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Article: Tough on crime and families: New York's Rockefeller drug laws have jailed thousands with harsh mandatory sentences.(action)
- Article from:
- Colorlines Magazine
- Article date:
- September 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Color Lines Magazine. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Thirteen-year-old Janizabeth Estevez doesn't understand why her father is still in jail. He didn't commit murder, rape, or arson. And yet he has been incarcerated for 11 years.
Frankie Estevez was sentenced to 18 years to life for translating in a narcotics deal--even though no drugs were found when he was arrested. Estevez was sentenced under New York's get-tough-on-crime Rockefeller drug laws. But getting tough on Estevez thus far has cost New York taxpayers $300,000.
It costs $32,000 a year to keep Estevez in jail along with the other 23,000 drug offenders now in New York prisons. For years Governor George Pataki and legislators have talked about ...