State shifts focus to drug treatment
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- October
- 7
  Amendments to the much-criticized Rockefeller-era drug laws that took effect today give judges discretion to place non-violent drug offenders into treatment over incarceration, greatly expand addiction-treatment programs and enable some prisoners sentenced under the old law to petition for release.
  “Under the Rockefeller Drug Laws, we did not treat the people who were addicted; we locked them up under some of the nation’s harshest sentences. Families were broken, money was wasted and we continued to wrestle with the statewide drug problem,” Gov. David Paterson said in a statement.
  “The reforms that take effect today address those problems. By returning judicial discretion to the courtroom, we are reuniting families and fighting criminal activity and addiction in our communities,” he said.
  The new law eliminates some mandatory minimum sentences by judges and gives them the option of allowing eligible drug- or alcohol-addicted defendants to participate in a treatment program supervised by the courts.
  About 1,500 non-violent felons who were sentenced under the old Rockefeller-era drug laws now have the option of filing petitions for re-sentencing. Approximately half of them are from New York City.
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on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 11:55 am by Cara Matthews.
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