Justice or Severe Punishment

One theme in this story is the wisdom of the Rockefeller Drug laws. Rockefeller fights vigorously to pass strong drug laws, which make offenders of serious drug crimes do serious sentences, with a minimum of fifteen years behind bars. The laws are passed during a time in which drugs have taken over the major cities of the United States and city officials are desperate to fight back, regardless of the consequences. Many poor people growing up in the inner cities turn to selling drugs on the side to make ends meet. These people are targeted by undercover police and city officials seeking successes and publicity for the war against drugs.

Elaine uneducated and naive when she is arrested for the crime of selling cocaine to individuals in Albany, New York. Through her years behind bars she learns of the Rockefeller laws and the impact they...