culpable. El propósito inicial de la legislacioón, sancionada en
1973
por el entonces gobenador de Nueva York Nelson Rockefeller era
frenar
el consumo y venta de drogas mediante estrctas condenas, que a lo
largo
de los años no sólo no disminuyeron sino que aumentaron."En
Estado
Unidos he un negocio de las prisiones y los que llenan las
cárceles son
los pobres", les asegura Credico a las madres y da mas datos: "
Desde
1982 el estado cárceles al sistima. Por cada una recibe más de 1
billon
de dólares al a´no para cubrir los gastos".
El padre de Credico fue condenado a 10
años por un delito no
violento durante la década del 40. "Al poner un hombre en prisión
muchas veces su madre muere, su esposa lo deja, sus hijos son
violados.
Sale de la cárcel sin nada", cuenta. Quizá porque lo sufrió
personalmente, lo que más parece perturbarle
a Credico es la cantidad de hijos que son seperados de sus padres
cuando pasan años en la cárcel. En ealgunos casos se trata de
drogadictos que venden para sonstener su propio vicio, otos son
gente
muy pobre que, según Credico, "venden por unos dólares porque no
tienen
para comer". Muchos ni siquiera saben que están siendo usados
de¨"mulas" para llevar un paquete de una ciudad o de un país a
otro.
Ese fue el caso de la madre de July
Colon, una joven que forma
parte de la organizción y que vino a Buenos Aires a contar su
historia.
Melita Oliveira ahora tiene 60 años y cinco hijos.
Fue condenada a 15
años de prisión cuando, de regreso a Estado Unidos luego de una
visita
a su padre enfermo en Perú, personal de la aduana encontró que
dentro
del paquete que un amigo le había encargado llevar a un
familiar, no
había un regalo sino cocaína. El gobernador George Pataki le
concedío
la libertad hace un 13 en prisión. Ya libre, las qutoridades de
Nueva
York pidieron que sea deportada a perú. La lucha de sus hijos,
nacidos
en Estado Unidos, logró que Oliveira pueda quedarse en su casa.
"Los condenados por la Ley
Rockefeller son desaparecidos de su
familia, de su trabajo, de la vida social", afirma Credico
mientras
mira las fotos de los desapaecidos argentinos pegadas en las
paredes de
la sede de Madres. Mañana irán a la ronda de los jueves en Plaza
de
Mayo. "Es que su lucha ha inspiado la lucha de todas las madres
que por
a´nos no pueden ver a sus hijos por una ley racista¨."
Flash!! Jan. 30 "
: The Mothers of the NY Disappeared will meet with
Argentina's Mothers and Grandmothers of the Disappeared
in Buenos Aires in the first week of Feb. Co-founders Anthony Papa
and Randy Credico will lead a group traveling to South America in a historic
protest against human rights violations., which includes the drug war.
For more info contact the Kunstler Fund at 212- 9246980
Argentina's "Dirty War" --
(1976-1983) a reign of terror by a military junta that has been blamed for an
estimated 10,000 to 30,000 deaths and disappearances, and the persecution of
tens of thousands more, according to human rights organizations, Students, trade
unionists, members of the left, peasants, human rights defenders -- all were
hunted down, imprisoned, disappeared, killed and tortured. Many of the
disappeared were thrown from airplanes into the ocean while still alive; others
were killed and buried in mass graves. The legacy of the "Dirty War" lives on
today, over 20 years later - the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo
still demonstrate once a week in Buenos Aires wearing their trademark white head
scarves, carrying pictures of their disappeared loved ones and persistent in
their call for justice.
The United States
"dirty drug war" has been responsible for tens of thousands of men and
women that have disappeared from their families supporting the prison industrial
complex
"At this time the current Rockefeller Drug
Law news evolves around the issue of the state lobbying commission trying
to curb individuals from getting involved with the fight to repeal these
draconian laws. Below you can follow the news that has been the only way
the issue is getting exposure. Hopefully when the legislature comes back we can
start the fight to repeal once again " To read a history leading up to this
scroll down this page and also be sure to go to the Mothers2 section for more
historical information" -- Anthony Papa
Flash! -- NY Times ALBANY, Nov. 28 — The head of the state lobbying
commission and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office are at odds over the
interpretation of state lobbying rules, with each side trying to circumvent the
other over several issues involving Russell Simmons, the hip-hop impresario. In
recent days, David M. Grandeau, the executive director of the Temporary State
Commission on Lobbying, has taken his differences with lawyers from Mr.
Spitzer's office public, saying they have not vigorously represented the
commission's legal position. He has demanded that they step aside to allow him
to hire outside counsel. "I have said repeatedly, I am not comfortable with how
they have defended us," Mr. Grandeau said. As lawyers for the state, Mr.
Spitzer's office has been representing Mr. Grandeau, the lobbying commission and
its chairman in a suit brought in July by Mr. Simmons and others who have been
trying to soften the state's Rockefeller-era drug laws. Al Baker
Flash!
New York Post : November 26, 2003 --
A federal judge has told hip-hop honcho Russell Simmons that his suit against
the state lobbying commission doesn't belong in her court.
Manhattan Judge Loretta Preska tossed out a federal lawsuit brought by Simmons,
accusing the commission of trampling his constitutional rights to protest tough
Rockefeller-era drug laws, saying it belongs in state court.
In an eight-page decision, Preska said only the state court has the power to
decide whether Simmons was merely engaging in public advocacy or lobbying.
"Abstention is mandatory and I may not address the merits of this case," Preska
said.
The commission was investigating whether Simmons improperly
acted as a lobbyist. John Lehmann
November 9, 2003 --
It takes something pretty outrageous for us to agree with the New York Civil
Liberties Union - but the state Lobbying Commission has managed to provide just
such an excuse. The NYCLU filed suit Monday charging that the Temporary
Commission on Lobbying in Albany is virtually out of control and can no longer
tell the difference between lobbying activities and legitimate grass-roots
advocacy. Given the commission's recent zealotry, the group has a strong case.
Hey, even the NYCLU can be right once in a while. The fact is, it's
increasingly looking like the commission won't be satisfied until it maintains
absolute control over any and all political speech in this state - and to hell
with the First Amendment.
Flash! Newsday :Novemeber 3, 2003 NYCLU
sues the New York Temporary State Commission on LobbyingNEW YORK -- A
civil liberties group argued in a lawsuit Monday that the head of the state's
commission on lobbying is using his powers to scare people and groups they join
from using their First Amendment rights. Grandeau said he suspected the NYCLU
might be seeking an edge in a dispute in federal court in Manhattan over a probe
the lobbying commission had conducted of political allies Russell Simmons and
Benjamin Chavis...
Flash! October 2, 2003 :
Federal Court Issues Order Suspending NY Lobbying Commission Investigation of
Russell Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2003--Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin
Chavis, who together with the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, filed a lawsuit in
July of this year charging the New York Temporary State Commission on Lobbying
with violating their First Amendment rights, reconvened in federal court this
morning to ask Judge Loretta A. Preska to enforce the suspension of the Lobbying
Commission's investigation into Russell Simmons and Dr. Chavis.
Today, Judge Loretta A. Preska issued an order suspending the Lobbying
Commission's investigation into Plaintiffs' First Amendment activities, which
were aimed at raising public awareness about the unfairness of the Rockefeller
Drug Laws. The Judge found that the Lobbying Commission had unfairly tried to
back out of a court-approved agreement to suspend the investigation. The
suspension that Judge Preska ordered today will last until the Court can issue a
full decision in this case.
|
|
Flash! October 1, 2003 It seems
like the system is working at its best to stop concerned citizens who
want to speak out against racist and draconian laws (Rockefeller Drug
Laws). Threatening them with penalties to make examples of them so
others will not get involved
Andrew Cuomo continues battle with state Lobbying Commission
By JOEL STASHENKO
Associated Press Writer
September 30, 2003, 7:30 PM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Andrew Cuomo insisted again Tuesday he is not aiding the
state Lobbying Commission in its investigation of political allies
Russell Simmons and Benjamin Chavis. In a sworn affidavit filed with a
federal court in Manhattan, Cuomo said he supports rap record mogul
Simmons and his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network's efforts to get Gov.
George Pataki and the state Legislature to ease the harshest of the
state's Rockefeller drug laws.
Cuomo said the campaign committee he set up to run for governor in 2002
contributed $50,000 to help fund anti-drug law efforts, including a June
2003 rally in New York City that was attended by thousands of
supporters. The money also paid for a radio ad campaign designed to
pressure Pataki and state legislators into softening the drug-sentencing
laws. "I did not cooperate in any investigation of Mr. Simmons and Dr.
Chavis," Cuomo said in his affidavit.
He added, "Let me be unequivocal! I am proud to stand firmly beside my
friends Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis in support of the effort
to address the fundamental unfairness of the Rockefeller drug laws."
Cuomo called the Lobbying Commission inquiry into whether Simmons,
Chavis and their affiliated groups spent money on anti drug-law efforts
in violation of state lobbying laws "baseless." The investigation's
result will be "to chill our cherished right to free speech and to
petition our government," Cuomo told the court.
He said in an interview Tuesday that he became allied with the Hip-Hop
Summit Action Network because it "intrigued" him to help get an
underrepresented segment of society involved in the political process
and an important public policy issue. "This now sends exactly the
opposite message: If you try to get involved and you speak up, your
government will come after you," the elder son of former Gov. Mario
Cuomo said. He also said his efforts were aimed at educating the public
about the drug laws, not to influence Albany policymakers. Simmons and
Chavis are challenging the Lobbying Commission's investigation of their
activities as an infringement of free speech under the constitution. A
hearing in the case is scheduled for federal court in Manhattan for
Thursday morning.
The executive director of the Lobbying Commission, David Grandeau, said
Tuesday that whether Cuomo wants to acknowledge it or not, he is aiding
in the commission's investigation by divulging information about the
anti-drug law campaign earlier this year. "His (Cuomo's) papers and
documents are in our filings with the court," Grandeau said. "Andrew can
say he's not being cooperative, but he's being cooperative. The
Shakespearean quote, `Me thinks the lady doth protest too much' comes
immediately to mind." Grandeau also questioned why Cuomo did not
formally join the suit against the commission as a party. Cuomo said his
affidavit essentially means he has. Simmons, founder of Def Jam records,
was a supporter of Cuomo during the former federal housing secretary's
unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2002.
Chavis is former head of the state chapter of the NAACP.
Cuomo himself is also the subject of a Lobbying Commission inquiry.
Grandeau said that case has been put on hold while Cuomo seeks an
advisory opinion on whether the fact the money for the anti-drug law
activities came through his political committee and was reported to the
state Board of Elections means he didn't violate Lobbying Commission
rules. Efforts to scale back the mandatory drug sentencing laws
failed earlier this year, though the Legislature and Pataki contend
they're still trying to make a deal.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
Cuomo info raps Simmons on lobby gig
By JOE MAHONEY /DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF 09/18/03
ALBANY - Andrew Cuomo's cooperation with
state probers could result in an illegal lobbying rap against his pal
Russell Simmons, the hip-hop mogul, a top official said.Both men are
being investigated by the state Lobbying Commission for their roles in a
campaign to overturn the state's tough Rockefeller drug laws. But
commission director David Grandeau said Cuomo, a former federal housing
secretary, has been forthcoming with information that could lead to a
six-figure fine for Simmons."He is cooperating and is certainly
providing us with documents now in the larger investigation of Simmons
and [former NAACP head] Ben Chavis," Grandeau said.
Grandeau predicted the Cuomo-provided materials - which include copies
of E-mail correspondence - will have a significant impact on the Simmons
probe.
"I think [Simmons] is blown out of the water
already, but this is another nail in the coffin," Grandeau said.
The commission contends that Simmons - whose
net worth is estimated at $450 million - should have registered as a
lobbyist before spending thousands of dollars to advance his legislative
agenda in Albany. James Featherstonhaugh, a lawyer representing Cuomo
and Simmons in the probe, said neither broke the law.
"Andrew is in complete support of Russell's
actions, and he feels his own activities have been within the prescribed
law," the lawyer said. Simmons has sued the Lobbying Commission,
claiming its probe has chilled his First Amendment rights.The panel had
planned to question Cuomo today, but put off the grilling to review the
documents he turned over, Grandeau said.Lawmakers and Gov. Pataki have
debated proposals to reform the drug laws for the last three years, but
have not settled on a bill. |
Flash! September 1, 2003 Albany
Times Union
Russell Simmons may be under investigation by the Temporary State Commission on
Lobbying for his efforts to influence reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, but
that didn't stop Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver from lunching with the hip-hop
impresario in Manhattan last Thursday. Aides to Silver said the two were joined
by Benjamin Chavis, president of Simmons' nonprofit Hip-Hop Action Network, and
Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, a top voice in the push to change the
strict laws. It was the first face-to-face meeting between Silver and Simmons
since a closed-door marathon with Gov. George Pataki and Senate Majority Leader
Joseph L. Bruno before the Legislature adjourned in June. Silver's aides said
drug law reform remains among his top priorities -- a sentiment echoed by staff
for both the governor and Bruno. The lobbying commission is looking into whether
a rally earlier this summer and other activities staged and paid for by Simmons
and his associates constituted lobbying and should have been reported to the
state.Simmons' lawyers have discussed a settlement of the state's case against
him, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. Simmons contends he
was exercising his right to free speech, not lobbying. He and Chavis are seeking
a temporary restraining order against the commission to put a hold on its
investigation. A Sept. 25 hearing is scheduled in U.S District Court for the
Southern District. Perhaps mindful of the scrutiny of the lobbying commission,
Silver picked up the tab for lunch, according to his aides
Flash! (
August 26, 2003)
http://www.democratandchronicle.com
— ALBANY — Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo has been
subpoenaed to testify Sept. 18 before the state Lobbying Commission to
determine his role in an advertising campaign to roll back drug laws. The
commission is investigating whether Cuomo violated state laws by failing to
register as a lobbyist while directing a $30,000 advertising campaign for a
coalition of activists. Other lobbyists in the case have testified that Cuomo
directed how the ads were created and how often they aired on the radio, said
David Grandeau, the Lobbying Commission’s executive director. In addition,
others have testified that Cuomo paid for at least $10,000 of the ad campaign,
Grandeau said Monday. Cuomo has referred all questions to his attorney, James
Featherstonhaugh, who could not be reached Monday, according to his secretary.
Featherstonhaugh has previously denied that Cuomo coordinated the campaign or
did any other lobbying.State law requires any person or group who spends more
than $2,000 in a year trying to influence the Legislature to register as a
lobbyist. Violators face a $25,000 fine for failing to register and another
$25,000 penalty for failing to report lobbying. Activists staged an intense
campaign this year to get Gov. George Pataki and state legislators to change
New York’s Rockefeller-era drug laws. Named for former Gov. Nelson
Rockefeller, the laws mandate lengthy sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.
