According to the NYT:
The Assembly approved legislation, 96 to 46, that would restore judges’ discretion in many lower-level drug-possession crimes that are felonies by eliminating laws that require a prosecutor’s consent before judges can send certain felons to drug treatment instead of prison.
In addition, the measure would permit about 2,000 prisoners to apply to have their sentences reduced.
There’s more detail at StoptheDrugwar.org:
More than 42% of Rockefeller law prisoners — more than 5,000 people — are doing hard time for simple drug possession, many of them convicted of the lowest level drug felonies, which involve only small amounts of drugs. For instance, a half-gram of cocaine can earn a Class D felony charge. As of last month, 1,098 people were imprisoned for that offense.
The mass imprisonment of drug offenders comes at a substantial cost to Empire State taxpayers. According to the Correctional Association of New York, the state spends $525 million a year to incarcerate drug offenders and has spent $1.5 billion on building prisons to house them.
“More than 35 years after the Rockefeller drug laws were enacted, it is clear that these laws mandating imprisonment for even lower-level offenders have failed to effectively combat drug abuse or reduce the incidence of violent crime,” said Assembly leader Rep. Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) before the vote Wednesday. “This legislation restores humanity to drug policy here in New York. It expands the sentencing options available to judges, without endangering the public. Judges are in the best position to know who is deserving of prison and who is not. State prison and mandatory prison sentences are not the magic bullets to address drug abuse and its attendant problems; restoring judicial discretion is the solution.”
These Rockefeller statues have been used as the model fro drug laws all over the US. And, as noted, they are largely a failure. Non-violent, small amount offenders more often need options for treatment rather than hard time. This repeal, while not a perfect solution, addresses some of the worst excesses of the Rockefeller laws — including the idiotic costs of incarceration and the costs of permanently damaging the long term ability of non-violent offenders to get back to regular society.
California is relooking at its drug laws (and the 3 strikes laws) also as a way to reduce its prison costs. I’m sure they aren’t the only ones to make this review. Imprisoning nonviolent offenders is very expensive and not especially utilitarian. Funds spent to lock these folks up are much better used to bolster public education or for drug treatment options. Delaware has a large number of people in prison per capita, and much of that has to do with the failures of the War on Drugs. I’m hoping that while Gov. Markell is looking for ways to address our budget crisis that he’s looking at ways to reduce the numbers of nonviolent offenders being sent to Delaware’s expensive prisons.