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MALONE — Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne will head a statewide committee to track drug-related crimes following recent State Legislature changes to existing laws.
State District Attorneys Association President David Donovan of Richmond County made the announcement earlier this month that Champagne would chair the newly formed Drug Law Revision Impact Committee "and monitor the effects the new drug laws will have in our state."
Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie sits on the committee and is joined by the DAs from Schenectady, Westchester, Onondaga, Monroe, Kings, Sullivan, New York, Saratoga, Orange, Nassau, Erie, Suffolk and Warren counties.
Essex County DA Julie Garcia sits on the association's Board of Directors, but will not serve on the committee.
"We hope to see that the new drug laws are working even though we were opposed to them," Champagne said.
The prosecutors' association opposed the changes because when the original drug laws adopted in the 1970s were revised in 2004, there was a marked decrease in inmate population and instances of violent crimes, Champagne said.
"We felt with the way crime was decreasing and the number of inmates was decreasing, why change it?" he said. "But the 62 district attorneys across the state are elected to enforce the laws, not write them."
The revisions can reduce the prison terms for repeat-offense dealers or provide early release to some inmates convicted of drug-related crimes.
People arrested in possession of 650 hits of heroin or more than 850 hits of cocaine can receive a sentence of probation instead of time behind bars.
Drug-treatment programs as an alternative to prison time is also now offered to dealers convicted of robbing or stealing to continue their addictions.
All of these options are at the discretion of a judge, who is not obligated to accept a prosecutor's sentence recommendation.
"We've been taken out of the picture," Champagne said. "If it works, great. But if we make a recommendation and the person is sent to rehab instead, the DAs will track them when they get out."
If the person commits another violent crime, "it will no longer be our responsibility," he said.
Other concerns raised by the association were outlined in a news release with a link to an audio conversation between an unidentified jailed inmate and a visitor at an unnamed correctional facility about how easily the new laws can be skirted.
"It's called the drug dealers' protection law," the unidentified inmate says, adding that prosecutors have to prove that large sums of money were made selling drugs.
"If they can't prove you made more than $50,000 a year, you're eligible for all programs even if you've got four or five convictions," he said.
"They just created the beast," he said. "I'm burning the streets up when I go home now that I know I'm not going to face real time."
The DA said the committee will do its work and reveal the outcome in about 18 months.
"We just want an honest assessment and evaluation of the policy to see if it is effective," Champagne said.
"One of my goals is to track to see if the treatment available is being properly funded.
"If (revising the law) has not been successful because there has not been enough funding or there are not enough beds or not enough probation officers or not enough counselors, then that's a different scenario.
"But there is no specific agenda here other than that we want to see if these new drug laws are working," he said.
Champagne, who is first vice president of the association and slated to become president in July 2010, said if the revised laws aren't working, "we hope to have a proposal that identifies the problem, and the association will make a recommendation to whoever is governor then."
E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com
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