Despite a marathon negotiating session in June, lawmakers couldn’t reach a
compromise. The Lobbying Commission inquiry also has focused on hip-hop mogul
Russell Simmons and former NAACP leader Benjamin Chavis. They have said they
were exercising their free-speech rights — not lobbying — when they called for
drug-law changes. They have filed suit against the commission, saying they
didn’t have to register.
Flash! August 23, 2003< Ithaca Journal
http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/stories/20030823/localnews/116230.html
Lobbyist says Andrew Cuomo misued funds
ALBANY -- A lobbyist who tried to overturn the state's Rockefeller drug
laws testified that Andrew Cuomo secretly directed a $30,000 advertising
campaign, apparently violating state lobbying law, the state lobbying commission
confirmed Friday. Lobbying commission Executive Director David Grandeau
said testimony and supporting e-mails were provided to the commission last week
by Deborah Small of the Drug Policy Alliance Network, a registered lobbyist.
Grandeau refused to release the testimony and e-mails because the investigation
is continuing. Cuomo's attorney, James Featherstonhaugh, denied that the former
federal housing secretary and candidate for governor orchestrated the
advertising campaign or did any other lobbying. Cuomo was subpoenaed Friday to
testify before the commission. Lawyers for the leader of the drug law movement,
hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, have discussed a settlement of the case against
him, said two state sources familiar with the case who spoke on the condition of
anonymity.
Flash! August 10, 2003
"Governor Pataki released his watered down reform bill on July 15. Russell
Simmons who originally called for repeal now supports the governor. The
Mothers of the NY Disappeared along with Sheldon Silver the assembly speaker and
many other activist groups do not support this bill. Under the Merit Time
bill recently passed some Rockefeller drug war prisoners have become eligible
for parole with hope of gaining their freedom.
Flash! July 7, 2003 "60 Spins
Around the Sun" a film by Laura Kightlinger and produced by Jack Black
about the career of Randy Credico Co-Founder of the NY Mothers of the
Disappeared and his fight against the Rockefeller Drug Laws has won "Best
Documentary" at the Boston International Film Festival! (at bottom of page)
Flash! July 3, 2003
A defiant Russell Simmons tells the Temporary Commission on Lobbying
that any fine lodged against him would cost less than the back of one of his
wife's earrings! (read at the end of page)
Flash! June 24,2003 An investigation
is being conducted by the Temporary Commission on Lobbying against the
Mothers of the Disappeared , Russell Simmons , Andrew Coumo and others who
participated in protesting against the Rockefeller Drug Laws. This is an
attempt to curb free speech! (read below)
Flash! June 20, 2003 Once again the
Governor of NY along with the assembly and the senate have refused to change the
Rockefeller drug laws. The legislative session ended today without
changing the laws despite agreement that they must be revised. (read
more about this at the end of page)
The June 4th event was a success drawing thousands to protest the
Rockefeller Drug laws. We thank Russell Simmons and his Hip Hop Action
Network for getting involved with this issue. We have been the
leading group that has been organizing since 1998 against the Rockefeller Drug
Laws. The only group that has constantly taken the issue to the streets. Through
rain , sleet and snow we have staged vigils throughout New York State advocating
for repeal (not watered down reform) which in a nut shell means that the judge
in a drug case would have discretion to look at the totality of the facts. Right
now the judge has no say in the matter. If the judges would get discretion it
would mean that the prosecutors no longer would have the power to control a case
from its beginning threatening violators with a sentence of 15 years to life if
they do not cop a plea to a lesser charge. It would also mean that the
courts would be jammed with individuals that would want to insert their
constitutional right to go to trial. The prosecutors live and die by their
a rates of conviction. This coupled with the subject of judicial economy
is their main concern, not justice. The Mothers of the NY Disappeared ,
Bob Gangi of The Correction Association, Andrew Cuomo and others demand
repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Join us in our fight to repeal the
Rockefeller Drug Laws / June 7/ 2003 / Anthony Papa
I think Russell Simmons
should not be supporting the governor's watered down reform bill. I take
responsibility in getting Simmons involved. I am asking all visitors to
this site to write or call Simmons at Rush Communications Rush Communications
Inc. 530 Seventh Ave. New York, NY 10018 (Map). Phone: 212-840-9399 Fax:
212-840-9390 and ask him to support repeal which would change the power
structure of the current laws and give judges back discretion not watered down
reform -- Anthony Papa
A Celebrity With a Cause
... The chain of events that led to his involvement began
with Anthony Papa, the painter
and ex-convict who co-founded Mothers of the New York Disappeared, an ...
www.nyobserver.com/pages/story.asp?ID=7465 - 15k -
Cached -
Similar pages
|
Drug-law activism under scrutiny
Albany-- Critic of Pataki administration calls lobbying probe an
attempt to stifle free speech
|
| |
By JAMES M.
ODATO, Capitol bureau
First published: Tuesday, June 24, 2003
|
| The state lobbying commission has begun
a formal investigation into attempts by several people and organizations,
including hip-hop businessman Russell Simmons, to change New York's tough
drug sentencing laws.
At least one person expected to be called in for questioning by the
commission said the state appears to be involved in a vendetta and is
trying to stifle free speech.
The commission moved from an inquiry to an investigation Monday because
parties contacted two weeks ago have not responded, said commission
Director David Grandeau.
Among the people Grandeau said he contacted was former U.S. Housing
Secretary Andrew Cuomo, the son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo. Andrew Cuomo,
an unsuccessful candidate for governor last year, has been active
promoting changes to the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
Grandeau said people or entities paid or investing more than $2,000 to
influence legislation must register as lobbyists and disclose activities.
He said it is obvious that a coalition involved in rallies, ads and
meetings with lawmakers is spending more than $2,000. "Someone's got to
take responsibility for it," Grandeau said.
He said Thomas Golisano, also a former gubernatorial candidate, was the
only person to respond to a recent letter, but his explanation raised more
questions. Golisano's letter says he was approached by the Hip Hop
Research and Education Fund and was asked to provide a grant for an
education rally. Golisano said he gave $50,000 to support a June 4 rally
calling for changes to the Rockefeller laws.
Randy Credico, director of Mothers of the Disappeared, said Grandeau's
actions may end up uniting activists. He said he thinks Grandeau is
controlled by the Pataki administration and claimed Gov. George Pataki is
striking back at Credico and others who have been critical of the
governor's parole and clemency policies.
Grandeau said he is looking into six people and added Cuomo last week.
"I think all of us should not register as lobbyists; this is a free
speech issue ... to expose racism is a free speech right," Credico said.
A spokesman for Pataki did not return a call.
|
JUNE 20TH, 2003
NY1 (click below to see video)
http://www.ny1.com/ny/Search/SubTopic/index.html?&contentintid=31176&search_result=1
For the third straight year, Republicans and Democrats in Albany claim they
really did try to reform the states Rockefeller drug laws. However, once again,
negotiations end without a deal. NY1’s Michael Scotto has the story.
The push to reform the Rockefeller drug laws gained a lot of momentum this past
month when high profile names like hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and former
candidate for governor Andrew Cuomo took on the cause. But, in the end, their
star power couldn't make a difference up in Albany.
“The good news is we came closer than ever before. The bad news is this isn't
horseshoes,” Cuomo said Friday. “At the end of the day, you either pass a bill
or you don't, and we didn't pass a bill.”
Activists said they will continue to hone their strategy, after a marathon
negotiating session at the state capitol failed to broker an agreement. Governor
George Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senate Leader Joe Bruno
sat down for nearly seven hours into early Thursday morning with Simmons in a
meeting that was described as very heated.
“It’s no longer Governor Nelson Rockefeller who gave us these laws - it's George
Pataki who has given us these laws by not reforming them every year for the past
nine years,” said Cuomo.
Critics have been pushing for change for years. Albany politicians, in turn,
have said they want reform, but every year an agreement falls apart.
The 30-year-old laws impose mandatory 15-years to life sentences on most drug
offenders.
Many thought this year change would finally happen, especially when Simmons used
his clout to mobilize dozens of celebrities for commercials and a major rally.
Simmons took on Albany leaders alone in an unprecedented meeting with the
state's three most powerful lawmakers.
Longtime activists said that plan may have backfired.
“Simmons was sincere in his effort, but he had no clue what was going on,” said
Anthony Papa of Mothers of the New York Disappeared. “He had no knowledge of how
politics work in New York State.”
Right now there are still two main sticking points. One is over whether to
impose harsher sentences on violent drug offenders. The other is over who should
get more say in deciding which criminals get treatment and which go to prison:
prosecutors or judges.
“I think that we really made historic progress towards an agreement at the
meeting with Russell Simmons,” said Pataki.
All sides aren't giving up hope. They're hoping to go back to the bargaining
table in the fall, with the expectation of reforming the laws by the end of the
calendar year.
- Michael Scotto
THE VILLAGE VOICE
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0324/allah.php
Activists Fear a Compromise on Rockefeller Repeal
Movement Hijacked by Hiphop?
by Dasun Allah
June 11 - 17, 2003
Russell Simmons is no doubt sincere, but is he
rushing to make a deal?
(photo: Cary Conover)
|
he
Countdown to Fairness Coalition's June 4 City Hall rally may have failed to
attract an astronomical turnout, but the hiphop-infused initiative has
attracted attention in Albany and brought higher visibility to the
decades-long war to repeal the notorious Rockefeller drug laws. However, along
with the new momentum, there is concern among longtime repeal advocates that
mixed signals from the coalition's leadership may blight political
negotiations and result in a meaningless makeover instead of a significant
overhaul of the disputed legislation.
The Countdown to Fairness Coalition, led by Russell
Simmons's Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), the Mothers of the New York
Disappeared (MNYD), and Andrew Cuomo, also includes such notables as Tom
Golisano and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, and is the latest offensive in the ongoing
battle to overturn the ironclad drug legislation enacted in 1973 under
Governor Nelson D. Rockefeller. The laws' mandatory sentencing schemes, which
eliminate judicial discretion, have long been criticized as draconian and are
credited with unnecessarily inflating state prison populations at enormous
taxpayer expense.
Last month, the coalition issued an ultimatum to Albany to
either repeal the Rockefeller drug laws by June 4 or face the wrath of the
hiphop community, later announcing the date would either serve for celebration
of the laws' repeal or protest against the politicians' inaction. Organizers
anticipated upward of 100,000 to attend the event, but inclement weather
appears to have frustrated expectations. Sources place attendance between
20,000 and 50,000, although HSAN charges that people were turned away by
police.
"It was a good event," said Drop the Rock spokesman Bob
Gangi. "If there had been greater numbers, I think the event would have been
even more effective as a strategy. Still, it's the largest drug law repeal
rally that has ever been held. Plus, there were a lot of people who got
educated about the issue."
"It's not about how many came, but who is listening," said
Simmons backstage, and that is precisely why there are concerns within the
campaign's leadership. Since the countdown began, there has been a whirlwind
of activity around changing the laws. This whirlwind has been both a blessing
and a curse to the coalition. There are opposing viewpoints and tensions in
the group over ultimate objectives, and who should be at the negotiating
table. At the rally, Randy Credico, director of the MNYD, said: "There's been
some infighting here among some of the organizers about the message up in
Albany. Some of the people involved in the negotiations are promoting reform.
We are demanding repeal."
The repeal vs. reform debate is the main point of
contention within the coalition. "Everybody agrees that the optimal goal is
repeal," said Cuomo, "but everyone also agrees that the shot at getting repeal
is the shot of me waking up tomorrow with blond hair, blue eyes, and a small
nose. It ain't gonna happen."
Credico sees it differently. "The problem is we set our
sights too low," he said. After giving an account of the long and arduous
struggles veteran activists have faced, an impassioned Credico added: "For
some of the people involved who appropriated the negotiations to call for
reform and accept reform, I consider that treasonous. They are saying repeal
is not possible and they'll have to answer to us . . . "
To the dismay of these activists, HSAN and Deborah P. Small
of the Drug Policy Alliance have emerged as the chief negotiators with state
lawmakers. "We should all be involved in the negotiations," said Credico.
"[Simmons] can't be involved by himself."
"Russell is sexier to talk to," said Cuomo. "Let's be
honest. Meet with the Mothers of the New York Disappeared or with the
Correctional Association, you don't get a story. You meet with Russell
Simmons, the governor looks like an enlightened activist sitting down with
everybody."
There is a sense that the momentum gained by ties to the
hiphop community has eclipsed the activists who were the movement's catalysts.
More importantly, activists are worried that lawmakers will just offer the new
negotiators the same compromise deals that have been rejected in the past. The
assembly has already presented the same legislation offered last year; Gangi
called it old wine in a new bottle.
"I think that there is a concern," said Gangi, "that out of
this momentum could come a 'deal' or 'compromise' that is very limited and
that would be worse than no deal at all; that the governor and the legislative
leaders will use the cover of Simmons's intervention to come up with a
half-baked compromise that doesn't really advance the cause."
Simmons says that he is not alone in the negotiations, and
progress is being made: "Deborah Small is doing negotiation. She's been
working on this for many years. She's committed to closing. I'm committed to
closing. We have a draft of something that we are going to circulate from the
governor," said Simmons. "A lot of people are calling it a jailbreak or saying
what they want to say about it, and there are other people who are saying that
it's too much of a compromise, but I'm a deal maker and I want to make a
deal."
But it is just this rush on Simmons's part to make a deal
that has activists fearful. "There's a mixed message out there," said Credico.
"Someone says that he'll take any deal. He's a deal maker. Well, you got to
talk to the people you are making that deal for."
Simmons reacted strongly to the tensions that have arisen
since the rally. "I've heard a lot about that. I don't give a fuck about them.
All I care is that I appreciate their hard work and they are the true heroes,"
said Simmons. "I love Randy Credico's work. He's been excellent. But to
criticize somebody for coming and adding to your effort, creating awareness of
your effort— I'm not saying he's done that, but anybody who does that is
missing the point. I don't give a fuck. I want to get people out of jail.
That's my only objective. Get people out of jail and make the laws more fair."
"There was a breakdown in communications to Russell
Simmons," said Anthony Papa, MNYD co-founder, who served 12 years under the
Rockefeller laws. "Russell's a businessman. I have nothing bad to say about
him. What he did was take as his adviser Deborah Small to see the governor,
and we don't agree with her philosophy. She wants to make a deal; we call it a
sellout because it's watered-down reform."
Although Simmons has gone on record as saying the
difference between repeal or reform is semantics, he appears aware of the
nuances: "What does total repeal mean, anyway? That no law exists at all? We
know that we want to return some discretion to the judges and we know that we
want to send people home retroactively. We want to get thousands of people out
of jail now."
Papa says recent budget concerns will bring 800 prisoners
home, so there are higher stakes involved in changing the laws to stop others
from just taking the places of those who are released. "We want the judge to
have [full] discretion to look at the totality of facts," said Papa, noting
that state prosecutors have hampered efforts at true reform out of their own
personal interests. The current makeup of the drug laws allows prosecutors of
A-1 drug felonies to control the outcome of the case. "Prosecutors live and
die by their conviction records. This is not a case of what's just and what's
the correct thing to do. It's about judicial economy. This is not about a
business deal. This is about people's lives."
