The New York Civil Liberties Union charged that legislation passed in Albany, while reducing the most severe mandatory sentences for drug offenses, leaves in place a sentencing scheme that is inherently unfair and unjust. Even with the proposed revisions, New York still has the harshest drug-sentencing laws in the country."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," said Donna Lieberman, the NYCLU's Executive Director.
The legislation, which Governor George Pataki says he will sign, reduces the current sentence of 15-years-to-life for persons charged with severe drug felonies and permits those serving time for these offenses to apply for a reduced sentence. However, the NYCLU said that the sentencing "grid" for these offenses is still harsh and inflexible.
Read about the NYCLU efforts to counter the legislation.
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