On June 4, Simmons organized a rally at New Yorks City Hall, headlined by rap stars like Fifty Cent and Jay-Z, to protest the state's Rockefeller drug laws, unchanged since 1973, which carry harsh prison sentences for first-time, non-violent drug offenders. The event attracted some 50,000 spectators in the rain; the next day, Governor George Patakis office sent Simmons a list of changes to the current law, and last Wednesday the governor drafted a bill that provides reduced sentences for both new offenders and those already in jail, and additional power for judges, rather than district attorneys, to decide whether a defendant should be sent to prison or treatment.
On Friday, Simmons endorsed the bill, and Governor Pataki, a Republican, and the leaders of the Republican-controlled State Senate and the Democrat-controlled Assembly are spending the weekend negotiating a compromise. The legislative session ends this week. "This is the best chance in 30 years to make these laws right," says Doug Muzzio, a state political analyst and professor at Baruch College in New York City. "The political stars seemed to be aligned, and Simmons has been the catalyst."
Even Pataki gives Simmons credit. "Russell's help gives me cause for optimism beyond what I've had in the past," he says. A Rockefeller repeal could have national implications — says Salima Siler Marriott, a Democrat in Maryland's House of Delegates and proponent of reform: "It would be a tremendous boost — and wed try to get Russell down here."