Sources close to all parties involved said that other
high-profile coalition members are dissatisfied with the direction
negotiations seem to be heading, but remain silent for fear of sabotaging the
current chance to change the Rockefeller laws. "Understand, there may be
tensions and disagreements among the overall coalition," said Gangi. "That is
often the case. And that doesn't mean that we trash each other or stop talking
to each other."
At press time, a draft resolution was being prepared by
legislators to be circulated among all parties. "If we can't get repeal, which
nobody believes we're going to get," said Cuomo, "there may be a divergence
depending then on the deal. But you're going to have to wait and see. There
may be a deal that everyone can take."
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/06/03/drug_laws/index_np.html
Salon.com
--
Simmons says
Weary opponents of New York's draconian drug laws just got
reinforcements -- some of hip-hop's biggest stars.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Michelle Goldberg
June 3, 2003 | For more than eight years, New York
Gov. George
Pataki has said that the state's draconian Rockefeller drug laws,
which mandate 15-year-to-life sentences for many low-level drug
crimes, need reform. During the last gubernatorial election, all
his
opponents agreed with him. So did John Dunne, a former Republican
state senator who sponsored the Rockefeller laws almost 30 years
ago,
and Sheldon Silver, the Democratic speaker of the state Assembly.
According to a Zogby poll taken last year, a majority of New
Yorkers
also want change: Of those surveyed, 73.8 percent said they favor
treatment over incarceration for drug users, who, under the
Rockefeller laws, can get longer sentences than some rapists and
murderers.
In Albany last summer, Pataki seemed to turn up the heat,
telling
relatives of inmates imprisoned under the Rockefeller laws, "The
thing I most want to see happen is to see you reunited with your
families." A year later, nothing has changed. Pataki "didn't have
that much interest in it after the election," says Randy Credico,
organizer and spokesman of Mothers of the Disappeared, a group of
Rockefeller inmates' relatives. "He used a lot of smoke and
mirrors
to keep people interested and then preserved the laws intact."
Then last month, after years of fighting, Credico and the
families he
works with saw their fortunes suddenly change. Multimillionaire
rap
mogul Russell Simmons joined the battle, bringing with him some
of
his famous friends. Last week, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs spoke at an
anti-Rockefeller press conference, announcing a rally on June 4
outside City Hall in Manhattan. DMX and Jay-Z recorded spots that
are
running on New York hip-hop stations, telling listeners about the
injustice of the Rockfeller laws and urging them to attend the
rally.
Rap's original audience -- urban black kids -- come from the
communities hardest hit by these laws, say the artists, and they
should demand that politicians do something about them.
"Hip-hoppers are about poor disenfranchised people and their
issues.
Every day, every hour, the rappers are on the radio explaining
it,
talking to young people, asking teachers to teach about the
Rockefeller laws," Simmons says. "As people find out more about
them,
they get more enraged. Madonna asked me to send her some info.
Nas
called me yesterday and asked what else can he do. Jay-Z cut
another
public-service announcement yesterday. Eminem's manager called me
last night -- I hope it's because he's going to be at the rally."
The sudden support of hip-hop celebrities has revived the
weary
activists of Mothers of the Disappeared. "You think you're down
and
out with nothing left, and all of a sudden you pull off a trick,"
says Anthony Papa, co-founder of the group. While a May 8 Mothers
of
the Disappeared rally brought about 200 people into the streets,
activists now hope that the upcoming event will draw tens of
thousands.
But the star power also has been jarring to those who've
labored for
years to lay a foundation for the movement. Credico and Papa have
devoted themselves to Rockefeller repeal for six years, adopting
a
hard negotiating posture when Pataki offered mild reforms that
would
have let some of the Mothers' relatives go free. Understandably,
the
two were furious when Simmons met with the Governor without them
on
Monday, and made what they believed to be too many concessions.
"Someone put something in Russell's head saying repeal was
impossible," says Credico. "By flashing our hand, he lowered the
expectations [the governor and Assembly] thinks we have. It's
like
labor negotiations -- if you want $15 an hour, you don't start by
saying you want $16 an hour. You say you want $25 an hour and go
from
there."
Simmons, meanwhile, is approaching Rockefeller the way he'd
approach
a business dispute. "I've got a couple weeks," he says. "I'm
closing
this deal. I'm not fighting anyone about no politics. I like the
governor today. If he makes this deal, I love the governor
tomorrow.
I just want to get a deal done."
Albany's politicians are ready to deal, too. On Monday, the
New York
Assembly introduced a new bill that would reform the Rockefeller
laws, a move that infuriated Credico, who felt the politicians
were
appeasing Simmons by pushing through a watered-down version of
the
full repeal the Mothers have demanded.
"They could have passed that bill anytime this year if they
really
wanted to get this thing moving," Credico says. "Now you got
Simmons
coming in and bringing to the table tens of thousands of other
people. I think we have to move from minor reform to major reform
or
repeal.
"By coming out with the Assembly bill, they're saying, 'OK,
we're
going to start here. That's the best it's going to get,' and the
governor will say, 'OK, I'll meet you halfway,'" adds Credico.
"Instead of shooting for a 10, we're shooting for a 3. We're
going to
wind up with a 1."
A compromise, however, is more than anyone has achieved so
far. "I
think this rally has totally pushed the issue in another
direction,"
acknowledges Papa, sounding more optimistic than Credico. "These
are
potential voters coming out here. We're talking about 100,000 to
200,000 people coming into the street to show support against
these
laws. A new class of advocates are being born through rap. Rap is
going to change the Rockefeller drug laws."
Papa was sentenced to 15 years to life under the Rockefeller
laws
after a friend paid him $500 to deliver an envelope of cocaine.
He
served 12 years and earned three degrees in prison before Pataki
granted him clemency in 1997. His Web site, 15 Years to Life,
tells
his story. Looking at his online guest book at the end of
February,
Papa noticed that one of his visitors, Ashley Cotton, came from
the
office of Andrew Cuomo, the former secretary of housing and urban
development who ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination
last
year. Papa contacted Cotton and asked if Cuomo would speak at the
May
8 rally.
Cuomo agreed to join the anti-Rockefeller campaign, and went
further
-- he brought Simmons in. "I had an ill-fated run for governor
last
year, and one of the issues I worked on was the Rockefeller drug
laws," says Cuomo. "There was just no reason not to make
progress.
Seventy-four percent of the people support it, the politicians
say
they all support it. The laws were wrong 30 years ago and
changing
them will save money."
Yet the laws stayed on the books, Cuomo says, citing a lack of
"political will" to propose reforms. "When you're talking about
reforming drug laws, maybe you sound soft on crime, and this is a
constituency without tremendous political power anyway," he says.
"Ninety-four percent of the people locked up under the
Rockefeller
drug laws are black and brown. If you had economic or social
power,
you probably wouldn't be incarcerated under these laws anyway."
The only way to inject energy into the anti-Rockefeller
campaign,
Cuomo says, is to mobilize the young people hit hardest by the
laws,
reaching them "where they live and how they live." Hip-hop stars,
he
says, "have credibility that the 'political establishment'
doesn't
have."
So Cuomo called Simmons, who, with his nonprofit advocacy
group, the
Hip-hop Summit Action Network, has spent the past two years
trying to
build a rap-based social movement. "Education of the masses is
critical when the wool is being pulled over people's eyes," says
Simmons. "People have been made to be apathetic and they've been
locked out. When the rappers wake the people up, politicians will
realize that whatever [the rappers'] priority is the people's
priority."
http://www.hightimes.com/htsite/news/content.php?page=news_03060625&tpage=1&
DROP THE ROCK
Hip-hoppers join activists in massive protest of New York's harsh drug laws
Story by Preston Peet
NEW YORK CITY-- Threatening skies on June 4 didn't prevent thousands of
young people from standing shoulder-to-shoulder outside City Hall in protest of
New York State's draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws. "The Countdown for Fairness,"
as the event was dubbed, was organized by Randy Credico and Anthony Papa of the
Mothers of the New York Disappeared, Russell Simmons and Bill Gibson from
the Hip Hop Summit Action Network, Bob Gangi of
Drop the Rock, Dr. Ben Chavis, and Andrew Cuomo. Speakers during the 4-hour
event included Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, Rev. Al Sharpton, Sean Puffy
Combs, Jay-Z, Mariah Carry, Fifty Cent and Busta Rhymes, Donna Leiberman of the
NYCLU, and Shawn Heller, HT Freedom Fighter of the year for 2002 and head of
the national Students for
Sensible Drug Policy.
"Ostensibly, these laws were to fight the drug trade," New York Councilwoman
Margarita Lopez told the crowd, "but what they have done is destroy families and
made sure that New York doesn't treat drug users humanely."
"I come from the land of hypocrisy, and this is the ultimate hypocrite." Added
Washington DC-based Heller, holding up a t-shirt on-stage showing George Bush
snorting lines of cocaine, "These laws were made in our name, we are the DARE
generation, and we reject these laws. Repeal the Rockefeller laws!"
First-time offenders face 15-years-to-life for selling or possessing small
quantities of drugs under the laws passed by then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller in
the early 70's. Of the 19,000 state prison inmates who have been sentenced under
the laws, 94 percent are black and Latino. There has been widespread agreement
on the need to rethink the policy, including from New York Governor George
Pataki, but no consensus has been reached on whether the laws should be reformed
or completely repealed. With less than 3 weeks to go in the current legislative
session, it's unclear whether the New York State Legislature can reach an
agreement. On Monday, June 2, coinciding with a trip to Albany by Def-Jam
founder Russell Simmons, the NY Assembly passed a new bill which would reform
the laws and set aside $120 million annually for drug treatment and other
alternatives to jail, but the effort is simply a rehashing of the compromise
bill the Assembly leadership introduced last year, and doesn't give judges
sentencing discretion. The June 2 bill leaves control of sentencing outcomes in
the hands of district attorneys, according to Bob Gangi of Drop the Rock.
"Our criticisms are the same. Pataki has not put out a new position, so far as
we know, so in effect our public statements about the Governor's and the
Assembly's proposals are still relevant, still timely. We support the repeal
bill of Jeff Aubry, Chair of the Committee on Corrections and former Chair of
the Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Caucus, numbered A-852." Aubry's bill
would give judges the power to sentence as they see fit in all drug cases, make
reform retroactive so that prisoners already incarcerated can request review of
their cases, and expand funding for alternatives to incarceration.
"Basically we're for total repeal," adds Anthony Papa. "But Simmons is a
businessman, so he really just wants to get a deal and get it done, because he
doesn't want to wait another 30 years for something to happen. I respect him for
that. The thing is, in our meetings we put forth the importance of getting
repeal rather than reform, because only repeal is really going to make a
difference. We've been out in the streets fighting this thing for years and we
just don't want to give something up, make a deal real quick. We'd rather have
no deal."
Despite a stated commitment to reform, opponents charge that Governor Pataki
wants to increase the penalties for some drug offenses while doing very little
to actually jumpstart any sort of real change. "I think, from my standpoint,
we've seen some progress in that what I'd want to see is a balanced approach
where, yes, we lower the sentences for offenders who could face 15 to 25 years
to life for convictions to make them more reasonable," Pataki told the New
YorkTimes. "I also want to see tougher sentences for people who use children
or sell drugs near schoolyards or who have a weapon, use a gun, or drug
kingpins, and I think we're seeing some progress toward that."
New York Daily News -
Hip hop's elite join
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/v-pfriendly/story/89643p-81592c.html
pols' drug law rally
Thursday, June 5th, 2003
On the big stage near City Hall, some of the biggest names in hip hop gathered -
Sean (Puffy) Combs, Jay-Z, Fat Joe, Rev. Run of Run-DMC, the Beastie Boys and
the godfather of rap himself, Russell Simmons - to protest the Rockefeller drug
laws.
Except for Simmons, most were youngsters or not
even born back in 1973 when New York State passed the toughest mandatory
sentencing laws in the nation, sponsored by then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.
But 30 years later, with thousands of blacks and
Hispanics serving long prison sentences for first-time drug offenses, the hip
hop icons had come downtown to lend their star power to press for an end to New
York's harsh drug laws.
It is a cause even Gov. Pataki and the
politicians in Albany cannot ignore much longer. A strange and growing alliance
has sprung up in favor of repeal.
Next to Fat Joe on stage, for example, was Tom
Golisano, the millionaire businessman and former gubernatorial candidate.
Golisano helped finance the rally.
And next to them was Democrat Andrew Cuomo, who
co-sponsored the protest with Simmons, as well as half the City Council, former
mayoral candidate Mark Green, state Controller Alan Hevesi and actors Susan
Sarandon and Tim Robbins.
Thanks to Simmons' overambitious prediction that
100,000 youths would descend on City Hall, the cops were out in force. Actually,
a few thousand at best showed up in the chilly rain.
But it was "still the largest turnout ever for
drug law reform," said Bob Gangi, director of the Correctional Association of
New York.
Five years ago, Gangi and Randy Credico, head of
the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice, were lone voices calling for
repeal. They were joined in their campaign by Tony Papa, a first-time drug
offender who had served 12 years in prison before getting clemency from Pataki.
One summer night in 1998, I watched Credico and
Papa at Columbus Circle giving out flyers to prisoners' wives and mothers
waiting for a bus for the long trip upstate to visit their loved ones behind
bars.
Little by little, Credico recruited enough women
to create the Mothers of the New York Disappeared. The longer they kept up their
vigils and tiny protests, the more people joined.
In Albany, Pataki and Assembly Speaker Sheldon
Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer) kept
saying they wanted to reform the drug laws. All the talk produced nothing.
Sticking it to the small fry
So the prisons kept filling up with low-level drug
offenders.
"I spent 16 years in jail, and I don't know a single
[drug] kingpin," said Elaine Bartlett, a Rockefeller drug law inmate who
eventually received clemency from Pataki.
Bartlett's speech at yesterday's rally brought
many in the crowd to tears as she spoke about the thousands of families torn
apart and devastated by the long sentences for minor drug sales.
Early this year, the long fight against the drug
laws finally caught a break. Cuomo convinced Simmons to join the movement
against the mandatory sentences.
Cuomo had taken a strong stand for repeal in his
failed race for governor. Sure, he could have moved on, but he told Credico he
wanted to take the lead in this.
With Cuomo organizing the city's politicians and
Simmons reaching out to the hip hop stars, the movement took off.
Up in Albany, Silver rammed a half-hearted drug
reform bill through the Assembly. It removes some of the worst aspects of the
Rockefeller laws but still includes stiff mandatory sentences and does not
restore to judges the discretion to apply sentences depending on the merits of
each case.
For Credico and Cuomo and Gangi, that kind of
sham reform is not worth it, not after so many years of fighting.
Bait-and-switch justice tactics won't work anymore.
