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"Momentum Builds to Equalize Cocaine Penalties"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the headline of this article in today's Washington Post.  Here is how it starts: After two decades of criticism over cocaine sentences that disproportionately punish blacks, momentum is building in Congress and in the Obama administration for a legislative fix, representing a fundamental shift in politics and attitude, even among key GOP lawmakers. For the first time after multiple attempts, a House subcommittee this week approved a bill to equalize criminal penalties for people caught with crack and powder cocaine.  The bill would also eliminate five-year mandatory minimum prison terms for offenders convicted of possessing rock cocaine without an intent to sell it. The subcommittee vote came as a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting to craft a similar proposal, which could be unveiled as early as next week, according to two congressional sources familiar with the effort...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on July 24, 2009 (boomark / email).