June, 30 2011, 01:51pm EDT
Sentencing Commission Votes to Make Federal Crack Sentencing Retroactive
WASHINGTON
The United States Sentencing Commission voted today to apply the Fair Sentencing Act guidelines retroactively to those currently serving sentences for crack cocaine charges. Under the Fair Sentencing Act passed last year, the crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity, which falls disproportionately on African-Americans, was lowered from 100:1 to 18:1. However, those currently incarcerated for crack cocaine were unaffected and continue to serve their sentences under the previous sentencing guidelines.
The commission was created by Congress to establish sentencing guidelines that would bring uniformity to federal sentencing. The commission's guidelines were mandatory until the Supreme Court held in 2005 that a mandatory scheme violated the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial and made the guidelines advisory. Now that the new Fair Sentencing Act guidelines can be applied retroactively, federal judges across the country will determine whether crack cocaine offenders are eligible for a reduction in their sentence.
The following can be attributed to Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office:
"The sentencing commission absolutely did the right thing today with this historic vote. By giving those serving excessive sentences for crack cocaine an opportunity to have their sentences reduced, this vote will help to finish the work started by the Fair Sentencing Act. This decision will help ensure that over 12,000 people - 85% of whom are African-Americans - have the opportunity to have their sentences for crack cocaine offenses reduced.
"Making these new guidelines retroactive will offer relief to thousands of people s who received unfair sentences under the old crack cocaine law. However, despite today's victory, sizeable racial and sentencing disparities still exist, and it is time for our country to seriously rethink mandatory minimums and a one-size-fits-all approach to sentencing. Based on little more than politics and urban myth, the sentencing gap between powder and crack cocaine has been devastating to our African-American communities."
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
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