A Celebrity With a Cause
... The chain of events that led to his involvement began
with Anthony Papa, the painter
and ex-convict who co-founded Mothers of the New York Disappeared, an ...
www.nyobserver.com/pages/story.asp?ID=7465 - 15k -
Cached -
Similar pages
I feel responsible for the
current situation with the Rockefeller Drug Laws. I think Russell Simmons
should not be supporting the governor's watered down reform bill. I take
responsibility in getting Simmons involved. I am asking all visitors to
this site to write Simmons at Rush Communications Rush Communications Inc. 530
Seventh Ave. New York, NY 10018 (Map). Phone: 212-840-9399
Fax: 212-840-9390 and ask him to support repeal which would change the power
structure of the current laws and give judges back discretion not watered down
reform
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Russell Simmons says he regards a political campaign as an exercise
in ‘branding’ and ‘deal-making.’
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A Celebrity With a Cause
by
Joe Conason
The American game of celebrity politics has been played
with equal opportunism by left
and right for well over a century. The players generally mean well, yet
the famous can certainly be fatuous. Actors and artists, like politicians,
are known to preen and prate, and their fitful interventions can be
ineffectual, annoying and occasionally inimical to the causes they
support. When they speak, America usually listens—but often laughs.
Nobody is laughing at Russell Simmons.
Mr. Simmons, the hip-hop impresario, suddenly seems on
the verge of achieving what political leaders and New York Times
editorials have perennially failed to do: reform the draconian narcotics
statutes of New York State, known as the "Rockefeller drug laws" ever
since their passage under the late Governor in 1973. (Here I should
disclose that one of the organizations working to repeal the Rockefeller
laws also employs my wife.)
Although elected officials across the spectrum have
long lamented the awful injustices caused by those laws—which prescribe
hard time for small offenses and curtail judicial discretion—the will to
change them has been absent for a decade or more. In the meantime, tens of
thousands of people who should be receiving drug treatment have gone to
prison, where they cost the taxpayers billions of dollars and are trained
in serious criminality.
Such are the unintended consequences of conservative
zeal. Under the Rockefeller laws, a rapist or a murderer can receive less
time than a first offender holding a small amount of cocaine. Everyone has
long known that this status quo is cruel, wasteful, destructive and
stupid. No one in authority has done anything about it. A year ago, when
Governor George Pataki and the State Legislature appeared to be
approaching agreement on terms for reform, The Times ran an
editorial headlined "Time to Move on Drug Law Reform," urging the Governor
and his legislative antagonists not to "let politics-as-usual stand in the
way."
Of course, that was exactly what they did. And that’s
exactly what was about to happen again during the current session—despite
the fact that Mr. Pataki repeatedly professes his profound concern about
the drug laws’ inequities. ("The thing I most want to see happen is to see
you reunited with your families," he reportedly assured the relatives of
inmates incarcerated under the Rockefeller laws last summer when they met
with him in Albany. Imagine how little progress they would have made since
1994 if the Governor didn’t care so damn much.)
Enter Mr. Simmons, whose interest in the drug laws is
based on what he knows and where he comes from. "I’ve seen the effect of
these laws on my family and on my friends," he said as he sat on a plane
waiting to take off for Albany, where he was scheduled to meet with Joseph
Bruno, the conservative Republican leader of the State Senate, whose
musical favorites probably include none of Mr. Simmons’ artists.
While the rap mogul has been active in defending public
education and other causes, he was enlisted very recently in the cause of
drug-law reform. The chain of events that led to his involvement began
with Anthony Papa, the painter and ex-convict who co-founded Mothers of
the New York Disappeared, an advocacy group that has been toiling for
drug-law reform. Mr. Papa convinced Andrew Cuomo, who took a strong
position for reform of the Rockefeller laws during his 2002 gubernatorial
campaign, to join this year’s campaign for repeal.
It was Mr. Cuomo who convinced Mr. Simmons —a friend
and political supporter—to join the coalition demanding change. The effect
has been stunning, in no small part because Mr. Simmons put his money, his
mind and his many friends in the entertainment industry where his mouth
is. In a matter of weeks, his highly credible promise to bring 100,000
demonstrators to rally at City Hall has won him the rapt attention of
politicians accustomed to ignoring the poor and the imprisoned.
As a successful businessman, Mr. Simmons says he
regards a political campaign as an exercise in "branding" and
"deal-making." The rappers are "the world’s greatest brand-builders," he
says, and no politician "wants to be branded as being insensitive." Now he
wants to "get a deal, get some people out of jail and give [the political
leaders] the credit they deserve"—if they end up deserving it.
Whatever "deal" Mr. Simmons and his allies may reach
with the powers that be will fall short of full repeal. But whether or not
the reform coalition wins a satisfactory resolution this year, Mr. Simmons
has made both pols and fans listen. "We cannot let go or let up," he
warns. There’s another thing he may or may not remember to mention in
Albany: He and his associates are busy registering hundreds of thousands
of new voters at concerts and rallies. If they show up at the polls, a
change is gonna come.
You may reach Joe Conason via email at:
jconason@observer.com.
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This column ran on page 5 in the 6/9/2003 edition of The New York
Observer.
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FLASH: 6/4/03 The City of NY caved in under
pressure and allowed the event to take place.
FLASH: 6/3/03 The New York State Assembly passed a
watered down reform bill yesterday against the wishes of the Mothers of
the NY Disappeared. Randy Credico and Anthony Papa and the Mothers quickly
denounced the assembly leader Sheldon Silver for his actions. (see Albany Times
Union article below). Also, the city pulled back its offer of a location
for tommorow's protest. The police department insisted that no music would
be allowed saying that they have been monitoring the on going public service
announcements made by leading Hip Hop stars and came to the conclusion that the
June 4th event was a concert not a protest. Over one hundred thousand people
will attend anyway. Russell Simmons says the event will continue without
police cooperation. Also, Simmons met with Governor George Pataki to listen to a
proposed reform bill that will be released in the near future.
FLASH: 6/1/03 The City of New York is trying to foil the
planned June 4th event by not allowing it to be held at Foley Square. Police
Commissioner Kelly is citing a security risk because of the enormous amount of
people that will flood the streets near the Brooklyn Bridge. This is the second
time the city has denied a location for the event. The first time City
Hall Park was obtained, then while Dr. Ben Chavis and Randy Credico were walking
out of the door they pulled back the permit saying that the Fire Department had
already reserved the park for that date. Although the city has given an
alternative venue of Battery Park. Dr. Chavis refused it because the area has no
historic significance. Norman Siegal former Director of the NYCLU will be
in court on Monday June 2nd to challenge this decision. Read more about
this at: http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/85.htm
FLASH: Pressure is on as Pataki's Criminal Justice Director,
Chauncy Parker met with Russell Simmons yesterday trying to prevent him
from launching the biggest drug war rally in the history of the movement.
Plans are being made for the June 4th protest at Foley Square in NYC. Over two
hundred thousand are expected to attend. Public radio announcements by leading
Hip Hop artists are filling the air waves. A full media press is beginning
bringing in the entertainment world to join us in our struggle. Also, planned
is the call for teachers to educate students about the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
A day of action and learning will be held on May 31st. The mini
conference will be headed by "To Be Continued" a Harlem based activist theatre
company. For more info about this contact Bridgit Evans at (646) 408-3428 or
JusticeWorksPR@aol.com . For more information about the June 4th
event or for your organization to join our coalition you can contact
ashley@andrewcuomo.com (212) 981-5265 or go to www.hiphopsummitactionnetwork.org
=========CALLING ALL YOUTH -- REGISTER TODAY!===========
Hip-Hop mogul
Russell Simmons Invites New York City's Youth Leaders to
Join the Fight Against the Unjust Rockefeller Drug Laws
Hip-hop's finest will join forces with hundreds of young activists on
Saturday, May 31st for a day of grassroots education about New York's
Rockefeller Drug Laws. Produced by Lisa Erika James' Harlem-based activist
theatre company "To Be Continued..." in association with Russell Simmons'
Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, the day of action and learning runs from
12:30PM to 5:30PM at the famed Public
Theater (425 Lafayette Street), and features educational theater
workshops, remarks by hip-hop headliners including ARISTA debut artist Cherub,
"Belly" star and President of Hip-Hop Summit Action Network Dr. Ben Chavis,
and a special presentation by Anthony Papa, well-known exprisoner,
painter and author...
Flash: New York , NY - May 20th, 2003 - The Mothers along with former
US HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo, who is responsible for reaching out to Simmons,
held a press conference on the steps of City Hall yesterday. Members of
the City Counsel joined the growing coalition and gave support to the "Countdown
to Fairness" (see photo section) Hundreds of people and
organizations have signed on to make June 4th a day to remember.
Flash: NEW YORK, N.Y. - MAY 27, 2003 - Russell
Simmons, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, together
with Andrew Cuomo and the Mothers of the New York Disappeared will release
national celebrity video ads calling for the repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws
at a press conference on WEDNESDAY, MAY 28TH, AT 11:00 AM AT THE CROWNE PLAZA
U.N. HOTEL.
The press conference will begin the final 7-day phase of the "Countdown to
Fairness" campaign, launched on May 8, 2003, to demand the repeal of the
Rockefeller Drug Laws by a June 4th deadline. This deadline was established by
the Coalition as a strategy to put maximum pressure on Governor Pataki, NY State
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and NY State Senate Majority Leader Joseph
Bruno, to take action.
More than 100,000 supporters are expected at the June 4th City Hall/Foley Square
rally.
Subject: Albany Times Union Article
Mothers group gets new ally
First published: Monday, June 2, 2003
A battle has erupted between some of the most high-profile and
adamant
advocates of rolling back the Rockefeller Drug Laws and their
former ally,
the Assembly Democratic majority.
Randy Credico, spokesman for Mothers of the New York
Disappeared, whose
members are either former drug convicts or have relatives in
prison on drug
convictions, is attacking Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his
fellow
Democrats over plans to pass a drug law reform bill today.
Credico, who repeatedly stood with Silver at news conferences
in the past,
said the Assembly's reform plan doesn't go far enough for him or
the mothers
group. He wants Silver to hold off on passing the bill until
after a rally
he's planned Wednesday in New York City for supporters of full
repeal. So
far, the speaker has refused.
What really galls Credico is that he helped Silver by opposing
a limited
reform bill proposed by Gov. George Pataki last year that would
have allowed
many of the highest level, or Class A1, drug offenders to go
free, including
many family members of the group.
Silver feared the bill's passage would give Pataki an excuse
to avoid more
difficult drug law reform issues: judicial discretion and
sentence
restructuring for lower level offenders. The
Republican-controlled Senate
has passed the bill twice.
Now Silver wants to pass a reform bill that is little changed
from
legislation his house proposed last year, Credico said. He
accused the
speaker of "tactically caving."
"We took a lot of flak for standing by (Silver's) side and
burning the
governor," Credico said. "Now he wants to take the thunder out of
this
movement. People could have been out a year early. They stayed in
(expletive) prison in support of him, he can certainly wait three
days."
Credico is so angry that he spent the weekend talking to
Chauncey Parker,
Pataki's Criminal Justice Services director. It's possible the
Mothers might
turn their backs on Silver entirely and throw in their lot with
Pataki,
Credico said, even though the possibility of getting full repeal
with him is
even slimmer than with the Assembly.
Credico is feeling empowered by his newfound alliance with
hip-hop mogul
Russell Simmons and rapper Sean Combs, now known as P. Diddy.
Both are
scheduled to appear at Wednesday's rally, although as of Sunday,
Credico was
having trouble securing a permit for the event from the New York
City Police
Department.
Simmons and his considerable finances were brought to Credico
by none other
than former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, who is using
this issue to
help revive his political career after angering fellow Democrats
by
challenging ex-State Comptroller H. Carl McCall in last year's
gubernatorial
race, then quitting one week before the primary.
Some Democrats grumble Cuomo is "using" the Mothers group for
political
gain, making Silver look bad in the process. With all the bruised
feelings
he has to assuage, they say, this isn't likely to help much.
Compiled by Jay Jochnowitz (454-5424,
jjochnowitz@timesunion.com), James M.
Odato (454-5083, jodato@timesunion.com.) Elizabeth Benjamin
(454-5081,
ebenjamin@timesunion.com), and Erin Duggan (454-5093,
eduggan@timesunion.com
Letter from Andrew Cuomo
Dear Friend,
On the 30th Anniversary of the Rockefeller Drug Laws I, along
with Russell Simmons & the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and the Mothers of the
New York Disappeared, announced the formation of the Countdown for Fairness to
pressure Governor Pataki to repeal these laws during this legislative session.
The culmination of our Countdown is a rally planned for June 4th at 2:00pm in
Foley Square in Manhattan. Since the announcement on May 8th, we have put
together a growing national Coalition including Senators Hillary Clinton and
Charles Schumer and Congressman Charles Rangel. In New York City, we have the
additional support of 30 New York City Council Members, including Speaker
Miller, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, and the Borough Presidents from the
Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The Countdown for Fairness is strengthened by the diversity
and vitality of its membership. I am writing to you today to ask you to join our
Coalition and participate in the June 4th rally. Let’s show Governor Pataki and
other leaders in Albany a vast Coalition that demands action now.
After 30 years it is clear that the Rockefeller Drug Laws are
a failure. They have led to the unfair lengthy incarceration of tens of
thousands of non-violent drug offenders. These laws waste precious
resources on the wrong target—low-level non-violent offenders—instead of
fighting large-scale drug pushers and violent offenders. New York State
cannot wait another year to repeal the Drug Laws. We must restore
sentencing discretion to trial judges now. While we face the worst budget crisis
in years and cutbacks and layoffs, we need to find creative solutions for
saving. According to the Correctional Association, New York State could save
nearly $245 million annually by repealing the Rockefeller Drug Laws. After
30 years of failure it is time to repeal the mandatory minimum laws and stop
wasting precious resources!
I have attached a current list of our ever-growing Coalition.
Please contact us to discuss your participation at 212-981-5265.
I hope you will join us June 4th and support the Countdown to
Fairness.
Sincerely,
Andrew Cuomo
COUNTDOWN TO FAIRNESS
Mothers of the New York Disappeared, Russell Simmons & the
Hip-Hop Summit Action Network & Andrew Cuomo
Supporters and Endorsers:
Senator Hilary Clinton
Senator Chuck Schumer
Congressman Charles Rangel
Congressman Elijah Cummings
Congresswoman Maxine Waters
Congressman John Conyers
Congressman Gregory Meeks
Congressman Ed Towns
Congressman Major Owens
State Senator David Patterson
State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman
State Senator Liz Krueger
Assemblyman Jose Rivera
Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry
Assemblyman Sam Hoyt
Former Senator Carol Mosley Braun
Kweisi Mfume
Tom Golisano
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Rev. Al Sharpton
Sean P. Diddy Combs
Damon Dash
Rev. Run
Doug E. Fresh
Cash Money Crew
Beastie Boys
Ludacris
Red Man
Method Man
Steve Rifkind
Kevin Liles
Keith Murray
Cam'ron
The Diplomats
Ghost Face
Tony Maranda
Frank Garcia
Dennis Rivera
George MacDonald
Terrence Stevens
Catherine Crier
Anthony Papa
Jan Warren
Jann Wenner
Borough President C. Virginia Fields
Borough President Adolfo Carrion
Borough President Marty Markowitz
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee
City Council Member Joel Rivera
City Council Member Bill DeBlasio
City Council Member Yvette Clarke
City Council Member Larry Seabrook
City Council Speaker Gifford Miller
City Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera
City Council Member Helen Foster
City Council Member Hiram Monserrate
City Council Member Bill DeBlasio
City Council Member Yvette Clarke
City Council Member Christine Quinn
City Council Member James Sanders, Jr.
