Enacted in 1973, New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws are among the harshest mandatory minimum sentencing schemes in the nation. These draconian laws have sparked a movement for reform that includes original sponsors of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, lawmakers, judges, members of the New York Bar Association, community leaders, civil rights activists, and clergy. The Rockefeller Drug Laws require judges to give drug offenders mandatory minimum sentences regardless of his or her background, character, role in the offense, or threat to society. Furthermore, these laws restrict the ability of judges to divert appropriate offenders into treatment.
Mandatory minimums give prosecutors unbalanced power over how drug offenders are sentenced.
Unlike decisions made by judges, prosecutors' decisions are not reviewable and lack accountability. Most prisoners serving sentences for drug crimes are people who possess drugs for their own use, low level sellers or couriers. The sentence for drug felonies is based solely on the amount of the drug possessed or sold without any consideration of the offender's level of involvement. Since judges' cannot take individual offenders circumstances into account in sentencing, the only way to receive a lower sentence is to cooperate with the prosecution. However, those who are in the best position to provide information about the drug trade are those who are the most heavily involved.