|
IT'S NOT FAIR. IT'S NOT WORKING.
Americans believe in a system of justice where all individuals are treated fairly under the law. But mandatory minimum sentencing laws prohibit judges from considering all the facts in a criminal case when determining sentences. The result is one-size-fits-all justice that ignores defendants' life circumstances, criminal history and role in the offense. The 1986 and 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Acts established excessive mandatory penalties for crack cocaine that were the harshest ever adopted for low-level drug offenses and created drastically different penalty structures for crack cocaine compared to powder cocaine, which are pharmacologically identical substances. The law has diverted precious resources away from prevention and treatment for drug users and devastated communities ripped apart by incarceration. Today a new consciousness about the unfairness and ineffectiveness of harsh crack cocaine mandatory sentences has emerged among advocates, policymakers, judges and the United States Sentencing Commission. Explore this site to learn more about crack cocaine sentencing reform and how to end the sentencing disparity.
Crack Reform
News
January 31, 2012
The Sentencing Project Again Argues for Fairness in Crack Cocaine Sentencing This week The Sentencing Project joined with partner organizations to submit a friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of two defendants challenging their excessive sentences for crack cocaine offenses. In Hill v. United States and Dorsey v. United States, both petitioners were sentenced in federal court for offenses involving crack cocaine after passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (FSA) but were subject to the old 100- to-1 sentencing structure. The petitioners had committed their offenses before the reformed sentencing law was enacted.
November 30, 2011
(The Baltimore Sun)
Revised crack law sets some free in Maryland Dwaun Dent and Antwan Askia were convicted of drug distribution charges, during the East Baltimore drug turf wars of the 1990s, but because of tough-on-crime mandatory sentences that imposed greater penalties for crack than powder cocaine, Dent was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison and Askia to 20.
November 18, 2011
(Washington Office on Latin America)
New Publication: "Breakthrough in U.S. Drug Sentencing Reform" "Breakthrough in U.S. Drug Sentencing Reform: The Fair Sentencing Act and the Unfinished Reform Agenda” analyzes the 2010 crack cocaine sentencing reform and the factors that contributed to the law’s overwhelming bipartisan support. Author: Kara Gotsch
November 2, 2011
(The New York Times)
New Crack Guidelines Go into Effect Retroactively The Fair Sentencing Act's reduction of the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing went into effect retroactively on November 1st. The new guidelines, which were made retroactive by the United States Sentencing Commission reduce the disaparity from 100:1 to 18:1, which could shorten the sentences of some 12,000 individuals by an average of three years. This change has already made more than 1,800 people eligible for release from federal prison immediately.
July 6, 2011
(The Root)
Views on Crack Sentencing Decision The decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to retroactively apply its guidelines to implement “The Fair Sentencing Act,” which reduced the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing to 18-1, has drawn applause and partisan complaints. |
|
