US Congress votes to cut cocaine sentencing disparity

[SpartanDem]

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON — The US Congress voted Wednesday to reduce sentencing disparities for offenders caught with crack cocaine versus the drug in powder form, a gap blamed for disproportionate jailing of black Americans.

The US House of Representatives, by voice vote, approved legislation the Senate passed in March, sending the measure to President Barack Obama to sign into law.

Critics of the US justice system's unequal treatment of the two drugs have argued that it disproportionately punishes African-Americans, who are convicted of crack possession in far greater numbers.

The bill cuts the 100:1 ratio in the amount of powder cocaine versus crack cocaine that trigger the same sentence, a disparity adopted in the mid-1980s amid fears a crack epidemic was fueling out-of-control violence.


Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g0XzGoOTbT4FqdIZXy5mtu7jVNMQD9H871T81

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One of the dumbest most discriminatory laws ever passed

[w4rma]

1. Racists were sneaky. (nt)

[bemildred]

2. 18:1 is still not right. nt

[Tempest]

3. It's still racist

1:1 is the only solution.

[bemildred]

4. Yep, it's the pretense of reform without the substance (no pun intended). nt

[Tempest]

5. Just like most of the legislation introduced by the Dems

I'm getting close to sitting out this November from my disgust.

[bemildred]

6. Never give up, that's what they want us to do. nt

[usregimechange]

24. Agreed, based on the numbers given we improved about 76 times

A good step forward with more work to do.

[bemildred]

25. The job is never done. nt

[JonLP24]

7. I'm surprised this wasn't done

A long, long, long time ago.

[JonLP24]

8. Wait a minute

18-1??? Still bullshit. I guess it is a step in the right direction but it is still bullshit.

[ProSense]

9. Congress narrows gap in cocaine sentences

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Congress on Wednesday changed a quarter-century-old law that has subjected tens of thousands of blacks to long prison terms for crack cocaine convictions while giving far more lenient treatment to those, mainly whites, caught with the powder form of the drug.

The House, by voice vote, approved a bill reducing the disparities between mandatory crack and powder cocaine sentences, sending the measure to President Barack Obama for his signature. During his presidential campaign, Obama said that the wide gap in sentencing "cannot be justified and should be eliminated."

The Senate passed the bill in March.

The measure changes a 1986 law, enacted at a time when crack cocaine use was rampant and considered a particularly violent drug, under which a person convicted of crack cocaine possession gets the same mandatory prison term as someone with 100 times the same amount of powder cocaine.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100728/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_cocaine_6

[SocialistLez]

10. YAY!! NT

[JonLP24]

11. Time to introduce another one and pass it

18-1 is still bullshit.

[Dogtown]

12. It's a step.

The War on Drugs(tm) needs to end.

[Lucky Luciano]

14. The War on Blacks does indeed need to end. nt

[Dogtown]

16. They tend to overlap, don't they?

Without doubt, the main thrust of the WoD is repression of darker folks.

[Scurrilous]

13. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Romulox]

15. What possible logic can there be in leaving it at 18:1?

Another half-measure.

[kpete]

17. Historic Reform: Congress Lowers Penalties for Crack Cocaine

Source: The Sentencing Project News

July 28, 2010
Historic Reform: Congress Lowers Penalties for Crack Cocaine

After decades of debate, research and recommendations, the United States Congress has approved legislation to increase fairness in sentences for crack cocaine offenses. The House of Representatives today passed, under a suspension of the rules, a bill passed by the Senate in March which would reduce the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. The bill now awaits the President's signature.

The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 would raise the minimum quantity of crack cocaine that triggers a 5-year mandatory minimum from 5 grams to 28 grams, and from 50 grams to 280 grams to trigger a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. The amount of powder cocaine required to trigger the 5 and 10-year mandatory minimums remains the same, at 500 grams and 5 kilograms respectively. The legislation also eliminates the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine. The quantity disparity between crack and powder cocaine would move from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1.

The Sentencing Project has long advocated for the complete elimination of the sentencing disparity that has doled out excessive and harsh penalties, and created unwarranted racial disparity in federal prisons. Currently, 80% of crack cocaine defendants are African American, and possession of as little as 5 grams of crack cocaine subject defendants to a mandatory five-year prison term. For decades the controversial cocaine sentencing law has exemplified the disparate treatment felt in communities of color and the harshness of mandatory minimum sentences.

According to estimates from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the approved changes to the current penalties for crack cocaine offenses could impact nearly 3,000 defendants a year by reducing their average sentence 27 months. The Commission projects that 10 years after enactment the changes could produce a prison population reduction of about 3,800.

Read more: http://www.sentencingproject.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=966&id=167

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. Great news!

[Oregone]

19. On this historic day, justice reigns true, showing her beauty to us all

The true objective 18-to-1 penalty ratio has finally been adopted after many years of rationally arguing from a cornerstone of Truth

[DJ13]

20. 18 to 1 is still absured

[ixion]

21. Stop this madness. End the failed drug 'war' now.

[musette_sf]

22. K&R

and :toast: to Mike Ruppert.

and RIP Gary Webb.

[usregimechange]

23. kick

[Socal31]

26. A coke head and a crack head are two different things.

They are two different problems. In fact you probably work with a couple powder heads in your office.

18:1 is still high, but crack is a much more destructive substance.

[bemildred]

27. Say, have you ever heard of methedrine?

And what evidence is there anyway that criminal process and jail time somehow reduces the damage that pernicious drugs cause? I mean it's very expensive to keep people locked up, what do we get for all that money besides large quantities of locked up people? It doesn't appear to have the slightest effect on drug use or the cost and availability of drugs, if anything it makes drugs more profitable. If you believe in the profit motive and enterpreneurial spirit, the last thing you want to do is make drugs more profitable.