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(Queen Sheila) Jackson Lee applauds new law reducing crack cocaine penalties
Houston Chronicle ^ | August 03, 2010 | Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

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 ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: crack; crackcocaine; dopersrights; drugs; houston; sheilajacksonlee
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To: onyx
You would enjoy hearing our local Conservative, Michael Berry on NewsRadio 740AM.

He takes no mercy on the stupid bitch and makes fools of her constituents that call in and try to support her.

41 posted on 08/03/2010 1:08:31 PM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: TexasCajun
LOL. Oh yes, I would love to hear that! I despise the witch. She's always reminded me of Idi Amin, although I can't recall him ever wearing a similar growth on his head.


42 posted on 08/03/2010 1:14:10 PM PDT by onyx (Sarah/Michele 2012)
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To: a fool in paradise

Regardless of any opinions about Queen Lee the fact is that giving much longer sentences to crack sellers/users than powdered cocaine sellers/users is unfair and illogical. Sellers of both should be executed users should get the same sentences regardless of whether they are crack hos or Academy Award winning actors.

But since so many congressmen and their mistresses use it, it will continue to be dealt with less harshly.


43 posted on 08/03/2010 1:22:10 PM PDT by Seruzawa (If you agree with the French raise your hand - If you are French raise both hands.)
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To: a fool in paradise

So true. What a moron this woman is.


44 posted on 08/03/2010 1:26:15 PM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: A CA Guy

Maybe we should legalize all coke, heroin, crack, opium and marajuana on Nov 1, 2010.

The Republicans will sweep the polls the next day!


45 posted on 08/03/2010 1:29:34 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar ( Viva los SB 1070)
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To: microgood

It enhances your soul to dispose of dopers.


46 posted on 08/03/2010 1:36:24 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: a fool in paradise

Anyone think her IQ hits triple digits?


47 posted on 08/03/2010 1:36:58 PM PDT by LeonardFMason
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To: muawiyah
It enhances your soul to dispose of dopers.

Sure. We could fire up our own ovens and send 14 year olds in there. Might be able to generate electricity while we are at it. All for someone toking on a doob.
48 posted on 08/03/2010 1:40:07 PM PDT by microgood
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To: microgood

LOL!


49 posted on 08/03/2010 1:41:48 PM PDT by Anvilhead (Dammit Jim, I'm an American not an American't.)
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To: LukeL
So all drugs should be legal? What about prescription drugs? Should they all be OTC as well?

You are aware of the hundreds of drugs that were once prescrition only and are now OTC?

All drugs should be legal and dispensed from a quality-regulated source aka pharmacy. The black market has injured more than actual use or misuse of black-market drugs.

Only antibiotics should be restricted as they pose a risk to non-users due to emergence of superbugs. Othwerwise we should be capable of making decisions for ourselves. If we are too stupid to make decisions for ourselves how are we capable of making decisions for others?

50 posted on 08/03/2010 1:42:14 PM PDT by corkoman
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To: LeonardFMason
Anyone think her IQ hits triple digits?

Only with the inclusion of a decimal point.
51 posted on 08/03/2010 1:46:41 PM PDT by Anvilhead (Dammit Jim, I'm an American not an American't.)
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To: corkoman
Many many drugs are very dangerous even when used in a hospital setting. Also there really is no illegal drug it is just a license to have the drug is never issued. We would have pure disaster if schedle II drugs were allowed to be sold OTC.

I truly believe the libertarian idea of a victimless crime is faulty as a persons actions effect everyone around them and society as a whole. If you could pick up a bottle of Vallium along with some Oxycodone on your trip to the grocery store we would have 1000s more accidental deaths every year.

52 posted on 08/03/2010 2:16:03 PM PDT by LukeL (Yasser Arafat: "I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize")
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To: a fool in paradise
Open Society Institute was created in 1993 by investor George Soros to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
53 posted on 08/03/2010 2:33:23 PM PDT by smokingfrog (freerepublic.com - Now 100% flag free.)
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To: a fool in paradise

I suspect that the Congressional Black Caucus is breathing a sigh of relief knowing they can continue to consume crack and know Shelia Jackson Lee is watching their backs.


54 posted on 08/03/2010 2:50:28 PM PDT by supermop (Somebody has to clean up the mess he will leave)
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To: DBrow

“As for crack and powder being the same chemically, that is not true.”

The difference .HCl


55 posted on 08/03/2010 3:24:36 PM PDT by A Strict Constructionist (Oligarchy...never vote for the Ivy League candidate.)
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To: a fool in paradise

Always thought the Crack-Heads were the ones electing her.


56 posted on 08/03/2010 3:49:17 PM PDT by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country! What else needs said?)
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To: KarlInOhio

If true, it would be interesting to know how the members of the CBC voted when the enhanced sentences for crack were initially implemented.


57 posted on 08/03/2010 4:01:51 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy (Sure I've heard of grits. I just never actually *seen* a grit before.)
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To: LukeL
Indeed,in the world in which you live there must be a nanny looking over your shoulder at all times to ensure that you dont do something stupid. I assume by your comments that if CII drugs went OTC you would do just that - pick up some oxy and val and pop some in the parking lot?

Oh you would not do that? But you assume others would.

How does that compute for those who espouse freedom and personal responsibility? Freedom for me but not for thee!

58 posted on 08/03/2010 7:18:14 PM PDT by corkoman
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To: A Strict Constructionist

One is a free base in a salt matrix, the other is the hydrocloride salt. The base molecule may be “cocaine” but the free base and the salt are not the same chemically or physically, nor do they “dose” the same.

The reason you bake cocaine HCl with sodium bicarbonate is to remove the HCl, freeing the base, which vaporizes much easier. You can smoke cocaine HCl but a lot of it degrades because of the higher temperature.

Cocaine HCl will pass through a mucous membrane so people can insufflate it, but the freebase won’t.


59 posted on 08/04/2010 6:38:40 AM PDT by DBrow
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To: DBrow

Gee, I didn’t know that.

The only difference your describing is the physical form of the drug cocaine, free base versus hydrochloride salt. The pharmacological effect is the same. You are only altering the method and the route of delivery. Nasal mucosa versus the lung which changes the pharmacokinetics, the receptor is the same as is the active form of the drug.


60 posted on 08/04/2010 8:08:41 PM PDT by A Strict Constructionist (Oligarchy...never vote for the Ivy League candidate.)
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