City Council Member Charles Barron
City Council Member James Davis
City Council Member Maria Baez
City Council Member Leroy Comrie
City Council Member Philip Reed
City Council Member Jose Serranno Jr.
City Council Member Gale Brewer
City Council Member Kendal Stewart
City Council Member David Weprin
City Council Member John Liu
City Council Member Alan Jay Gerson
City Council Member David Yassky
City Council Member Pedro Espada Jr.
City Council Member Robert Jackson
City Council Member Albert Vann
City Council Member Miguel Martinez
City Council Member Larry Seabrook
City Council Member Alan Jennings
City Council Member Sara Gonzalez
City Council Member Margarita Lopez
City Council Member Diana Reyna
City Council Member Eva Moskowitz
Organizations:
Congressional Black Caucus
National Urban League
NAACP
Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
NYACLU, Donna Lieberman
Drop the Rock Coalition
Rolling Stone Magazine
National Latino Officers Association, Tony Maranda
Bronx Hispanic Association, Frank Garcia
Nation of Islam--a minister was there
National Action Network
PUSH/National Rainbow Coalition
The Doe Fund
1199 SEIU New York's Health and Human Service Union
NYS Association of Substance Abuse Providers (ASAP), Roy Kearse &
John Capolla
Samaritan House
Justice Works Community
Conscious Movements Collective
Families Against Mandatory Minimum Sentencing (FAMM)
CURE-NY (Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants)
StopTheDrugWar.org: The Reform Coordination Network
Students for a Sensible Drug Policy
Brennan Center for Justice, NYU
Prison Family Community Forum
Correction Association of New York, Bob Gangi
Tulia Legal Defense Fund
Center For Constitutional Rights
William Moses Kunstler Fund For Racial Justice
Project P.E.A.C.E
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GROWING NATIONAL MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR "COUNTDOWN TO FAIRNESS" CAMPAIGN TO REPEAL
ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS
IN NEW YORK
NATIONAL MOBILIZATION PLANNED AT JUNE 4TH 2003 REPEAL DEADLINE
NEW YORK, NY May 12, 2003 -- A growing chorus of members of the U.S.
Congress, national civil rights and human rights leaders are joining Russell
Simmons and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and Mothers of the NY
Disappeared to build an unprecedented national coalition to demand the
immediate repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws in the State of New York. This
mobilization will set a precedent for the repeal of similar laws that have
been established in other states since the 1973 Rockefeller Drug Laws were
enacted.
Thirty years ago, the State of New York passed into law the Rockefeller Drug
Laws, which required mandatory long prison terms, up to 15 years to life,
for possession or sale of small amounts of drugs. These laws took away
discretion in sentencing from trial judges and, as a consequence, thousands
of people have been imprisoned unfairly and unjustly. At a time when many
States, including New York, are facing billion dollar deficits, the urgency
of repealing these repressive laws will have a significant impact in helping
States to resolve their budget crises.
Russell Simmons, Chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, emphasized,
"The 'Countdown to Fairness' represents the broadest coalition ever assembled on
this important issue. The hip-hop community's active involvement will help
Governor Pataki and other State officials to see and feel the will of the people
as we demand the repeal of these wack laws."
"It seems to have more energy," said "Countdown To Fairness" supporter and
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon of bringing the hip-hop element into the
ongoing battle. "Whenever you can draw on a broad-based coalition, it can help,
and I think that it's been infused with a new energy that'll be very
constructive."
"The repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws is a national priority for all
fair-minded people," emphasized Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Chairman of the
Congressional Black Caucus.
"Our leaders in Albany have talked about reform for years while thousands of
low-level, non-violent drug offenders remain in jail without good reason. At a
time when we need to focus our limited resources on educating our children,
caring for those who are sick, and punishing those who present true threats to
our safety, we must reject these inhumane and wasteful laws. It is time to
repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws once and for all," explained
former US HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo.
"We should be spending State funds to educate the children rather than using the
costly Rockefeller Drug Laws to unfairly incarcerate their parents," asserted
Randy Credico, Director of the Mothers of the NY Disappeared.
"The repeal of these unfair laws is an urgent matter of human rights.
Non-violent health and medical issues should not be made criminal issues as the
Rockefeller Drug Laws unjustly do," said Jason Flom, CEO Lava Records.
"I don't think it's fair that a young person coming up could make a simple
mistake and it can affect their entire lives, preventing them from evolving and
moving forward. It's also unfair that minorities are the main people who suffer
in these situations. We need to repeal these laws so we can become better people
and grow instead of locking these people up and throwing away the key,"
explained Damon Dash, CEO of Roc-A-Fella Records.
"When, in 1973, Governor Nelson Rockefeller proposed draconian penalties for
drug offenders, he said it was time for 'brutal honesty' about drug addiction.
Here's the honest truth: The Rockefeller Drug Laws are unjust, unfair,
inefficient - and exorbitantly wasteful of human lives and economic resources.
We knew this thirty years ago. It is no less true today," added Donna
Lieberman, Executive Director of New York Civil Liberties Union.
Responded Robert Gangi, Executive Director of the Correctional Association and
spokesperson for Drop The Rock: "Thirty years of painful experience have
conclusively proved that the Rockefeller Drug Laws are wasteful, ineffective,
unjust, racist. It's long past time to remove the stain of these laws from New
York State's Penal code."
"We intend to involve thousands of concerned youth on this vital issue. The
momentum will build everyday through the 'Countdown To Fairness.' Hip-hop
culture has already shown that the energy, vitality and voice of the young will
not be silenced as we move to put an end to these dumb laws," concluded Dr.
Benjamin Chavis, President of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.
Tom Golisano, former New York gubernatorial candidate, has also joined the
non-partison "Countdown To Fairness" and has pledged his full support. The
"Countdown To Fairness" has been endorsed by US Senators Hilary Clinton and
Chuck Schumer, US Congressman Charles Rangel, Elijah Cummings, John Conyers,
Gregory Meeks, Ed Towns, Major Owens and Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Former
Senator Carol Mosley Braun, NY State Senators David Patterson, Eric T.
Schneiderman, Liz Krueger, NY Assemblyman Jose Rivera, NY City Council Members
Joel Rivera, Bill DeBlasio, Yvette Clarke, Larry Seabrook and Adam Clayton
Powell III.
National civil rights leaders Kweisi Mfume, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the
Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III have all joined in to support
the campaign.
Hip-hop artists and record company executives including Sean "P. Diddy" Combs,
Jay-Z, Nas, Kevin Liles, Steve Rifkind, Reverend Run, Irv Gotti, Doug E. Fresh,
Cash Money Crew, Ludacris, Red Man, Method Man, Keith Murray, Cam'ron, The
Diplomats and Ghost Face have all pledged support and are now doing public
service announcements for radio and television on this issue.
Among the numerous organizations which are supporting "Countdown To Fairness"
are Congressional Black Caucus, National Urban League, NAACP, Donna Lieberman
and the ACLU, Nation of Islam, Rabbi Marc Schneier and the Foundation for Ethnic
Understanding, Bob Gangi and Drop the Rock, Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone
Magazine, Tony Miranda and the National Latino Officers Association, Frank
Garcia and the Bronx Hispanic Association, the National Action Network,
PUSH/National Rainbow Coalition, The Doe Fund and Dennis Rivera and 1199 SEIU
New York's Health and Human Service Union.
For continuous, updated information on the "Countdown To Fairness," go to the
website for the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network at
www.hiphopsummitactionnetwork.org
Some of the Press Generated by
the May 8th Press Conference & Rally
May
8, 2003
on Democracy NOW!
WBAI RADIO 99.5
Click below to hear the show
HARSH
NEW YORK ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS TURN 30: HIP HOP PIONEER RUSSELL SIMMONS &
ANTHONY PAPA WHO SERVED 12 YEARS FOR A FIRST-TIME OFFENSE CALL FOR REPEAL OF THE
LAWS
Three decades ago today, New York became the first state in the nation to
require harsh prison sentences for all drug offenders.
The new laws were pushed through the state legislature in 1973 by
then-governor Nelson Rockefeller.
The laws require a minimum sentence of 15 years for minor possession of
drugs. Enforcement of the laws rarely hit drug kingpins. Instead, judges were
forced to imprison mostly first-time, low-level, nonviolent drug offenders. Most
of them are poor, most are people of color.
Dozens of other states and the federal government rushed to adopt their own
versions of the Rockefeller drug laws when New York State set the precedent.
Today, New York and California alone retain their mandatory minimum
sentences.
The movement to scrap the laws is continuing to grow. Last year, former New
York Senator John Dunne appeared in a TV commercial. He said: "In 1973, I
sponsored the Rockefeller drug laws, which have been a well-documented failure."
- Anthony Papa, was convicted of a first-time, non-violent drug
possession charge in 1985 under the tough anti-drug laws signed by Governor
Rockefeller which left the judge no choice but to impose a harsh prison
sentence of 15 Years to Life. At the time, Papa, married with one daughter.
Papa spent the next 12 years behind bars at Sing Sing prison. During that
time, he earned degrees in behavioral science, theology and paralegal studies.
He also learned to paint. Papa became an accomplished and acclaimed artist,
painting a powerful collection of images relating to his prison experience.
One of his pieces, "15 Years to Life," was exhibited at the Whitney Museum.
- Russell Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records and one of the most
successful recording executives, producer, promoters in the hip hop world.
Last year he helped form the Hip-hop Summit Action Network.
- Randy Credico, director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for
Racial Justice.
»
DrugReporter »
Thirty Years of Rockefeller Drug Laws
By Anthony Papa,
AlterNet
May 6, 2003
On May 8, 2003 New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws turn 30. For mere human
beings, reaching the age of thirty is a magical turning point that catapults
some of us into the seriousness of adulthood from our days of youthful
indiscretion. But, for this draconian entity there was no magical transition.
Enacted in 1973, the laws are as serious and tough as when they were born, with
no substantive reform of them in sight for the near future.
Of course, if you listen to the political rhetoric that has been around for
the past couple of years you would bet your last dollar that change is coming.
However, for those of us who have heard this story before, the 30th year holds
nothing more than empty promises and broken dreams for those affected by the
Rockefeller Drug Laws.
In 2001, for the first time in 28 years a governor of New York was bold
enough to call for reform. Pataki's cue was followed by the Senate and Assembly
which agreed that these laws should be changed. Bills were submitted, arguments
were made with each side blaming each other for the quagmire. In the mean time,
those imprisoned are rotting away in the gulags of New York State. No better off
are the family members of those incarcerated, whose hopes and aspirations are
slowly dying.
On May 8 at 12 noon across the street from Governor Pataki's New York City
office at 40th and 3rd avenue, a celebration of sorts will take place for the
"30" anniversary of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. It will not be a happy gathering,
but hopefully it will be the last. It's organized by the New York Mothers of the
Disappeared in its continuing attempt to change these laws.
Also at the rally a major announcement will be made by Andrew Cuomo, Russell
Simmons and the Hip Hop Nation telling the governor that "Countdown to Fairness"
is being initiated for repeal of the Rockefellers Drug Laws.
Many speakers, politicians and protesters will pledge their alliance for
reform, trying to see beyond the political rhetoric that divides them; they hope
to walk on common ground and change the laws that have slept though the shadow
of change for the last 30 years.
Anthony Papa served 12 years under the Rockefeller Drug Laws and was
granted clemency by Governor Pataki in 1997. He is the author of "15
to Life".
« Home
« DrugReporter
The Week Online with DRCNet
Issue #288, 5/23/03
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
3. Hip Hop Nation Set to Rock the Rockefeller Laws -- Mass
Protest Set for
June 4 if Laws Not Repealed
After years of rising clamor, the New York Assembly moved last
week to take
a first tiny step at redressing the injustice of that state's
draconian
"Rockefeller laws," the tough anti-drug measures first put into
effect under
then Gov. Nelson Rockefeller in the early 1970s. As part of a
budget
measure, legislators passed language that would result in the
early release
of some 800 drug offenders. But baby steps are not enough to
quiet a growing
coalition demanding repeal of those laws. And that coalition took
a giant
step earlier this month, when Russell Simmons, a major rap
performer and
entrepreneur, brought his Hip Hop Action Summit Network onboard
and vowed to
bring 100,000 people or more onto the streets of New York City on
June 4 if
the laws still stand.
The network joins a growing number of political figures, civil
rights
groups, drug reform organizations and prisoner-oriented groups
such as
Mothers of the Disappeared in an increasingly numerous and vocal
coalition
called Countdown to Fairness to bring an end to the Rockefeller
laws. Those
laws require long mandatory prison sentences -- up to 15 years to
life --
for those convicted of possessing or selling relatively small
amounts of
drugs.
At a May 9 news conference, Simmons, head of the Hip Hop
Summit Action
Network announced: "The 'Countdown to Fairness' represents the
broadest
coalition ever assembled on this important issue. The hip-hop
community's
active involvement will help Governor Pataki and other state
officials to
see and feel the will of the people as we demand the repeal of
these wack
laws."
Among the rap performers and executives who have committed to
supporting the
campaign are Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Jay-Z, Nas, Beastie Boys,
Kevin Liles,
Steve Rifkind, Reverend Run, Doug E. Fresh, Cash Money Crew,
Ludacris, Red
Man, Method Man, Keith Murray, Cam'ron, The Diplomats and Ghost
Face.
But the Countdown to Fairness is bringing more than rappers to
the cause.
Groups like Mothers of the Disappeared and the Correctional
Association of
New York, which have been working in the trenches for years to
change the
Rockefeller laws, have now been joined by the likes of former New
York
gubernatorial Tom Golisano, former Democratic gubernatorial
contender Andrew
Cuomo, US Senators Hilary Clinton and Charles Schumer, US
Congressman
Charles Rangel (D-NY), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), John Conyers
(D-MI), Gregory
Meeks (D-NY), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Major Owens (D-NY) and
Congresswoman
Maxine Waters (D-CA), former Senator Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL),
NY State
Senators David Patterson, Eric T. Schneiderman, Liz Krueger, NY
Assemblyman
Jose Rivera, NY City Council Members Joel Rivera, Bill DeBlasio,
Yvette
Clarke, Larry Seabrook and Adam Clayton Powell III, as well as
national
civil rights leaders Kweisi Mfume, head of the NAACP, the
Reverend Jesse
Jackson, the Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III.
