NEW YORK CITY ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAW RESENTENCINGS URGENT CALL FOR VOLUNTEER MENTAL HEALTH AND DRUG TREATMENT PROFESSIONALS
September 15, 2009

* Volunteer Contact: Shreya Mandal, JD, LMSW, Mitigation Specialist, The Legal Aid Society *Phone: (212) 577-3664* E-mail: SJMandal@legal-aid.org

Approximately 700 people are expected to be re-sentenced under the most recent Rockefeller Drug Law Reform, allowing them to return to New York City. But first, much work must be done to ensure that former prisoners qualify for early release and comprehensive reentry planning. Public Defenders and private lawyers are responsible for filing timely re-sentencing petitions to the courts. We anticipate this process to start in early October.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
The Need for Mitigation Assessment
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Change We Can Believe In: NY's Rockefeller Drug Law Reform is in Effect
By, Gabriel Sayegh, Drug Policy Alliance

This week, two essential components of Rockefeller Drug Law reform go into effect: restoration of judicial discretion and resentencing eligibility for some people currently incarcerated under the failed laws. The enactment of these hard-won reforms signals a major shift in New York's approach to drug abuse and dependency.

By restoring discretion, incarceration for drug offenses is no longer mandatory: judges once more have the ability to send individuals suffering from addiction into a range of programs, such as treatment and mental health services. In addition, nearly 1,500 people currently incarcerated under the old laws for low-level, nonviolent drug offenses can now petition the court for resentencing. If approved by a judge, many of these people will finally be released.
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2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference

The International Drug Policy Reform Conference is the world's principal gathering of people who believe the war on drugs is doing more harm than good. No better opportunity exists to learn about drug policy and to strategize and mobilize for reform.

The 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference will address a wide range of policy, legal, political and scientific issues including:
Drug Sentencing Reform
Treatment
Drug Testing
Race and the Drug War
Marijuana
HIV, Hep C and Overdose Prevention
International Developments
Drug Education
Entheogens-Science, Spirituality and Law
Alternatives to Prohibition
Pragmatic Steps for Ending the Drug War

This year's conference will be held at the Astor Crowne Plaza in the legendary French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana. For a conference brochure and registration details, go to www.drugpolicy.org

Why New Orleans?

Old world ambiance, hot jazz, cool eats and sizzling night life... The Astor Crowne Plaza is within walking distance of many of the landmarks of New Orleans' worldwide appeal: courtyards and iron-laced balconies, famous restaurants and galleries, Bourbon Street, the mighty Mississippi River and legendary Jackson Square.

New Orleans also presents us with the opportunity of “Working Toward a New Bottom Line” – our conference theme. We can’t convene in this location without engaging the tragic conditions both the city and the state of Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina laid bare an array of problems, many of which are exacerbated by drug war policies. Meanwhile, the state of Louisiana comes close to leading the nation in the rate at which it incarcerates people for drug law violations. But such excesses also create opportunities for reform. Drug policy reform has always been particularly challenging in the South, but we aim to use the International Drug Policy Reform Conference to build momentum for meaningful change – both in New Orleans and more broadly.
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My colleague from the Drug Policy Alliance wrote this op-ed piece [Liza's Note: We are reprinting the whole article with the author's permission]:

Put Drug Laws on Day One Docket
By Gabriel Sayegh
First published: Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Albany Times-Union

New Yorkers are waiting to see whether Gov. Eliot Spitzer's campaign slogan -- "Day One, Everything Changes"-- is genuine, or just a slogan. There are a number of issues that warrant the attention of the new administration, and reforming the draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws should be a priority.

The Rockefeller Drug Laws, passed in 1973, mandate harsh mandatory minimum prison terms for simple, low-level drug offenses. Under these laws, people convicted of first-time drug offenses receive 8 to 20 years in prison. While the state spends millions of taxpayer dollars every year imprisoning drug offenders, spending on community-based drug treatment is pitifully low.

Indeed, treatment options for people with drug problems are too limited, especially for low-income people. There are more than 14,000 people in New York prisons under the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Nationwide, over 500,000 people are incarcerated on drug offenses, more than any other industrialized nation (and more than the European Union, with 100 million more residents, incarcerates for all offenses combined).

But perhaps the most despicable aspect of the Rockefeller Drug Laws is the institutional racism associated with their application. More than 90 percent of the people incarcerated under the Rockefeller Drug Laws are black and Latino, even though whites use and sell illegal drugs at approximately equal rates. There is no excuse for this disparity.
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