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Source: New York Times
Albany Takes Step to Repeal Rockefeller Drug Laws
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: March 4, 2009
ALBANY — The State Assembly on Wednesday announced that it has agreed to pass legislation to repeal much of what remains of the state’s 1970s-era drug laws.
The proposal, scheduled to come to a floor vote late Wednesday afternoon, would be the first pivotal step in a push to dismantle the laws that tied judges’ hands and imposed mandatory prison terms for many nonviolent drug offenses.
The Assembly’s proposal restores judges’ discretion in sentencing in many lower-level drug possession crimes. Judges would be able to send many offenders to treatment programs instead of prison without receiving consent from prosecutors. In addition, the measure would permit about 2,000 prisoners to apply to have their sentences reconsidered.
The drug laws have been among the most divisive social issues debated by Albany lawmakers. Bills aimed at changing the statutes, known as the Rockefeller drug laws because former Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller championed them, have been debated in the Legislature for years, only to stall in the Senate, which until this year was run by Republicans.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/nyregion/05rockefeller.html?_r=2&hp
Albany Takes Step to Repeal Rockefeller Drug Laws
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: March 4, 2009
ALBANY — The State Assembly on Wednesday announced that it has agreed to pass legislation to repeal much of what remains of the state’s 1970s-era drug laws.
The proposal, scheduled to come to a floor vote late Wednesday afternoon, would be the first pivotal step in a push to dismantle the laws that tied judges’ hands and imposed mandatory prison terms for many nonviolent drug offenses.
The Assembly’s proposal restores judges’ discretion in sentencing in many lower-level drug possession crimes. Judges would be able to send many offenders to treatment programs instead of prison without receiving consent from prosecutors. In addition, the measure would permit about 2,000 prisoners to apply to have their sentences reconsidered.
The drug laws have been among the most divisive social issues debated by Albany lawmakers. Bills aimed at changing the statutes, known as the Rockefeller drug laws because former Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller championed them, have been debated in the Legislature for years, only to stall in the Senate, which until this year was run by Republicans.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/nyregion/05rockefeller.html?_r=2&hp