Speakers weigh future of state's drug laws

Speakers at the community forum on the drug sentencing laws, enacted in 1973 by Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, included:

* Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of the Albany Diocese;

* Judge Joseph Traficanti, chief administrative law judge for counties outside New York City;

* former Drug Enforcement Administration director and former State Police superintendent Thomas Constantine;

* former State Senator John Dunne, a sponsor of the Rockefeller drug laws;

* Rev. Peter Young, founder of the Altamont Program for addiction treatment and pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish in Bolton Landing; and

* Dr. Bruce Johnson of the National Development Research Institute.

Problems

While the laws were enacted with a positive intent, said Bishop Hubbard, they have not had the intended effect: Rather than decreasing illegal drug use, drug-related sentences have risen tenfold. The population of New York State's prisons -- 12,000 when the laws were instituted -- now stands at 72,000.

In addition, the laws' opponents say, prisons often provide no chance for addiction treatment, and families are broken up when parents receive jail time for non-violent offenses.

"Treatment is significantly more effective than mandatory, long-term sentencing," the Bishop noted. The state's bishops are among those urging that discretion in sentencing drug offenders be returned to judges, and that treatment be emphasized over incarceration.

Justice?

He applauded the "drug court" programs in several areas of New York State that help to rehabilitate addicts, noting that their number will increase from 19 to 30 by the end of the year. Still, he said, the sentencing laws must be changed as well.

"Remedies that were effective 25 years ago must evolve and must meet the challenges of the day," he explained. "With limitations, judicial input is necessary."

Police view

However, he continued, "law enforcement and rehabilitation will never be the answer to this problem. The answer to this problem will be in prevention."

He noted that being a police officer put him in the unique position of seeing crime victims at the time of their victimization and that he sees the victim as the person he is sworn to protect.

Many victims

The priest explained that he was a friend of Gov. Rockefeller, and said that the attitude at that time toward drug abusers was to "lock 'em up, because they can't be changed. But people who have a disease can be treated and become productive members of society."

Father Young said that his Altamont program has a 92-percent success rate over an eight-year period. "People are getting better," he said. "They're getting the opportunity for recovery, and thank God for that."

Changed mind

The former senator said the failure of the laws is compounded by their uneven enforcement: More African-Americans and Hispanics have been sentenced than white offenders, and minor offenders are often imprisoned while drug kingpins go unpunished.

Mr. Dunne suggested four specific changes to the current drug laws:

* increasing the weight amounts of drugs that defines the severity of an offender's crime;

* making the attempt to commit a drug crime a lesser offense;

* establishing drug courts in every county in New York State; and

* restoring sentencing discretion to trial judges, which would also not be subject to the veto of the district attorney over whether an offender receives jail time or treatment.

"Instead of adhering to a retaliatory system, adopt the principle of restorative justice," Mr. Dunne stated.

Treatment

Showing attendees a series of charts and graphs to prove his point, he stated simply: "Treatment works. You can measure the relative degrees of impact of treatment."

He noted that drug-treatment programs are required to show they make a difference in rehabilitating an offender, but prisons are not. "If [prisons] had to show people are crime-free after their release," he said, imprisonment would be shown to be "a dismal failure."

Future

Dr. Johnson replied that neither political party would want to be perceived as being "soft on crime" by lessening sentencing laws, but Mr. Dunne believes "there is strong support for changes."

"There's a great deal of enthusiasm for the treatment-based program," Judge Traficanti observed.

(For more information on modifying the Rockefeller drug laws, contact the New York State Catholic Conference -- the public policy arm of the state's bishops -- at www.nyscatholicconference.org or 434-6195.)

(04-27-00) [[In-content Ad]]