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The New York State Assembly voted last week to reform the hotly-contested Rockefeller Drug Laws, a set of statutes that date back to the 1970s and require judges to enforce mandatory prison terms for many drug offenders, including nonviolent first-time offenders.

The Democratic-controlled Assembly voted 98 to 46 last Wednesday to approve the bill A6085, sponsored by Assembly Corrections Committee Chair Jeffrion Aubry (D-Corona). The bill would restore judges’ discretion in many drug-possession cases, allowing them to look at the facts of the case and craft a penalty based on the accused person’s criminal history, as well as the current conviction.

Rockefeller law reform is neither a new debate in the State, nor one that Democrats should expect to win without a fight, despite support from high-level Democrats, including Gov. David Paterson. The original laws, passed in 1973 under Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, were enacted to target major drug kingpins at a time when the City’s narcotics crisis was spiraling out of control. Attempts to reform the laws took place in 2004 and 2005, yet opponents argue more than 42 percent of Rockefeller law prisoners – more than 5,000 people – remain incarcerated for low-level drug felonies, when they should be receiving treatment for their addiction. The annual cost to keep Rockefeller prisoners incarcerated is more than $525 million a year, according to the Correctional Association of New York.

“What the Rockefeller Drug Laws have done is succeeded in imprisoning tens of thousands of lower-level, non-violent offenders, who are predominantly African-American and Latino, with no history of violent crimes,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Aubry called the Rockefeller laws one of the longest standing failed policies in New York State. Politics and racial issues aside, the shaky economic climate calls for responsible reform, he said.

“In long-term budget discussions, Rockefeller costs taxpayers $45,000 a year to incarcerate one low-level drug offender, as opposed to $15,000 to treat them,” Aubry said.

City Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr. (D-Astoria) views the reform bill as little more than an opportunity for the Democrats to flex their newfound political muscle. He says now is not the time to reform the original law and is urging the Senate to consider the bill’s negative consequences.

“We have decimated the police department in New York City and this bill is going to cost money,” Vallone said. “No one explains that the draconian minimum sentencing only applies to A-1 felons who have to sell or possess over $100,000 worth of drugs. This law was implemented because judges were putting violent drug dealers out on the street every day.”

The court system currently maintains its own drug treatment centers, Vallone added, where most drug offenders can obtain counseling while serving time.

“Right now, the only people not getting drug treatment from the courts are the dealers. This new law now allows dealers to claim they’re addicts and avoid jail.”

Aubry argues his bill contains provisions that deny probation and local jail sentencing to drug kingpins, armed dealers and adults selling drugs to minors.

If the Senate passes a companion bill, as many as 2,000 prisoners could apply for a reduction of their sentences. Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith said the Senate would consider the bill as part of the budget package, expected to be enacted by April 1. The effect the bill could have on Queens’ drug treatment centers remains to be seen, said Gary Butchen, president of Bridge Back to Life, an organization that oversees several Queens drug centers, including Cornerstone Drug Rehabilitation Center in Fresh Meadows.

“None of our Queens centers are running at a 100 percent capacity. But I don’t think anyone really has a fixed estimate of how many patients would work their way through the Queens Court system,” Butchen said. “If you’re talking about several hundred patients a month, we can handle it. But if you’re talking about several thousand, no health care system can handle that.”