May 08, 2003
Rappers vs. Rockefeller
It is truly amazing, and appalling, that the Rockefeller drug laws are still on the books. This is certainly a more worthy cause to rally behind than whether Ludacris gets to be in a Pepsi commercial:
Coalition Wants New York Drug Law Repealed
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 $610 million a year to hold some 22,000 non-violent drug offenders in prison.
Known as the 'Rockefeller' drug laws, they were enacted in 1973 when Nelson Rockefeller, a Republican, was governor. In general, the laws require judges to impose a sentence of 15 years to life in prison for anyone convicted of selling two ounces, or possessing four ounces, of an illegal narcotic such as cocaine or heroin.
Critics of the laws say many of those convicted would be better off in rehabilitation facilities -- an option they say is cheaper and more productive than prison.
'We want to create an awareness campaign so that people know that the law has to be repealed,' said Russell Simmons, chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network...
EDIT: Here is a report with more details on the hip-hop angle.
Posted by jsmooth995 at May 8, 2003 08:10 PM
several years ago i did a story on "megan's law" (dealing with the issue of mandatory denial of parole for non-violent offenders, including people convicted of drug crimes) and one of the organizations i quoted, the Correctional Association of New York, does excellent work with prison reform, including abolishing the Rockefeller Law.
PLEASE check out their website at:
http://www.corrassoc.org/
Posted by: becca at May 8, 2003 10:13 PM
I do not smoke, drink and have never been arrested. I do not support drugs but I think the
ROCKEFLLER LAW should be banned. Spending fifteen
years to life in prison is one of the worst injustice in history to non violent drug offenders. The Rockefeller Law has caused overcrowding of prisons and has caused billions of Dollars defficit in New York. Recently someone who knew nothing about drugs was arrested when drugs was found in the car they were in. That person did not know that drugs was in the car.
Posted by: Robert Taylor at September 29, 2003 10:28 AM
I am writing you a letter in the hopes that someone will hear our story. A story which deals with Erie County District Attorneys Office investing over 50,000$ to convict my finace' for possesion of less than a gram of cocaine. The city, county, and state are all in the red, yet the county was willing to invest over $50,000 to try a case three times. The very fact that the cae was tried three times speaks of the merit of the evidence. The actual conviction of my fiance' does not speak of his guilt but rather of the laws of probability. This case was a legal lynching and I think that the public needs to know how much of a waste this case was for the tax payer. Especially in light that county employees will be laid off, and what was spent on this case could have employeed a county employee as opposed to one being laid off. My fiancee is now facing more time than the the men who robbed and shot my fiance'. How difficult is it to get a conviction when you try a case three times and you have jurors who reside in area's where the only diversity is in the jails that these communities are built around. There was a juror who went to the judge because jurors had made their minds up and were discussing the case prior to the defense presenting their case, and the judge did nothing. I think that this trial was a travesty of justice, because ultimately it is our children who will bear the burden of this state imposed seperation. The case lacked evidence which is demonstrated by the fact that there were two hung jury's, and no one one dare mention the fact that the one person who can clear my finacee is a Sherriff's Department Informant who testified to a judge that a light skinned individual, mid late twenty's with a mustache, who was about 5' 8" is the individual who sold him drugs. There was no investigation conducted to confirm or denie the allegations of this criminal informant. So, it is possible that anyone can accuse you of anything and the police will be at the door with guns drawn, without an ounce of proof or any investigation. My fiance is 6 ft tall, dark skinned, and he is only 23. The District Attorney and Sherriff's Department would not even let the informant testify, wouldn't let the informant see if he could pick my fiance' out of photo array or line up. Yet they were willing to invest $50,000 and send an innocent man to jail. Even if for one's own conscience, wouldn't you want to be sure that you are prosecuting someone who was actually guilty of what you alledge
Posted by: Taniqua Simmons at February 2, 2004 11:59 PM
When you pay an attorney large fees to help defend you family member of any type of crime, you should know exactly what sentence you family member will be receiving at the exact time of sentencing to a state correctional facility before they are sent to that facility. Why wait until they are taken their and then finding out sometime later? If the judges can't have a better definite say in a persons sentence why should he be a judge? If a person received a 1-4 year sentence, why can't he just receive a one(1) year sentence with certain provisions of the sentence? For example, if he did his one year and got rearrested, the new charge would be based only on the new charge.....The state must put the past behind people who get into trouble because usually the judge and jury never hear or believe the truth and nothing but the truth!!!!!!!! In this day and age you are definitely GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT!!!!!!! No matter what..
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