New York reduces drug sentences
After a decade of talk, New York lawmakers took the first step towards changing the state's infamous Rockefeller drug laws. Established in the 1970s, the laws had put some low-level, first-time drug offenders behind bars for sentences ranging from 15 years to life. Under the new law, those same offenders will serve eight to 20 years in prison. Sentencing reform advocates, who had sought broader changes in the laws, promise to continue to press for them. 57