Civil-liberties and drug-policy reform groups say that New York's drug sentences should be shorter and that drug offenders should be offered more alternatives to incarceration, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported Aug. 29.

Donna Lieberman, head of New York's American Civil Liberties Union chapter, said that while some reform of the state's harsh Rockefeller-era drug laws have been made, the laws remain "unfair, unjust and cruel."

"They destroy lives rather than rehabilitating them," Lieberman said of the laws. "They are enforced with blatant racial and ethnic bias."

New York's Commission on Sentencing Reform, convened by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, is reviewing drug sentences as well as alternatives to incarceration. The panel's preliminary report is due Oct. 1.

"The sentencing commission is the best chance in many years to address the unfairness, inequity and outright incoherence of our current sentencing structure," said Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan), a member of the panel.

The Real Reform coalition, an advocacy group, urged the commission to restore judges' discretion in drug sentencing, expand community-based treatment and other prison alternatives, reduce sentences for all drug offenses, and give people sentenced under the Rockefeller laws greater ability to challenge their sentences.

However, Rockland County District Attorney Michael Bongiorno, who chairs the state District Attorneys Association, is among those who oppose easing drug penalties. "The drug laws have been weakened enough," he said. "Any further weakening of the drug laws will only serve to foster more drug dealing and endanger the public."

Bongiorno cited cases where released drug offenders went on to commit other crimes, and said some reforms have allowed drug dealers to receive lower penalties. He contends that prosecutors, not judges, should decide which defendants should be eligible for treatment rather than prison.