Organizations that have now signed on include the
Congressional Black
Caucus, the National Urban League, NAACP, Donna Lieberman and the
ACLU,
Nation of Islam, Rabbi Marc Schneier and the Foundation for
Ethnic
Understanding, Bob Gangi and Drop the Rock (part of the original
anti-Rockefeller law campaign), Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone
Magazine, Tony
Miranda and the National Latino Officers Association, Frank
Garcia and the
Bronx Hispanic Association, the National Action Network,
Rainbow/PUSH
Coalition, the Doe Fund and Dennis Rivera, and 1199 SEIU, New
York's Health
and Human Service Union.
"It seems to have more energy," said "Countdown to Fairness"
supporter and
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon of bringing the hip-hop
element into
the ongoing battle. "Whenever you can draw on a broad-based
coalition, it
can help, and I think that it's been infused with a new energy
that'll be
very constructive."
"Our leaders in Albany have talked about reform for years
while thousands of
low-level, nonviolent drug offenders remain in jail without good
reason,"
said Cuomo, who is credited with bringing Simmons and the hip
hoppers along.
"At a time when we need to focus our limited resources on
educating our
children, caring for those who are sick, and punishing those who
present
true threats to our safety, we must reject these inhumane and
wasteful laws.
It is time to repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws once and for all."
One of those long-time fighters in the trenches is Anthony
Papa
(http://www.15yearstolife.com),
who served years on a Rockefeller sentence
before being granted clemency in 1997 after his artwork drew Gov.
Pataki's
attention to his case. "Having Simmons on board takes this to a
whole other
level," Papa told DRCNet. "The governor and the Assembly have
been dancing
around this issue for years, but they don't want to see tens of
thousands of
people in the streets protesting in front of their offices. Gov.
Pataki
already sent his criminal justice man, Chauncey Parker, to meet
with
Simmons, and so has [Assembly leader] Sheldon Silver. They might
be able to
spin their vote last week as a reform move, but how are they
going to spin a
huge protest demonstration?"
All the more reason to be cautious of moves coming from
Albany, said Randy
Credico of the William F. Kunstler Foundation for Social Justice
(http://www.kunstler.org)
and the Mothers of the Disappeared. "I'm watching
for some sort of anti-reform reform to come out of Albany," said
Credico,
"but this is 1859 and we're looking to abolish slavery, not
modify it
slightly. A minor reform now would be a surrender. We want
repeal. We've
been at this for six years now, and we aren't going to accept a
shitty
deal."
Other reform groups need to be careful not to get sucked into
half-measures,
said Credico. "They're trying to divide the groups up in Albany
by appealing
to groups that will settle for some small victory in order to
maintain their
fundraising," he said. "But we only get one bite of the apple,
and we won't
settle for what some people think is possible in the Senate.
There is no
support for compromise, no field troops for compromise, only a
couple of
think-tanks without ground troops. We don't want reform, we want
repeal, we
don't want just drug treatment, we want an end to illegal
searches and
no-knock warrants."
For Credico, the growing coalition is larger than the
Rockefeller laws
alone. "For the first time, we are seeing a convergence of the
civil rights
and anti-war movements with the movement for reform of the drug
laws," he
pointed out. "Now we can start looking at the bigger picture and
inspire
others who are fighting the country's drift toward fascism. This
issue is
being popularized and placed in a broader political context, and
is moving
from the state to the national and even global stage. Whoever
wants to win
the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 better pay
attention and jump
on board, because right now they're in the caboose."
In the meantime, the clock is running down on the governor and
the state
legislature. "We are declaring war on the governor of New York,"
Simmons
said. "Any politician who supports this law is a criminal." And
New Yorkers
will be out by the tens of thousands on June 4 to echo that
message.
Celebs, Activists Press For Drug Law Repeal
By Bryan Virasami NEW YORK NEWSDAY
Staff Writer
May 8, 2003, 5:34 PM EDT
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and a coalition of activists, movie stars and
politicians on Thursday called for repeal of the Rockefeller drug laws.
Susan Sarandon, her husband, Tim Robbins, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Andrew Cuomo
and the Rev. Run were among the celebrities who joined civil-rights activists
to criticize the laws as "unfair and draconian."
The speakers at the news conference and at a rally near 40th Street and Third
Avenue said thousands of non-violent black and Latino New Yorkers who used
drugs or were caught with a small quantity were unfairly sentenced under the
30-year-old laws.
The laws, passed in 1973 and 1974 during then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller's
administration, can subject first-time offenders to 15 years to life in prison
if convicted of selling as little as 2 ounces, or possessing as little as 4
ounces, of a controlled substance.
Simmons and the others called on Gov. George Pataki and the legislature to act
on promises to repeal the laws.
"Maybe they don't know that 95 percent of the people incarcerated are black
and brown, which points to the worst case of racial profiling that we've ever
seen," Simmons said.
Lynn Rasic, a spokeswoman for Pataki, said the governor feels the same way but
hasn't been able to get his legislation through both houses.
"Gov. Pataki has repeatedly called for comprehensive reform of the Rockefeller
drug laws and continues to press for immediate overhaul of the drug law
sentences, which are needlessly keeping some non-violent offenders behind
bars," Rasic said.
She said the governor's proposals include slashing sentences for non-violent
offenders and immediate release for some offenders.
Cuomo, who lost the Democratic gubernatorial nomination to former state
Comptroller H. Carl McCall, said the cost of jailing non-violent drug users
exceeds what it would for rehabilitation.
"Incarceration has increased 150 percent, usage has stayed exactly the same.
The human cost has been phenomenal," Cuomo said.
Sharpton noted that the issue has not received the kind of support it deserves
because most of those in prison are minorities.
"We believe in redemption, we believe in rehabilitation, we believe in
mistakes, but redemption is not limited to President Bush's nieces in
Florida," Sharpton said. "Redemption should be good in Albany, in Rochester,
in Buffalo, for everybody's niece."
About 200 people at the rally across from Pataki's Manhattan office attacked
the laws chanting "Drop the Rock" and "Educate Don't Incarcerate."
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Diddy, Gotti
Fight Drug Law
Hip-Hop
Network takes on mandatory sentences
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Taking action
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Russell
Simmons and his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network
held a Countdown to Fairness press conference
and rally today to urge New York Governor George
Pataki to repeal the state's infamous
Rockefeller drug laws. Simmons was joined by
Run-DMC's Rev. Run, Susan Sarandon and Tim
Robbins, the Rev. Al Sharpton, former
gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo and Lava
Records president and CEO Jason Flom at the
rally. Following the conference, the coalition
moved to Pataki's New York City offices for a
protest that drew hundreds.
The controversial
laws were enacted thirty years ago at the behest
of then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller, who
instituted stringent prison sentences for
drug-related crimes, with the logic that the
penalties would be a deterrent. For decades,
protestors have singled out examples of
non-violent drug abusers who drew mandatory
sentences that exceeded those handed down to
rapists and those involved in murders. "We're
talking about reform," Simmons said. "Let's give
it back to judges to decide [sentences]."
Added Sharpton, "This is not about
decriminalizing drugs. This is about a fair and
equitable criminal justice policy." Several
speakers pointed out that ninety-four percent of
those incarcerated under the laws are black or
Latino, a fact Simmons called "the worst case of
racial profiling we've ever seen." Sharpton, who
is also in the early stages of a presidential
run, suggested that such laws would have been
quickly repealed in Florida to aid President
George W. Bush's troubled niece.
Simmons has put together a large coalition of
entertainers to support the cause, including
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Damon Dash, Irv Gotti,
Ludacris, Redman, Method Man, Cam'ron and
politicians including New York Senators Chuck
Schumer and Hilary Clinton.
"I'm finding support everywhere," Simmons
said. "Rappers are the voice for disenfranchised
poor people. And this hits home for the rap
community."
ANDREW DANSBY
(May 8, 2003)
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http://www.rollingstone.com/news/newsarticle.asp?nid=18026
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=2708734
Sean
"P. Diddy" Combs and Roc-A-Fella Records CEO Damon Dash will join New York
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, and others
for a New York protest tomorrow (May 8) to encourage Gov. George Pataki to
repeal the state's Rockefeller drug laws. They will be joined by representatives
of the NAACP, ACLU, the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Urban League,
Mothers for the New York Disappeared, and the Simmons-founded Hip-Hop Summit
Action Network at the event, which will take place outside Pataki's Manhattan
office.
Calling the three-decade old laws, which mandate lengthy imprisonment for those
convicted of drug possession, "wack," Simmons says the group is asking Pataki to
meet a specific deadline to repeal the laws under the "Countdown to Fairness"
banner.
"I don't think it's fair that a young person coming up could make a simple
mistake and it can affect their entire lives, preventing them from evolving and
moving forward," Dash said in a statement. "It's also unfair that minorities are
the main people who suffer in these situations. We need to repeal these laws so
we can become better people and grow instead of locking these people up and
throwing away the key."
-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.
Coalition Wants New York Drug Law Repealed
Thu May 8, 2003 06:08 PM ET
By Jeanne King
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Politicians, civil rights groups and rappers on Thursday
demanded the repeal of laws in New York that impose mandatory stiff prison terms
for possession or sales of small amounts of illegal drugs.
'It makes no sense to keep drug offenders behind bars when the state has an
$11 billion deficit,' former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew
Cuomo said at an event to mark the 30th anniversary of the enactment of the drug
laws.
Cuomo, who sought the Democratic nomination for governor in the last
election, said it costs taxpayers $610 million a year to hold some 22,000
non-violent drug offenders in prison.
Known as the 'Rockefeller' drug laws, they were enacted in 1973 when Nelson
Rockefeller, a Republican, was governor. In general, the laws require judges to
impose a sentence of 15 years to life in prison for anyone convicted of selling
two ounces, or possessing four ounces, of an illegal narcotic such as cocaine or
heroin.
Critics of the laws say many of those convicted would be better off in
rehabilitation facilities -- an option they say is cheaper and more productive
than prison.
'We want to create an awareness campaign so that people know that the law has
to be repealed,' said Russell Simmons, chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action
Network.
The coalition called on Gov. George Pataki to repeal the laws -- a notion
that has garnered broad support in New York from Republicans as well as
Democrats for years.
But despite that backing, the issue is a political hot potato because no
politician wants to be seen as soft on crime. Also, prisons are a boon to many
local economies across the state and a repeal of the law would mean fewer
prisons.
Another obstacle is the political clout of the state's 62 district attorneys,
who oppose major changes to the laws.
Hundreds of mothers carried placards detailing their sons' incarceration and
joined a march on Pataki's mid-town office.
Rev. Al Sharpton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president,
said, 'This is not about decriminalizing drugs but non-violent offenders should
not be given life sentences for minor offenses.'
Black and Latino leaders call the law discriminatory because 94 percent of
those sentenced under the statutes come from their communities despite the fact
that drug use is in the same proportions across racial and ethnic lines.
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from the May 13, 2003 edition -
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0513/p08s01-cole.html
Letters
Draconian drug laws
Regarding Idea's "Soundings" May 8 column "A hard time for a hard
line": I was a first-time nonviolent offender who served 12 years of a
sentence of 15 years to life under the Rockefeller drug laws of New York
State. I was granted clemency by Gov. George Pataki in 1997.
Since then, I have fought tooth and nail to change these laws. They
are draconian and waste tax money and human lives. For the first time in
28 years, a governor of New York was bold enough to call for reform.
Soon after, the Assembly and Senate echoed the call to relax the laws.
Two years later, on their 30th anniversary, these laws still exist.
Human beings are wasting away while the strengths and weaknesses of
proposed changes to the laws are argued. Why can't we find common ground
and finally repeal laws that have been shown to be ineffective and
costly?
Anthony Papa
New York
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Dear Friends:
On May 8th at noon the Mothers of the NY Disappeared will be holding a huge
rally outside George Pataki's NYC office at noon - 3 PM. (40th & 3rd) This
year's rally will be particularly ambitious being that it is the 30 year
anniversary of the signing of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. We will need a lot of
help because we will be bringing in and putting up family members from around
the country. In addition, a contingent from Tulia Texas will participate. A
march sponsored by the drop the rock coalition will meet up with the mothers
demo at the governors office. To maintain their independence the Mothers are not
currently seeking any foundation money but are looking for donations to help
underwrite the May 8th event and other activities in Albany.
In the meantime we have a fiscal sponsor for those who would like to help out
this heretofore low-cost high yield organization. Tax deductible Checks can be
made out to:
Institute for Media Analysis
and then send check to
Mothers of the NY Disappeared
13 Gay Street
NY, NY 212) 539-8441
MOTHERS OF THE NEW YORK DISAPPEARED
Read How a Small Group of Dedicated Activists Changed the
Face of the Drug War in New York State.
AlterNet: So
Close, Yet So Far: The Road to Reform
Anthony Papa: A victim of the Rockefeller drug
laws talks about his experience
in prison for a nonviolent drug charge and the possibility of reform. ...
www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13779 - 23k -
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13779
So Close, Yet So Far: The Road to Reform
By Anthony Papa,
AlterNet
August 7, 2002
In 1973 under the leadership of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, New York State
passed the toughest drug laws in the nation. Since their enactment these laws
have been considered the answer when it comes to solving the drug epidemic and
capturing drug kingpins. Approaching their 30th year anniversary, neither
ambition has been fulfilled. New York's gulags are bursting at their seams with
over 19,000 low-level drug offenders, and drugs are more available then ever.
Furthermore, studies have shown that treatment is much more effective than
incarceration in halting drug abuse and reducing recidivism. If the Rockefeller
Drug Laws have proven not to be effective, you might ask, why do they still
exist? In reality the harsh sentencing guidelines, with their mandatory
minimums, have fueled the prison industrial complex, in the process creating
economic development in mostly depressed rural upstate communities. Thirty-eight
prisons have been built since 1982 at a cost of over a billion dollars annually
to operate in Republican senate districts. This explains in large part why these
laws are still in effect.
I know first hand of the draconian nature the Rockefeller Drug Laws. I was a
first time non-violent offender who was sentenced to 15-years-to-life for
passing an envelope containing four and one-half ounces of cocaine to an
undercover officer in New York's Westchester County in 1984. An individual I met
in my bowling league set me up in a sting operation, when he offered me $500 to
deliver a package. My one mistake cost me 12 years of my life.
While in prison I discovered my talent as an artist and in 1988 I painted a
self-portrait titled "15 Years to Life"; in 1994 it was displayed at the Whitney
Museum of Art, which led to media exposure of my case. Two years later, Governor
George Pataki granted me clemency.
When the system released me from Sing-Sing I began speaking out against the
laws that had imprisoned me. It was then that I met Randy Credico, who directs
the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice [http://www.kunstler.org/].
He wanted to know what his organization could do to fight the drug war in New
York. We came up with the idea of organizing family members of those imprisoned
under the Rockefeller Drug Laws in a manner modeled after the Argentina mothers
of the disappeared - mothers and grandmothers who regularly took to the streets,
protesting against the government's "Dirty War" torture, murder and
disappearance of accused left-wingers.
On May 8th 1998, the NY "Mothers of the Disappeared" staged their first rally
at Rockefeller Center in NYC. About two dozen family members held signs with
photos of their love ones who had disappeared because of New York's drug laws.
