Carly Speaks Out

[desdemona]

Because of her close friendship with John Forté, Carly is aware that the current sentencing requirements for drug related crimes do not always benefit society.

"Judges have lost a lot of their power because of mandatory minimums," she says. "I think the judge in John's case was extremely frustrated by having to go by them and likely would have given John a much lesser sentence if it wasn't for the mandatory minimums."

Carly is joining other celebrities, activists and politicians in calling for the repeal of New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws, which are some of the harshest in the United States.

About the Rockefeller Drug Laws:

Enacted in 1973 under then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller, the Rockefeller Drug Laws require harsh prison terms for the possession or sale of relatively small amounts of drugs.

For example, the harshest provision of this statute mandates a judge to impose a prison term of no less than 15 years to life for anyone convicted of selling 2 ounces or possessing 4 ounces of a narcotic substance.

The penalties apply without regard to the circumstances of the offense or the individual's character or background. Whether the person is a first-time or repeat offender, for instance, is irrelevant.

read more here:

http://www.carlysimon.com/forte/John_Forte.html

[DudeAsInCool]

Drug Laws are ridiculous--in America, they are responsible for a large part of black youth being in jail. :reallymad: :reallymad: :reallymad:

If drugs were legalized, the drug cartels would begin to wither away, along with all the crimes associated with it, and Al Queda would not be able to finance their operations.

When I hear about 17 year kids being given felony charges for making hash brownies, it makes me mad enuf to get Redneck and a posse and go down and put those officials in jail for charging such. Assholes--may you rot in hell.