The Attila the Hun Law:New York's Rockefeller drug laws and the making of a punitive state

Journal of Social History

Volumn 44, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 71-95

  Kohler Hausmann, Julilly ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA CHAMPAIGN   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 77958147181     PISSN: 00224529     EISSN: 15271897     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/jsh.2010.0039     Document Type: Article

References (123)

1. "Annual Message 1973," January 3, 1973, box 76, folder 810, series 10.4, Nelson Rockefeller, Gubernatorial, Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York (hereafter RAC), p. 16.
2. Ibid.,
3. Ibid.,
4. See, for example, Thomas Byrne Edsall & Mary Edsall, Chain Reaction (New York, 1991);
5. and Michael Flamm, Law and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism in the 1960s (New York, 2005). Debates rage over the actual extent of the crime wave that began in the 1950s. It was probably statistically inflated by new reporting procedures and the inevitable result of demographic factors. Since baby boomers, the large cohort of babies born after WWII, began reaching early adulthood- the age bracket most prone to commit crime-in the late 1950s, scholars suggest increases in crime were assured. Others, such as David Garland, argue that higher levels of crime are the result of the disaggregated communities of late modernity. Regardless of the cause or the precise extent of the crime increase, there seems little doubt that there was a significant rise when compared to the previous decade.
6. David Garland, The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society (Chicago, 2001), 90.
7. For an argument against "backlash," see Vesla Weaver, "Frontlash, Race and the Development of Punitive Crime Policy," Studies in American Political Development 21 (Fall 2007): 230-265.
8. For challenges to the claim that crime rates drove the backlash, see Kathleen Beckett, Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Politics (New York, 1997).
9. Vesla Weaver, "Frontlash: Race and Development of Punitive Crime Policy," 235.
10. See James A. Hijiya, "The Conservative 1960s," Journal of American Studies 37, no. 2 (2003): 201- 227;
11. Bruce J. Schulman and Julian E. Zelizer, Rightward Bound: Making America Conservative in the 1970s (Cambridge, 2008);
12. and Rick Perlstein, "Who Owns the Sixties? The Opening of a Scholarly Generation Gap," Lingua Franca (May/June 1996): 30-37.
13. For example, see Rick Perlstein, Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus (New York, 2001);
14. Lisa McGirr, Suburban Warriors (Princeton, 2001);
15. and Donald Critchlow, Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism (Princeton, 2005).
16. Caroline Jean Acker, Creating the American Junkie: Addiction Research in the Classic Era of Narcotic Control (Baltimore, 2002), 219.
17. Bruce Western, Punishment and Inequality in America (New York, 2006), 2.
18. The concept of an "anti-citizen" is employed by David Roediger and Nikhil Pal Singh to discuss the role of African Americans within the American polity in different periods and contexts. See David Roediger, Wages of Whiteness (New York, 1991), 57;
19. and Nikhil Pal Singh, Black Is a Country: Race and the Unfinished Struggle for Democracy (Cambridge, 2005), 23 and 216-217.
20. Eric C. Schneider, Smack: Heroin and the American City (Philadelphia, 2008), xi-xvi.
21. For a discussion of the historical causes and consequences of the spatial concentration of heroin users and heroin marketplaces in urban, economically depressed communities of color, see Eric C Schneider, Smack: Heroin and the American City.
22. I have removed the last names of letter writers because many people who wrote Rockefeller discussed personal matters and were possibly unaware that their correspondence would become part of the public record. Letter from Myra to Rockefeller, April 5, 1973, Reel A16, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, New York State Archives, Albany, New York (hereafter NYSA).
23. Dan Baum, Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure (Boston, 1996), 34-35;
24. and Eric Schneider, Smack: Heroin and the American City, 142-159.
25. For contemporary news reports, see Martin Tolchin, "Involvement of Middle Class in the Narcotics Problem Arouses Demands for Action," New York Times, March 9, 1970, p. 29;
26. or "The Fight Against Drugs is in a Mess," New York Times, March 22, 1970, p. 184.
27. Michael Massing, The Fix (New York, 1998), 100-131;
28. Dan Baum, Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure, 39-62.
29. See, also, "As Common as Chewing Gum," Time, March 1, 1971;
30. and "New Withdrawal Costs," Time, June 7, 1971.