This simple but dramatic gesture led to amazing media coverage. We knew at
that point we had given birth to a movement that was able to reach out to
citizens because it put a human face on the war on drugs. The event became a
weekly affair and eventually expanded to different cities in New York State.
Numerous advocates have joined our ranks. They include celebrities like comic
actor and TV host Charles Grodin, religious leaders such as Cardinal O 'Connor,
and former politicians.
With a small group of about 25 dedicated individuals, in five years we
managed to shift public opinion and changed the face of the drug war in New York
State. Once this occurred many elected officials spoke out, putting aside their
fears of political death that had been traditionally associated with drug
reform. Finally in 2001, Governor Pataki along with the Assembly and Senate,
called for reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Both houses submitted bills with
their own version of what changes should be made. This triggered an on-going
battle that ended the legislative session in a deadlock.
This pushed us even more to fight for change. Since an election year for the
governor approached, we decided to use the NY Mothers of the Disappeared to
respond to the fact that many non-violent drug offenders sat in prison rotting
away while politicians wallowed in debate. An ad campaign was developed that
targeted Hispanic and black voters - a bloc Pataki seeks to placate. These
stinging ads portrayed the governor as the main reason why 94% of drug offenders
in New York's prisons were black and Latino. The governor's popularity among
this population suddenly plummeted, forcing him to seek a way to stop our
protests. For this mission the governor sent Chauncy Parker, his newly appointed
Director of Criminal Justice, to meet with us.
Parker pitched the Governor's proposed bill to change the Rockefeller Drug
Laws, detailing the formal aspects of the law. For the most part the audience of
about 20 family members listened, but did not really understand the complicated
terminology. After a while, an elderly Hispanic women who was in very poor
health interrupted him. She asked Parker how the governor's bill would help her
imprisoned son of 15 years to come home.
Chauncy stopped dead in his sentence and responded. He said if the assembly
would pass the governor's bill her son would be eligible for immediate release.
The women smiled and tears of joy ran down her face. Another black woman asked
the same question. "Immediate release" was his answer and with a pause, he
added: " If the governor's bill is passed." Everyone in the room was full of
happiness with the hope that the Rockefeller Drug Laws would be repealed.
The meeting left us all with the idea that all the hard work we have been
doing for years had finally paid off. There was only a month left in the year's
legislative session. Hope was dwindling fast as both sides could not come to an
agreement. On June 12, 2002, the NY Mothers of the Disappeared were invited to a
meeting with Pataki. The night before, the Governor had pushed through the
Senate an additional bill that would affect only Class A-1 felons. This would
allow about two hundred prisoners to be eligible for immediate release if the
Assembly passed the bill. Not surprisingly, most of those incarcerated who would
be eligible were family members of the NY Mothers of the Disappeared.
A dilemma of moral proportions arose. Would we take the proffered carrot by
the string and support the governor freeing our love ones, even though all of
his legislation fell far short of true reform? We listened as Governor Pataki
blamed the Assembly for not cooperating with him. The meeting lasted for over an
hour. When we left, we were part of a press conference in which New York
Assembly leader Sheldon Silver blamed the governor for not cooperating with the
Assembly. We listened as our dreams of changing the Rockefeller Drug Laws began
to fade away. The 2002 legislative session ended with no resolution, leaving us
in anguish for being so close, yet so far in reforming the Rockefeller Drug
Laws.
We held another meeting on July 29th with Chauncy Parker. We found out that
serious negotiations were still being held and that the possibility of reform
existed in a special session of the legislature if they could come to some kind
of agreement. Our message to Governor Pataki, the Senate and Assembly is a
simple one. We will not take a position and support any pending legislation. All
we can say is please put aside the political rhetoric of crime and politics and
realize that there is a human element involved. Then maybe we all can walk hand
in hand on common ground to change the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
| Comment #2 posted by eco-man
on August 08, 2002 at 11:35:25 PT |
| Mothers of the
Disappeared kick butt of Pataki. |
| As I said previously, the "Mothers of the
Disappeared" campaign is a powerful multicity campaign. It is making Drug
Warrior politicians (especially Republicans) fear for their political
careers. Here are some excerpts below from the August 5 2002 Salon.com
article. |
Salon.com News | Noelle Bush gets rehab, the poor and black get ...
... I watched a lot of C-Span and read a lot of books.".
It was on C-Span that he
saw Anthony Papa debating someone from the American Correctional
Association. ...
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/08/05/drug_reform/index.html
The Village
Voice: Features: Seizing the Spotlight by Jennifer ...
... Now, on C-SPAN, Credico watched Anthony
Papa, who had just been released from Sing
Sing, talk about spending 12 years in prison for possessing and selling four
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0111/gonnerman.php
For more information about the Mothers of the New York Disappeared
www.kunstler.org or:
Drug law reform falters
Albany -- Activists angry that meeting with state leaders results in nothing
as lawmakers wrap up By ELIZABETH BENJAMIN
<mailto:ebenjamin@timesunion.com>,
Capitol bureau
First published: Friday, June 20, 2003
A Rockefeller Drug Law reform agreement appeared remote Thursday
night, much
to the dismay of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and others who
thought they
had reached a deal with the governor and state legislative
leaders in a
seven-hour negotiating session the night before.
Republican Gov. George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph
Bruno,
R-Brunswick, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan,
said they had
made progress during the marathon meeting with Simmons that began
Wednesday
evening and dragged on past 1 a.m. Thursday.
But the three seemed steadfast in their individual beliefs that a
final
agreement on changes to the 1973 drug laws remained out of reach
for the
2003 legislative session, which was winding down early this
morning.
"It can't get done by tonight," Bruno said, adding that drug law
reform
could be taken up later this year if the Legislature returns, as
many
believe will be necessary with so many issues unresolved.
Silver also held out hope of revisiting drug law reform before
2003 ends,
but said the issue is too complex to rush. Pataki, while
insisting the three
leaders "have never been this close" to an agreement, said there
were too
many loose ends and not enough hours left to tie them up.
Pataki, Bruno and Silver all lauded Simmons, founder of Def Jam
Records and
Phat Pharm clothing, saying he played a key role in trying to
broker a deal
on a contentious issue that activists have been pushing state
leaders to
address for years.
But Simmons and his colleagues, Deborah Small, director of public
policy at
the Drug Policy Alliance and Ben Chavis, president of the Hip-Hop
Action
Network, a nonprofit advocacy organization, who flew to Albany
Wednesday to
meet with the three state leaders, were angry.
When they left the governor's office early Thursday, they said,
they were
certain Silver, Pataki and Bruno had reached consensus on a
compromise
reform bill. The said state Criminal Justice Services Director
Chauncey
Parker, was even drafting legislation to reflect their agreement.
Pataki's
office did not return numerous calls for comment.
"Anyone who says that we did not close a deal last night is
lying," Simmons
said. "We had a full agreement on all the details and all the
language of
this bill. ... It took a lot of pressing and beating up on
everybody."
In interviews, Small, Chavis and Simmons said the governor,
Silver and Bruno
had all signed off on a plan that largely resembled a bill
proposed Tuesday
by Assembly Democrats, which offered considerable concessions to
Bruno and
Pataki. Most notably, the bill called for returning no sentencing
discretion
to judges, essentially leaving it to district attorneys to decide
which drug
offenders get substance abuse treatment rather than prison.
The bill also would have restructured the sentences for every
class of drug
offenses -- from the highest, Class A, to the lowest, Class E --
and doubled
the weights of narcotics found on an offender that trigger
specific prison
sentences. The current laws set long to life mandatory minimum
sentences for
selling two ounces of a narcotic or possessing four ounces.
Under the plan, nonviolent Class A drug offenders would be able
to
retroactively appeal their sentences under the new sentence
structure and
B-level offenders would see an increase in merit time that would
effectively
reduce their sentences.
Silver, Bruno and Pataki also agreed to increases in penalties
for drug
kingpins and offenders who use guns or children to sell drugs,
Small said.
Advocates who have long sought full repeal of the drug laws
expressed relief
that the deal Simmons, Small and Chavis said they engineered did
not
succeed. Robert Gangi, executive director of the Correctional
Association of
New York, a nonprofit prison watchdog group, said the deal didn't
go far
enough because it didn't include return of judicial discretion --
a move
strongly opposed by the state's powerful district attorneys.
"If this deal had taken place, we would have criticized it
severely for not
being drug law reform at all," Gangi said. "It's marginal
tinkering that
would have benefited a relatively small number of people."
Small, Simmons and Chavis described their meeting with the
governor and
legislative leaders as grueling. The participants alternately
shouted at one
another, stormed out of the room and threatened to cut off talks
altogether.
For the entire seven hours, Small said, no one ate or drank
anything other
than water or soda.
Toward the end of the meeting, according to Small, Simmons and
Chavis, Bruno
decided talks were going nowhere and got up to leave. Simmons
went after him
and urged him to return, Chavis said.
On Thursday, Bruno said it appeared Simmons was unfamiliar with
the process
and over-anxious to do something in a few hours that the
Legislature had
been working on for years.
"To come in, in a matter of few hours, and think everything's
going to wrap
up is optimistic, just too optimistic," Bruno said. "He wanted to
stay there
and have discussions. ... I was ready to leave much earlier,
because I knew,
could see, that we weren't going to conclude."
The Republican leader also said he believes too much time was
spent on drug
law talks when other matters needed attention.
Some Capitol observers were taken aback by how much time Silver,
Bruno and
Pataki spent with Simmons and how much credence they gave him
despite the
fact that he is neither an elected official nor a drug law
expert.
But Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, D-Queens, long an outspoken
advocate for
full repeal of the drug laws but shut out of the negotiations,
credited
Simmons with "stirring the straw" and keeping this issue on the
table.
"This is America, he's got a billion dollars, that buys him
access," said
Aubry, who spent hours Wednesday night and Thursday morning
waiting outside
the governor's office with reporters hoping to learn of a deal.
"There are
people in the three-way talks who would like to see this issue go
away and
die. He kept this issue alive."
Randy Credico, spokesman for the Mothers of the New York
Disappeared, a
group whose members are former drug convicts or relatives of
imprisoned drug
offenders, said he felt Simmons had been used by Pataki in an
effort to look
serious of reform. Credico and his group were also shut out of
recent drug
law negotiations.
"The governor was trying to run out the clock and he used Russell
as the
football," Credico said.
But Simmons insisted he negotiated in good faith and assumed the
governor,
Silver and Bruno had done the same. And he pledged to continue to
work on
drug law reform, even as the prospects of a three-way agreement
grew ever
dimmer Thursday.
"If we've got to wait until September, we will," Simmons said.
"We'll work
twice as hard. We'll start at the beginning of August and hold
the leaders
accountable to the people. When we come back, the (district
attorneys) will
wish they'd closed now." bureau reporter James M. Odato
contributed to this
story.
No deals in Legislature as session nears end
By MICHAEL GORMLEY
Associated Press Writer
June 19, 2003, 2:14 AM EDT
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Historic reform of the Rockefeller-era drug
laws drew closer early Thursday, but despite 10 hours of closed-door
negotiations between Gov. George Pataki and legislative leaders it and other
major issues remained unresolved as the last day of the scheduled legislative
session began.
"I believe significant progress has been made to reforming the
Rockefeller drug laws, a lot of hard work remains," Pataki said after
negotiations ended after 1 a.m. Thursday. "We have an opportunity to achieve a
historic goal here that has eluded the state for 30 years."
He wouldn't answer reporters' questions on the talks with
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver or the
role of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. At Pataki's invitation, Simmons attended
seven hours of negotiations on the laws in what may be an unprecedented addition
to Albany's traditional three-men-in-a-room negotiations.
Pataki said Simmons' involvement was "enormously helpful" in
the negotiations to reform the 30-year-old laws that require long prison
sentences for possession of relatively small amounts of narcotics.
Critics say the long mandatory sentences have ruined families
when drug treatment programs would be more effective, less disruptive to
families, and far cheaper for the state. Prosecutors say reform of the laws
could put thousands of drug dealers back on the street.
Simmons hurried out of the Capitol after the talks. He said
that although negotiations were close, he wouldn't reveal details.
"I think they're pretty much there," Simmons said. "There's a
lot of work to do still."
Not in the room was Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, a Queens
Democrat, the longtime sponsor of Rockefeller law reforms. He sat on steps
outside Pataki's executive chambers for about five hours after the Assembly
recessed.
"I think the chance of getting a deal this year is getting
smaller and smaller," Aubry said. "Seven hours and you can't come out with
substantial agreement, you have a problem."
"We have no agreement," Silver said. "Staff will meet and
discuss how we're doing ... there are no deals."
Bruno also said no deals were made in one of Albany's longer
closed-door negotiating sessions.
The leaders did, however, agree to extend the state's rent
control law for another day to allow more time for the so-far fruitless
negotiations on a new statute. The extension, the fourth since last week, moves
the new expiration time for the 1997 rent law to midnight Thursday. Negotiations
were expected to resume Thursday.
Earlier Wednesday, Pataki and legislative leaders discussed
restoring funding for the pollution cleanup Superfund and brownfield programs.
Environmentalists were encouraged by their contact with
lawmakers and staffers, although no deal was announced.
Jeff Jones of Environmental Advocates said the brownfields
program under discussion could be historic. The program works with companies to
clean polluted industrial sites for reuse. Thousands of brownfields exist
statewide, often left undeveloped because the pollution hasn't been eliminated.
"There's never been a comprehensive brownfields program
before," Jones said. "If this works the way we think it will, this will be one
of those historic environmental bills that will probably be among the best in
the nation."
Asked Wednesday afternoon about whether he was willing to bend
on a bill to strengthen lobbying disclosure rules, Pataki told reporters: "I'm
not going to negotiate in the hall with you guys. We're talking about dozens of
issues and many, many different items. I hope we can get a lot of them done."
BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Celebrity access breeds Albany discontent
A hip-hop entrepreneur's presence with the "three men in a room" - in the
innermost sanctum of state policy negotiations - raises an issue of propriety.
By TOM PRECIOUS
News Albany Bureau
6/20/2003
ALBANY - Godfather of rap. Hip-hop magnate. Television producer. Urban
apparel entrepreneur.
Now Russell Simmons can add government policy negotiator to his resume.
For more than seven extraordinary hours that ended after 1 a.m. Thursday,
Albany's secretive and much-criticized "three men in a room" process of
negotiating policy issues was transformed into "three men and a rapper in a
room."
Simmons, discoverer of major rap artists and founder of the hip Phat Farm (as
in "pretty hot and tempting") clothes company, had himself a seat at the
negotiating table with the governor of New York and the two leaders of the State
Legislature negotiating major changes in criminal justice policy.
It was an appearance at the state Capitol that left even many veteran
legislators - white and black lawmakers alike - and grizzled lobbyists shaking
their heads in anger or giggling in amazement that one of rap's icons could get
himself holed up in a room debating whether to reform the state's tough
Rockefeller-era drug laws with Gov. George E. Pataki, Senate Majority Leader
Joseph L. Bruno, R-Brunswick, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan.
