Letter to Assemblyman Sheldon Silver

Dear Speaker Silver:
We write to support your efforts to secure meaningful reform to New York's drug laws. For the past quarter of a
century, these laws have inflicted disproportionately severe sentences on drug offenders, imposed unwarranted
restrictions on judicial sentencing discretion, and filled New York's prisons with low level offenders - almost all
from minority communities. The mandatory prison sentences for these offenders all too frequently are
inconsistent with respect for basic human rights, as we document in detail in our 1997 report, "Cruel and Usual:
Disproportionate Sentences for New York Drug Offenders."