31. "Draft of Crime Speech," [1970], folder 320, box 32, series 10.4, record group 15, Nelson Rockefeller, Gubernatorial, RAC.
32. "The New Public Enemy No. 1," Time, June 28, 1971. Despite tough talk and new investment in domestic and foreign law enforcement, key components of Nixon's policies were not highly punitive. He established an unprecedented federal treatment infrastructure relying primarily on methadone maintenance. He also dramatically reduced sanctions for drug use in the military and implemented a large-scale drug-screening program for returning veterans.
33. Dan Baum, Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure, 29-91.
34. Nixon's reversal of the long-standing policy of dishonorably discharging or court martialing those caught using drugs in the military.
35. Eric C Schneider, Smack: Heroin and the American City, x and 1-16.
36. Letters from constituents to legislators are rich sources for understanding citizens' relationship to various policies and the state. However, they are, like any source, a product of the context in which they are produced and reflect gross power differentials. This is especially important to keep in mind later in this article when examining letters from incarcerated people to politicians. Although there is much these letters do not reveal, they offer insight into the way people positioned themselves in reference to the state.
37. Letter from Janet to Rockefeller, March 5, 1973, Reel A16, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
38. Christian Parenti, Lockdown America: Police and Prisons in the Age of Crisis (New York, 2000), 5.
39. Letter from Otto to Rockefeller, August 28, 1973, Reel A16, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
40. Michael Flamm, Law and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism in the 1960s, 47. Although distinct political arguments, radical prisoner writers and their allies also characterized crime as the inevitable result of unjust, oppressive social structures and characterized inmates as essentially political prisoners.
41. See, Eric Cummins, The Rise and Fall of California's Radical Prison Movement (Stanford, 1994), 93-187.
42. For examples of radical prisoner writing, see Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Ice (New York, 1967);
43. George Jackson, Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters (Harmond Sworth, 1971).
44. Letter from Ann to Rockfeller, February 6, 1971, Reel A16, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
45. Letter from Joseph to Rockefeller, April 30, 1973, Reel A16, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
46. Molly Ladd-Taylor and Lauri Umansky, eds., "Bad" Mothers: The Politics of Blame in Twentieth- Century America (New York, 1998).
47. Letter from Ron to Rockefeller, [No Date], Reel A16, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
48. Letter from Wayne to Rockefeller, January 18, 1973, Reel A16, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
49. William Kennedy, "Rocky Is 64, Going on 35," New York Times, April 29, 1973, p. 17.
50. Joseph E Persico, The Imperial Rockefeller: A Biography of Nelson A. Rockefeller (New York, 1982), 144;
51. Report from William Fine to Nelson Rockefeller, March 15, 1972, Reel 61, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
52. Report from William Fine to Rockefeller. Emphasis in original.
53. Joseph E Persico, The Imperial Rockefeller: A Biography of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 144.
54. Marquis Childs, "Reagan vs. Rockefeller: The Race for '76 Is On,"Washington Post, December 25, 1973, p. A23;
55. William White, "Campaign Begins for '76 Nomination," Chicago Tribune, January 21, 1973, p. A6.
56. Joseph E Persico, The Imperial Rockefeller: A Biography of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 142.
57. William Kennedy, "Rocky Is 64, Going on 35," p. 17.
58. M. A. Farber, "How Governor Decided on 'Tougher' Approach," New York Times, August 31, 1973, p. 16.
59. "Annual Message 1973," January 3, 1973, box 76, folder 810, series 10.4, RAC, p. 16.
60. "Hard Line in Albany," New York Times, January 4, 1973, p. 36.
61. See William Raspberry, "Rockefeller's Stand on Drugs: Would It Do Any Good?," Washington Post, January 10, 1973, p. A23;
62. Francis Clines, "Legislators See Problems In Stiff Drug-Crime Laws," New York Times, January 10, 1973, p. 49;
63. or Michael Kaufman, "Reaction Mixed on Drug Penalty," New York Times, January 8, 1973, p. 19;
64. and Lesley Oelsner, "2 Top Judges See Court Paralysis Under Drug Plan," New York Times, January 6, 1973, p. 1.
