Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Obama to Sign Fair Sentencing Act That Is Still Unfair

Congress just passed a bill to address disparities in sentencing based on crack and powder cocaine possession. The House passed the legislation under suspension rules after it was passed by the Senate in March. The bill, the Fair Sentencing Act (S. 1789), will now go to the president, who is to expected to sign it into law.

The new law modifies the 25-year-old statue that has been employed to send thousands of African Americans to prison for crack cocaine convictions while giving lesser sentences to whites arrested with the same amount of cocaine in powder form.

Provisions of the modified law include reducing "the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1, with a five-year mandatory minimum for 28 grams of crack cocaine and a five-year mandatory minimum for 500 grams of powder cocaine." In addition, it "eliminates the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine." In the original law penned in 1986, crack was the only drug that had a mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession.

The new bill, which is authored by Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin and co-sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking member Jeff Sessions, still is unfair, and represents a compromise made with Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members who objected to equitable sentences for the drugs.

Originally, it was introduced to completely eliminate the discriminatory 100:1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing under federal law. The fact remains that it does not obviate the proven disproportionate impact such sentencing has on African Americans when compared to whites, nor does it remedy the many who are currently serving sentences under the old law.

Unfortunately, this law on paper may be seen as a move in the right direction but it still will result in disparities in incarceration rates for Africa Americans when compared to whites. Based on 2009 data, although African Americans comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population and 14 percent of monthly drug users, they are 37 percent of the people arrested for drug offenses. Moreover, according to Human Rights Watch, across the nation, African Americans are arrested for drug offenses at rates 2 to 11 times higher than the rate for whites.

7 comments:

bookfraud said...

man, your blog has some kinda thing on it that keeps my browser from accessing it. "warning, will robinson," that kind of shit.

i thought a large portion of these draconian and ludicrous measures were being enacted on the state level, and were put into effect way before 1986 (e.g., Nelson Rockefeller in New York state).

i agree with your points and that the law needs changing, but if it's only federal statutes being altered, will that really change the makeup of the prison population held on drug-related charges, since so many of them have violated stupid state laws? just wondering.

Anonymous said...

Amiable fill someone in on and this enter helped me alot in my college assignement. Say thank you you seeking your information.

Anonymous said...

Sweet blog! I found it while browsing on Yahoo News. Do you
have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I've been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Thank you

Here is my page; 54401

Anonymous said...

Hi would you mind stating which blog platform you're working with? I'm planning to start my own blog in the
near future but I'm having a difficult time deciding between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your layout seems different then most blogs and I'm looking for something unique.
P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!

my webpage; "legislator"

Anonymous said...

I'm a writer from Saint-Chamond, France just submitted this to a coworker who is doing some sort of research on this. And she in fact ordered me lunch just because I came across it for her... lol. So allow me to reword this.... Thanks for the food... But anyhow, thanx for spending some time to discuss this subject here on your site.

Here is my webpage :: http://www.arab-face.com

oakleyses said...

chi flat iron, ugg, ugg outlet, uggs on sale, asics shoes, p90x workout, vans outlet, herve leger, celine handbags, valentino shoes, replica watches, lululemon outlet, giuseppe zanotti, ugg boots, nike trainers, ferragamo shoes, jimmy choo shoes, soccer jerseys, wedding dresses, mont blanc pens, soccer shoes, mcm handbags, beats headphones, north face jackets, ugg boots clearance, reebok shoes, canada goose, abercrombie and fitch, north face jackets, instyler ionic styler, mac cosmetics, ugg soldes, nfl jerseys, ugg outlet, insanity workout, babyliss, canada goose outlet, canada goose outlet, birkin bag, bottega veneta, new balance outlet, canada goose outlet, longchamp, nike huarache, ghd, hollister, uggs outlet, marc jacobs outlet, nike roshe

oakleyses said...

swarovski uk, thomas sabo uk, gucci, vans, baseball bats, air max, moncler, pandora uk, pandora charms, louboutin, swarovski jewelry, replica watches, converse, juicy couture outlet, converse shoes, moncler outlet, karen millen, ugg, canada goose pas cher, canada goose, montre femme, louis vuitton canada, wedding dress, lancel, ralph lauren, parajumpers outlet, iphone 6 case, uggs canada, juicy couture outlet, hollister clothing, oakley, supra shoes, canada goose, moncler outlet, moncler, pandora jewelry, coach outlet, timberland shoes, nike air max, moncler, moncler, hollister canada, moncler, hollister, canada goose, toms outlet, ray ban, links of london uk