Senate Bill S301

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S301

SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law and the criminal procedure law, in
relation to second felony drug offenders; and to repeal subdivision 4 of
section 70.70 of the penal law relating thereto

 
PURPOSE:

To ensure that all individuals facing drug charges are treated similar-
ly, without regard to prior non-drug related convictions.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

  Section  1:  Amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 3 of section 70.70 of
the penal law.

  Section 2: Repeals subdivision 4 of section 70.70 of the penal law.

  Section 3: Amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 216.00  of
              

the criminal procedure law.

  Section 4: Sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

When  the  "Rockefeller  drug  laws"  were  revised  in  2004  and 2009,
sentences were reduced for people charged with drug crimes.  These  were
positive steps forward in New York in regard to the goal of transforming
the criminal legal system to be more humane and just.

However,  an anomaly in these reforms was the insertion in 2009 of a new
provision requiring that people charged with non-violent  drug  offenses
who  had  a prior violent felony conviction had their sentences enhanced
(Penal Law 70.70 (4)).

This had never previously been required. As a result of the addition  of
Penal  Law  70.70(4)  and  the exclusion of a category of drug offenders
from eligibility for judicial diversion, people charged with drug crimes
are the only people charged with non-violent  offenses  whose  sentences
are  enhanced  because  a  predicate felony conviction was for a violent
crime. In the 2009 "Rockefeller drug law" revisions,  these  individuals
were  rendered ineligible for the judicial diversion program even though
it has been demonstrated that community-based drug treatment  is  a  far
more  effective  and cost-effective way to reduce recidivism than incar-
ceration, thus benefiting not just the individual but also their  commu-
nities and the public at large.

New  York  must repeal 70.70 (4), so as to realign New York's sentencing
laws, allowing individuals charged with drug crimes to be treated  iden-
tically with individuals charged with other non-violent offenses, basing
sentences on their current offenses and not prior criminal history.

CPL  216.00  must also be amended, making these individuals eligible for
the judicial diversion program so judges  can  send  them  to  treatment
rather  than incarceration when that is appropriate. Because individuals
with prior violent felony convictions are not eligible for  merit  time,
both  CPL  216.00  (1)  (a)  (i) and (ii) and a portion of (iii) must be
stricken in order to make these individuals eligible  for  the  judicial
diversion  program.  These amendments will move New York one step closer
to  meeting  the  current  calls  for  criminal legal system reforms and
social justice.

This bill is supported, among others, by the NYS Office of Court  Admin-
istration Criminal. Law Advisory Committee.

 
RACIAL JUSTICE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT:

Given  the well-documented systemic racism in the criminal legal system,
these laws no doubt have a disproportionate impact on New  York's  Black
and  Latinx communities, as individuals in these communities are dispro-
portionately arrested and convicted for drug offenses far  beyond  their
population  and drug usage rates. This bill, to repeal PL 70.70 (4), and
amend CPL § 216.00, would move New York one step  closer  to  addressing
inequities in the legal system.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

SENATE:

2021-2022: S6638A (Salazar)- Referred to Codes

ASSEMBLY:

2021-2022: A7453A (Aubry)- Referred to Codes

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This  act  will take effect immediately and shall apply to cases where a
sentence is imposed on or after the effective date.