65. Max Seigel, "Lindsay Assails Governor's Plan to Combat Drugs," New York Times, January 10, 1973, p. 1.
66. "Statement by Mayor John V. Lindsay," January 9, 1973, box 79, folder 845, series 10.4, RAC.
67. "Rockefeller & Kleindienst: Life and/or Death," Washington Post, January 9, 1973, p. A16.
68. See, for example, William White, "Campaign Begins for '76 Nomination."
69. Letter from William Conklin to Rockefeller, February 20, 1973, box 79, folder 846, series 10.4, RAC.
70. Neil Mehler, "Rockefeller Here, Urges War on Drugs," Chicago Tribune, February 10, 1973, p. 2.
71. Steven Jonas, "Letter to the Editor," New York Times, January 12, 1973, p. 32.
72. John Hamilton, "Hooked On Histrionics," New York Times, February 12, 1973, p. 27.
73. Gerald Fraser, "Harlem Response Mixed," New York Times, January 5, 1973, p. 1.
74. See, for example, Homer Bigart, "Middle-Class Leaders in Harlem Ask for Crackdown on Crime," New York Times, December 24, 1968, p. 25;
75. "Harlem Vigilantes Move On 'Pushers'," Chicago Daily Defender, June 23, 1965, p. 2;
76. and "Addicts' Victims Turn Vigilante," New York Times, September 23, 1969, p. 1.
77. Francis Clines, "Harlem Leaders Back Life Terms for Drug Sale," New York Times, January 23, 1973, p. 43.
78. "Public Supports Drug-Pusher Law," New York Times, February 11, 1973, p. 46.
79. William Kennedy, "Rocky Is 64, Going on 35," New York Times, p. 16.
80. Weekly Mail Reports, Reel 1, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
81. Letter from Beatrice to Rockefeller, September 7, 1973, Reel 61, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA. It is impossible to know why this author cited 1964 as a turning point, but 1964 was both the year the Civil Rights Act passed and Barry Goldwater met a crushing electoral defeat.
82. See, for example, letter from Mrs. Elmer to Rockefeller, September 21, 1973, Reel 61, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
83. Letter from Genevieve to Rockefeller, March 20, 1973, Reel 16, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
84. Letter from Mrs. K. to Rockefeller, March 20, 1973, Reel 16, Rockefeller Gubernatorial Papers, 4th Administration, NYSA.
85. M. A. Farber, "Opinion Remains Divided Over Effect of State's New Drug Law," New York Times, August 31, 1973, p. 16.
86. William E. Farrell, "Governor's Bill on Drug Traffic Voted by Senate," New York Times, April 28, 1973, p. 69;
87. and William E. Farrell, "Revised Narcotics Measure Is Voted 80-65 in Assembly," New York Times, May 4, 1973, p. 77.
88. Alan Chartock, "Narcotics Addiction: the Politics of Frustration," in Governing New York: The Rockefeller Years, ed. Robert Connery and Gerald Benjamin (New York, 1974), 247.
89. William Farrell, "Governor's Bill on Drug Traffic Voted by Senate," New York Times, April 28, 1973, p. 1.
90. William Farrell, "Revised Narcotics Measure Is Voted 80-65 in Assembly," New York Times, May 4, 1973, p. 1.
91. "Bill Signing Ceremony, Narcotics Bills," May 8, 1973, folder 265, box 14, series 12.3, record group 26, RAC.
92. "Bill Signing Ceremony, Narcotics Bills," May 8, 1973, folder 265, box 14, series 12.3, record group 26, RAC, Ibid.
93. Alan Chartock, "Narcotics Addiction: the Politics of Frustration," 246.
94. M.A. Farber, "Officials Say Narcotics 'Hot Line' Is Working," New York Times, October 14, 1973, p. 34.
95. New York State Drug Abuse Program, "How the New Drug Laws Affect You," Advertisement in New York Times, Aug 24, 1973, p. 15.
96. M.A. Faber, "Users, Pushers Haven't Noticed It So Far," New York Times, December 2, 1973, p. 260;
97. M.A. Faber, "Wilson Is 'Disappointed' Addicts Don't Seek Help," New York Times, January 11, 1974, p. 35;
98. M.A. Faber, "Drug Flow Noted Despite New Laws," New York Times, June 25, 1974, p. 1;
99. and Lena Williams, "Thousands of Harlem Drug Runners, 9 to 16, Find the Rewards Are High, the Risks Low," New York Times, April 21, 1977, p. 53.
