The Sentencing Project News
August 18, 2010
Race & Justice News

Featured Story: Death Row Inmates File Racial Justice Act Claims
Spotlight on Research: "Healthy Communities Matter," Racial Disparity Growing in Missouri Traffic Stops
In the Courts: Michigan's Supreme Court Ruling on Race and Juries


August 18, 2010
Tell Your California Assembly Member to Support SB 399 Today

This week the California Assembly is likely to vote on SB 399, a bill that would provide review and the possibility of parole for juveniles serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole.

We need your help. Please call your Assembly Member today and ask them to support SB 399. A script is provided below. If you don't know who your representative is, click here to find out.


August 18, 2010 (Columbus Dispatch, Toledo Blade)
Senators of Both Parties Agree that System is Costly, Overcrowded

"The unlikely alliance of the American Civil Liberties Union and state Sen. Bill Seitz (R., Cincinnati) in favor of reform of Ohio's criminal sentencing law prompted both Tuesday to say they hope worlds are about to collide for passage this fall," the Columbus Dispatch reported.

"An ACLU report reached much the same conclusions as last month's report by the Council of State Governments: Ohio spends too much of its resources incarcerating low-level offenders rather than on community treatment and probationary programs more likely to benefit them.

"The discussion comes at a time when the state is facing a predicted revenue shortfall of as much as $8 billion in the next two-year budget beginning July 1, 2011."


August 17, 2010 (AOL News)
Why Obama Should Take on Prison Reform

"The Obama administration has the perfect opportunity to move forward on prison reform," writes Craig Welkener of the Justice Fellowship on AOL News. "Economic pressures are making over-criminalization fiscally unfeasible, and research-driven solutions are available. Moral issues like prison rape are crystal clear. President Obama can credibly use the bully pulpit to point out what the American criminal justice system must learn: Compassion is not the enemy of public safety."


August 16, 2010 (The Sentencing Project)
Crack Cocaine Sentencing Changes Should Apply Retroactively

In a letter to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, The Sentencing Project urged that the Sentencing Guideline changes mandated under the Fair Sentencing Act -- reducing the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine to 18 to 1-- apply to persons arrested and sentenced prior to the law’s enactment on August 3, 2010. Although the new law is silent on retroactive application of the new sentencing structure, the Commission does have the authority to apply its changes to the Sentencing Guidelines retroactively. The Commission cannot make changes to the statutorily set mandatory minimums retroactive.