Rockefeller Drug Laws Repealed!

As of yesterday, the NYTimes has reported, the punitive Rockefeller Drug Laws have finally gotten the requisite votes to be repealed:

The deal would repeal many of the mandatory minimum prison sentences now in place for lower-level drug felons, giving judges the authority to send first-time nonviolent offenders to treatment instead of prison.

The plan would also expand drug treatment programs and widen the reach of drug courts at a cost of at least $50 million.

New York’s drug sentencing laws, imposed during a heroin epidemic that was devastating urban areas nearly four decades ago, helped spur a nationwide trend toward mandatory sentences in drug crimes. But as many other states moved to roll back the mandatory minimum sentences in recent years, New York kept its laws on the books, leaving prosecutors with the sole discretion of whether offenders could be sent to treatment.

This is great news for New York, particularly the move to expand drug treatment programs and widen the reach of drug courts.  Although there will be some up-front costs, the savings to the court system, the prisons and the community will be immeasurable. 

Comments

[adolescent drug treatment]

The Rockefeller Drug Laws strip judges of their discretion, requiring they give people convicted of drug offenses a mandatory minimum sentence based solely on the quantity of a drug involved in the offense. These sentences are mandatory regardless of the individual's background, character, role in the offense, and the circumstances of the offense. Whether the person is a first-time offender, for instance, is irrelevant. Under this system, prosecutors, not judges, control the process.

-mj-

[California drug rehab center]

If we want to understand the perseverance of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, it may suit us to ask entirely different questions. If they haven’t reduced crime or mitigated the crippling burden of drug addiction, what have they accomplished? Here, history teaches that these laws were never a reasoned strategy to address drug abuse. Instead, they were the result of a particular historical moment, a politically expedient, emotional declaration by Governor Rockefeller in the midst of mass social upheaval and growing heroin addiction.

-jomie-

[san diego sober living]

But as many other states moved to roll back the mandatory minimum sentences in recent years, New York kept its laws on the books, leaving prosecutors with the sole discretion of whether offenders could be sent to treatment.

[Shawn]

Drug Rehab today is such a difficult undertaking to even begin thinking about when you are in throughs of addiction. At SouthCoast Recovery, drug rehab isn't something that you have to be affraid of, it is something to embrace! At SouthCoast Recovery, it is about living! Check out http://www.southcoastrecovery.com to learn more about how SouthCoast can help you today...

[hp toner]

What do these changes mean for drug and criminal justice policy in New York and the nation? This is the key question facing advocates around the
country today.

[Cheap viagra]

For me it is a pleasure to comment on a blog like this, to me personally I liked very much reading, I agree with everything they say the above comments, I think if every day items like these appear in the network, I would sit at my computer reading these articles.