Posted on 08/03/2010 12:29:20 PM PDT by a fool in paradise
Congress has finally reduced the... unjust sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses...
...The Fair Sentencing Act will reduce the 100-to-1 federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, substances that are chemically indistinguishable, to 18-to-1. The bill also eliminates the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession...
Under current law, possession of five grams or more of crack cocaine possession triggers a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison; simple possession of any quantity of most other controlled substances by a first time offender, including powder cocaine, is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a maximum of one year in prison.
...it takes 100 times more powder cocaine than crack cocaine to trigger the same mandatory minimum penalty... The problem with this 100:1 sentencing disparity is the fact that crack and powder cocaine are the same chemical substance...
Unsurprisingly, the application of these mandatory sentencing guidelines has led to substantial racial disparities. According to U.S. government statistics, 82 percent of federal crack cocaine offenders are African American and only 9 percent are white...
For over 20 years, there have been efforts to lower the difference in sentencing for crack cocaine and power cocaine.
...The playing field in the administration of justice must be color blind. While this is a step in the right direction, there is a great amount of work that remains to be done...
I, along with... advocates from the Open Society, ACLU, and the Sentencing Project have been championing the cause of sentencing parity for crack and powder cocaine offenses. The Fair Sentencing Act does not achieve parity....
More than two decades ago, based upon assumptions about crack which are now known to be false, heightened penalties for crack cocaine offenses were adopted...
My bill also attempted to rehabilitate the people who were ravaged by drugs....
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.chron.com ...
Queen Sheila PING.
In summary, I I I, race card, I I I.
I omitted the photo. Hopefully she didn’t trample some poor soul who got between her and a camera.
game,set,match.
I’m surprised they didn’t reduce the cost of powdered cocaine so poor folk could afford the good stuff. ;-)
How many federal prosecutions are there for crack vs. local prosecutions?
What has done more to harm society, crack, or powder cocaine?
Maybe she can fight for subsidies so that she can help out the several communities, including the one with undocumented importers.
Well, the ethanol in pure grain alcohol is indistinguishable from the ethanol in near-beer but there is a major difference between the two. If you don't believe it let someone who has drank a quart of near beer drive you then let someone drive you who has drank a quart of Everclear. If you survive the latter you'll understand the point I'm making.
God Almighty, the stupid bitch misses the whole point.
Crack kills. It’s sold to the young and poor by the young and poor.
I did not realize that making fun of her braids falls under the category of racism. But she set me straight several days after the health care vote.
Prohibition laws, and the violent black market that they create.
Zactly. You said it much better than my poor attempt.
They were screaming that crack was killing their children.
Crack obviously, but I’m not sure I’d say 100 times more. I’d simply meet them in the middle about 50x more than current cocaine.
Medical crack cocaine?
What has done more to harm society: crack, powder cocaine, or having idiots like Sheila Jackson Lee in Congress?
Queen Sheila recently spoke out about 2 Vietnams living peacefully side by side , North AND South.
So all drugs should be legal? What about prescription drugs? Should they all be OTC as well?
Please ping me when the Transfat gang wars break out.
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