It produced the expected jokes about which entertainment industry titan would
come in next to help negotiate other issues.
In the end, it was all for nothing, as the talks failed, though after
midnight this morning the Pataki administration was desperately trying to
restart them. Wednesday's negotiations turned nasty at times, with heated verbal
confrontations between Simmons and Bruno.
But the talk at the Capitol on Thursday was not about Rockefeller drug laws,
but about Russell Simmons. That any private citizen could gain such access to
the innermost sanctum of Albany was remarkable.
That it was Simmons made it almost surreal.
While Simmons was inside Pataki's office with Bruno and Silver, the lead
sponsor of proposed revisions in the drug laws, Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry,
D-Queens, was sitting on the stairs nearby. Assembly Democrats say Pataki
refused to let Aubry participate in the talks.
"I don't think it was appropriate," State Sen. Dale M. Volker, R-Depew, one
of the chief critics of revising the drug laws, said of the access given
Simmons.
Volker said that in the end, the goals of Simmons and his supporters were "to
let people out of jail."
Of the negotiating session, Volker added, "I think everyone felt it was
unfortunate, except for the public relations people."
The unprecedented access given to Simmons came even though he is not a
registered lobbyist.
David Grandeau, executive director of the state lobbying commission, said his
agency has already sent a letter asking him to explain his lobbying activities
and expenses - something all lobbyists who spend more than $2,000 are required
to do.
"If he is not registered by Monday, he will be the subject of an
investigation by the commission," Grandeau warned.
After he left Albany on Thursday, Simmons did not return calls seeking
comment.
As it turned out, the extraordinary access given to Simmons ground virtually
all other issues to a halt. Legislative negotiators trying to reach agreement on
everything from environmental cleanup measures to a control board for Buffalo
said the talks with Simmons kept the government leaders and their top staffs
from closing deals on other key issues.
Officials with direct knowledge of the talks with Simmons described the
hip-hop mogul as getting angrier during the night that no deal was being made.
"They didn't know how to get him to leave," said one official speaking on
condition of anonymity.
Simmons, whose recording industry empire and spinoff businesses, from banking
to television, has made him enormously wealthy, has become increasingly active
in politics, using his money and connections to raise funds for a host of
Democratic candidates.
In the wee hours Wednesday night, there was Russell Simmons, his entourage at
his side and undercover state police officers hurriedly escorting him to a
waiting vehicle parked in an area normally reserved for the governor and his
staff. And, like the details-shy ways of Pataki and the legislative leaders,
Simmons was already sounding like one of them.
"I can't talk about details," Simmons said.
Asked to explain his role in such a top-level meeting, Simmons would say only
that "I'm just trying to support the effort. I think everybody wants to make a
deal."
Asked whether he was a New York State resident, considering that he was
negotiating changes in state policy, Simmons gave a quick look of disgust and
declined to answer.
Motor vehicle records show a Russell Simmons in Manhattan, though published
reports and other public records show him with a house in Saddle River, N.J., a
tony suburb of New York City.
Simmons says he was invited to the session by Pataki, Bruno and Silver. Those
close to Bruno and Silver say it was all Pataki's doing. The governor, who took
no questions from the handful of bleary-eyed reporters who staked out the
meeting, would say only that Simmons was "enormously helpful in working to
bridge the gaps so we can try to achieve this moment."
How Simmons became the player that he is with Pataki is a mystery.
Critics suggest political motivations, while supporters say Simmons has
played a high-profile role in trying to soften the Rockefeller drug laws.
No matter, watchdogs assailed the notion of the three leaders listening to
only a single individual in a closed-door negotiating session, with no others
from the outside - including critics of the revisions - allowed inside.
"It is the clearest example of the wealthy and the famous have unbelievable
access to the state's top officials," said Blair Horner, a lobbyist with the New
York Public Interest Research Group. "Albany is increasingly becoming a world of
the political elite, the big donors, celebrities and the politically powerful,
like trade associations and unions, while everyone else is left scrambling
around for scraps."
Simmons, 45, is the founder of the Def Jam record label, which produced such
rap heavyweights as LL Cool J and Public Enemy. A former street hustler, he is
described in his press kit as a "master visionary, hip-hop entrepreneur and
cultural icon."
He is married to a former model, Kimora Lee. He has done television and
Broadway productions and publishing, and is involved with philanthropic causes
including a group he runs called the Hip Hop Summit Action Network.
Because the meetings among Pataki, Bruno and Silver are secret, outsiders are
unaware who participates or is on the speakerphone.
A couple of years back, new ground was broken, though, when it was revealed
that health care union leader Dennis Rivera attended talks with the ruling
triumvirate. But none of those talks were as gruelingly long, as combative and
as unproductive as those concerning the Rockefeller drug laws.
According to Pataki and Silver, Simmons helped bring the parties together.
How? "With ideas," Pataki said. Keeping to the cloaked mentality of Albany
dealmaking, he declined to elaborate.
Bruno said Simmons was "helpful at times." He called him "very dedicated" to
his cause.
As for the appropriateness of a wealthy celebrity engaging in highly
specific, top-level negotiations, Bruno said, "Well, it's a new experience for
me."
It may happen again. Simmons, a savvy businessman, is not likely to drop the
issue of the Rockefeller drug laws just because talks failed this week.
Lawmakers are already talking about coming back to Albany early this fall.
e-mail: tprecious@buffnews.com <http://www.buffalonews.com/email/email_form.asp?author
DEFIANT RAP BIG: FINE THIS
By ANDREA PEYSER NY POST
NICE EARRINGS, TOO:
Rap mogul Russell Simmons quipped that any fine he gets for fighting the
Rockefeller drug laws would cost less than one of wife Kimora Lee's
earrings.
- Ronald Asadorian/Splash |
July 3, 2003 --
MUST be some fine jewelry. Millionaire hip-hop honcho Russell Simmons
scoffed at the criminal probe into his fledgling career as a drug-law "lobbyist"
- telling me that any fine he might be forced to pay "would not cost the back of
one of my wife's earrings."
"The back of my wife's earring," chuckled Simmons, who's married to
stunning Kimora Lee. "And I want to see that in print!"
Until our conversation, the man who created "Puff Daddy" - but had no such
luck demolishing New York's harsh Rockefeller drug laws - has been mute about
the state investigation into his lobbying activities.
Now, Simmons is taking aim at the state Lobbying Commission, which is trying
to decide if the rap mogul broke the law when he played politics.
"What do they say they're gonna do to me?" he said. "What's the worst they
can do to me?"
The commission wants him to call its offices and find out.
"The longer he takes to clear this matter up, maybe we'll get the whole
earring," quipped executive director David Grandeau.
"We take the laws very seriously," said Grandeau.
"He's very wealthy, but he still has an obligation, if he's a lobbyist, to
register and disclose his activities."
Speaking to me via cell phone from Atlanta, where he was visiting his elderly
father, Simmons was every bit as fired up about the issue - which he's pursued
with a near-religious fervor - as he was before the trouble started.
"I was not lobbying, all right? I was a public advocate," Simmons, 45, told
me. He termed the probe into his activities "politically motivated."
"I was exercising my First Amendment rights, educating people about the law,"
he said.
Simmons said he'll register as a lobbyist if required to do so. But he
insisted his work was never about financial reward.
"Nobody gave me money," he said. "I don't own prisons. I don't own any rehab
centers. I did this on behalf of people who are suffering in jail."
He claims that more than 10,000 nonviolent, mostly minority drug offenders
languish in New York prisons because of outmoded laws. But when I asked if he
spent more than $2,000 from his pocket to influence politicians - by law, anyone
who does so must be registered as a lobbyist, or face a possible $100,000 fine -
Simmons freely admitted he overspent.
"I don't want to discuss the specifics, but, yes, there was a personal
investment," he said. "My personal helicopter ride, for instance."
Simmons gave Secretary of State Randy Daniels a lift to Albany on his
chartered chopper - a "gift" that, according to the Lobbying Commission, could
wind up costing Simmons another $25,000 fine, plus bring him a misdemeanor
charge.
The Albany tour culminated in a tense, seven-hour negotiating session with
Gov. Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joe
Bruno. In the end, the drug laws stand. And still, he's declaring victory.
"Now it's national news about a crazy law that needs to be changed!" he
boasted. "I saw it on 'Nightline.' I saw it on 'World News Tonight.' I see it in
your paper every single day.
"The law is going to go away because Puffy said so, not because Hillary
Clinton is with my cause."
When you can afford earrings like he can, I suppose you can't lose.
https://www.addictiongroup.org/blog/athletes-drug-addiction/.
Athletes and Drug Addiction
Why is Substance Abuse Common Among Athletes?
There are many reasons why substance abuse is so common among athletes.
Many face intense pressure to perform. Others are young and more likely to
experiment with substances as they explore their boundaries. Additionally,
some sports cultures contribute to substance abuse.
Other reasons substance abuse is common among athletes include:
Injuries
Injuries are common in sports, and they can be very painful. Some athletes
turn to drugs or alcohol to cope with the pain.
Life on the Road
Athletes often travel a lot. They spend a lot of time away from their homes,
friends, and family. For some, this leads to loneliness, so they turn to
drugs or alcohol to cope.
While substance abuse is a serious problem among athletes, it is not
insurmountable. With the right prevention strategies, athletes can avoid
substance abuse and maintain healthy, successful careers.
While there are many factors that can contribute to substance abuse among
athletes, there are also several ways to prevent it. Education is one key
preventative method, as athletes who are aware of the risks associated with
substance abuse are less likely to engage in it.
Additionally, policies and procedures that discourage substance abuse, such
as drug testing, can also be effective in preventing athletes from using
drugs.
Student Athletes and Substance Abuse
Many of the same pressures that drive professional athletes to alcohol and
drug use also exist for student athletes.
Like professional athletes, student athletes may abuse drugs and alcohol to:
-
Cope with the pressure they feel to succeed
-
Improve their performance
-
Cope with the disappointment of not performing up to their standards
Additionally, student athletes might abuse drugs and alcohol because they
are easily accessible.
Party culture is common on college campuses. In some cases, student athlete
exposure to drugs and alcohol is more common than it is with other students.
This is due in part to their campus notoriety.
Finally, the culture surrounding college sports can be very competitive.
Student athletes often feel pressure to win at all costs, especially when
their performance is tied to scholarships and future career opportunities.
This pressure can lead them to abuse drugs and alcohol to gain an edge over
their opponents.
What Are Some Popular Substances Athletes Abuse?
Athletes often turn to banned substances to improve their performance. Some
of the most popular substances athletes abuse include:
Performance-Enhancing Drugs
There are several performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs)
athletes use to improve their athletic ability.
For instance:
-
Anabolic
steroids: Synthetic hormones that can help athletes build
muscle mass and strength. However, they can also have serious side
effects, including liver damage, high blood pressure, and heart
problems.
-
HGH: Hormone
that helps regulate growth and development. Some athletes use HGH in an
attempt to improve their athletic performance, but it can cause joint
pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and enlarged breasts in men.
-
Stimulants: Increase
alertness and energy levels. They can improve athletic performance, but
they can also cause insomnia, anxiety, and heart palpitations.
Alcohol
There are many reasons why athletes may abuse alcohol. Some may turn to
alcohol to cope with the pressure of competition, while others may use it as
a way to celebrate successes. And others abuse alcohol simply because they
enjoy the feeling of intoxication.
In the U.S., alcohol is legal for people over 21 years old, and it’s one of
the most easily accessible drugs available.
Cannabis
Cannabis is a psychoactive drug that can improve focus and concentration.
However, it can also impair coordination and reaction time. Some use it to
relax and deal with the pressure and/or pain of their athletic career.
Athletes Who Have Struggled With Substance Use Disorder (SUD)
No athlete should feel shame or embarrassment if they struggle with
addiction. Some of the world’s most accomplished athletes have faced similar
challenges.
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps is a former American Olympic swimmer. As of 2016, he holds a
variety of Olympic swimming records in categories including the men's
100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly, and 400-meter individual medley.
In 2014, Michael Phelps was arrested for DUI after a night of partying.
Phelps has also admitted to using marijuana and other drugs in the past.
Phelps has said that he is now sober and has not used drugs in over a year.
Lawrence Taylor
Lawrence Taylor is a former National Football League (NFL) linebacker. His
achievements include winning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and NFL
Defensive Player of the Year during his first year in the league. Taylor
played in two Super Bowls and was selected ten times for the NFL Pro Bowl.
Taylor developed an addiction to cocaine during his NFL career. The public
learned of his addiction after Taylor failed a drug test in 1987. Following
another drug test failure the following year, Taylor sought professional
drug treatment. Unfortunately, his struggles continued and led to several
arrests, including a DUI in 2017.
CC Sabathia
Former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher CC Sabathia played for 19
seasons. Sabathia played on six MLB All Star teams and won the Cy Young
Award in 2007. He also won ALCS MVP in 2000 and was a part of the World
Series Championship team in 2009.
Sabathia developed an alcohol addiction during his career. He checked into
treatment in 2015.
Lamar Odom
Lamar Odom is an American former professional basketball player. He played
14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning two NBA
championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. As a member of the Lakers, he
also won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2011.
Lamar Odom's drug problem has been well-documented. The former NBA star has
struggled with addiction for years, and it has taken a toll on his life and
career.
His drug problem first came to light in 2015, when he was arrested for
driving under the influence. He later revealed that he had been struggling
with an addiction to crack cocaine. In 2015, Odom was found unconscious in a
brothel after a drug overdose. He spent several weeks in a coma.
Despite several stints in rehab, Odom’s struggle continued, and in 2017, he
was hospitalized after suffering from an overdose.
What to Do About Substance Abuse Among Athletes
One of the most important factors in curbing athlete substance abuse is
education about the dangers of substance abuse. This should start at a young
age and continue throughout an athlete's career.
It should include information about the risks of using performance-enhancing
drugs, as well as the risks of abusing alcohol and other substances. It’s
also important to make sure athletes understand mental illness and how their
mental health plays a role in addiction.
Another important
step is to have strong policies in place that discourage substance abuse.
These policies should be clear and concise, and they should be enforced
consistently.
Providing support and addiction treatment to athletes who are struggling
with substance abuse is also critical. This support can come in the form of:
-
Detox
-
Rehabilitation
-
Therapy
-
Support from family and friends
-
Medication for withdrawal symptoms and ongoing care
-
Treatment for co-occurring mental health issues and disorders
-
Relapse prevention
By providing this support, it’s possible to help athletes overcome their
addictions and get back on track.
One of the most important factors in handling athlete substance addiction is
recognizing the warning signs. These include:
-
Loss of control
-
Neglecting responsibilities and once-enjoyed activities
-
Risk-taking behavior
-
Secretiveness
-
Relationship issues
-
Developing tolerance
-
Family history of drug or alcohol abuse
-
Using substances despite negative consequences
-
Withdrawal symptoms
The Leonard Lopate Show
(audio)
We
cover a lot of ground, yet again, on today's
up with his latest,
,
just released on Kindle today.
