ALBANY – A court program of 15 years standing has provided the model for a new approach to drug offenses announced Friday that stresses treatment rather than incarceration, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said Friday.
The chief judge was on hand as Governor David Paterson and legislative leaders said they had agreed to begin diverting the cases of thousands of lower-level, nonviolent drug offenders in New York to an expanded treatment initiative that would rely on the discretion of state judges and use up to $80 million in federal stimulus money.
