every?Rockefeller Drug Laws? Essays -- essays research papers

â€Å"Rockefeller Drug Laws† In May of 1973, New York’s Governor, Nelson Rockefeller, made a set of strict anti-drug laws for the state legislature. The purpose of these laws was to stop the drug abuse epidemic that was occurring in New York during the early 1970’s. It was the most severe law in the nation; the drug laws were to punish those who possessed and sold heavy amounts of narcotics like cocaine and heroine and to hold them in custody for the amount they possessed or sold. For example, if the person was caught with the possession of two or four ounces of drugs on them the minimum time in a federal prison would be 15 years to life, no matter what age (if the offender was of 15 years of age or older). Many problems began to occur concerning the laws, also there were many critiques concerning weather or not it would work and be kept as a law. The Rockefeller Drug Laws is still one of the most brutal drug laws in the nation because of its ground breaking punishments. The laws state specifically that, â€Å"the statutes require judges to impose a sentence of 15-years to life for anyone convicted of selling two ounces, or possessing four ounces of "narcotic drugs". This made it clear for all those that were â€Å"dealing drugs† that this was a no-nonsense rule. This was the beginning of up coming events in history that lead to protests and also very famous summits done by family members of people in prison under the unfair ruling, friends and supports of those against the harsh laws to keep drugs off the streets. The purpose of the laws was to provide protection and isolation from people who were not yet involved with the drug epidemic. Also, it provided peace of mind for politicians that wanted to get the drug dealers off the streets permanently. For New York the drug war had just begun. Many people were for the new laws; they saw drug dealing as if it were just like murder because the death rate from narcotics at the time was increasingly high and the danger of the drugs being on the streets was worse. The consequences of these laws have become even exaggeratedly ridiculous. In many cases a first time drug offender being charged under these laws can receive a higher sentencing then a person convicted of murder or rape. This meant that by possessing a kilo of cocaine or... ...al job. I feel that not everyone that deals should be sentence to prison. Just because a first time offender is carrying a certain amount of kilograms, they are sentences according to that. This is injustice because a person who may have committed other minor crimes may be charged the same way as a person who made a mistake for the first time. Besides that sentencing everyone that makes a crime is extremely expensive. People who don’t have any type of connections with people who are place in prison have to be paying money to maintain them in prison. As we all know, drug dealing is still going on and it won’t be stopping any time soon. As you have read, even though the Rockefeller Drug Laws had so much demands upon it, still many continued to do it. In the article we read in class â€Å"Criminal Justice through the looking Glass, or winning by losing† illustrates how effective laws aren’t. one thing he says â€Å"I will not go so far to say that the criminal justice policy has made no contribution to the drop in crime rates.† Therefore, crime will always continue and what we should be worrying about is how to help these individuals who are making these crimes.