One judge, upon sentencing a defendant whom he believed did not deserve a lengthy sentence, said, “[T]he mere possession of four ounces of this controlled substance is considered by the State of New York to be just as serious as the taking of a human life. That to me is an absolute atrocity.… However, I am obliged to enforce the law however stupid and irrational and barbarous it be.” The percentage of New Yorkers in state prison for drug crimes more than tripled between 1973 and 1994 as a consequence of the Rockefeller laws. More than 80% of those sentenced—who had to serve many years with no
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