100. Stephen Isaacs, "Rocky Is Due To Quit Today; 1976 Bid Seen," Washington Post, December 11, 1973, p. A2.
101. The Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Drug Abuse Council, "The Nation's Toughest Drug Law: Evaluating the New York Experience, Final Report of the Joint Committee on New York Drug Law Evaluation" (Washington, DC: Drug Abuse Council, 1977), 9.
102. The Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Drug Abuse Council, "The Nation's Toughest Drug Law: Evaluating the New York Experience, Final Report of the Joint Committee on New York Drug Law Evaluation" (Washington, DC: Drug Abuse Council, 1977), Ibid., p. 7.
103. The Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Drug Abuse Council, "The Nation's Toughest Drug Law: Evaluating the New York Experience, Final Report of the Joint Committee on New York Drug Law Evaluation" (Washington, DC: Drug Abuse Council, 1977), Ibid., p. 17.
104. The Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the Drug Abuse Council, "The Nation's Toughest Drug Law: Evaluating the New York Experience, Final Report of the Joint Committee on New York Drug Law Evaluation" (Washington, DC: Drug Abuse Council, 1977), Ibid., Ibid., p. 17.
105. "The Tough Drug Law Is Changed," New York Times, July 13, 1975, p. 153;
106. and Tom Goldstein and Peter Bramley, "Even as Amended, It's the Toughest in the United States," New York Times, July 20, 1975, p. E16.
107. Letter from Raul to Carey, [No Date], Reel 135, Carey Gubernatorial Papers, 1st Administration, NYSA.
108. Letter from Gerard to Carey, January 31, 1975, Reel 135, Carey Gubernatorial Papers, 1st Administration, NYSA.
109. Letter from Gerard to Carey, January 31, 1975, Reel 135, Carey Gubernatorial Papers, 1st Administration, NYSA.
110. Letter from Cornell to Carey, February 26, 1976, Reel 136, Carey Gubernatorial Papers, 1st Administration, NYSA.
111. Letter from Gilbert to Wilson, [ND], Reel 11, Wilson Gubernatorial Papers, 1st Administration, NYSA.
112. Letter from Lawrence to Carey, Reel 135, Carey Gubernatorial Papers, 1st Administration, NYSA.
113. For example, see Tom Goldstein and Peter Bramley, "Even as Amended, It's the Toughest in the United States"; and "Carey Acts to Free 4 Jailed for Drugs," New York Times, January 28, 1979, p. 21.
114. "U.S. Study Backs Critics Of New York's Drug Law," New York Times, September 5, 1976, p. 1;
115. "Drug Abuse and Drug Laws," The Washington Post, September 11, 1976, p. A14;
116. Selwyn Raab, "Impact of Stiff Drug Law Is in Dispute After 2 Years," New York Times, March 29, 1976, p. 1.
117. David Courtwright, Dark Paradise: A History of Opiate Addiction in America (Cambridge, 2001), 170-185.
118. The legislature also enacted some reforms to the Rockefeller Drug Laws in 2004 and 2005. In 2009, the New York legislature restored a degree of judicial discretion, allowing judges to divert lowlevel drug offenders from prison to treatment programs. See, for example, Jeremy Peters, "Albany Reaches Deal to Repeal '70s Drug Laws," New York Times, March 25, 2009;
119. and Jeremy Peters, "Deal on State's Drug Laws Means Resentencing Pleas," New York Times, March 28, 2009.
120. David F Musto, The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control (New York, 1999), 273-274.
121. Helen Dewar, "Southern GOP Chiefs Soften On Rockefeller," The Washington Post, August 29, 1974, p. A4;
122. and Albert Hunt, "Will Rocky Finally Make It in '76?," Wall Street Journal, December 4, 1973, p. 26.
123. President Ford replaced Rockefeller with Kansas Senator Bob Dole on the Republican ticket before facing Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election. Despite Rockefeller's rightward tack on some social policy, party officials viewed Rockefeller's lingering reputation as an east coast moderate as a liability.