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Congress Lowers Penalties for Crack Cocaine- A change moving in the right direction

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Now the 5 year mandatory minimum sentence for crack is 5 grams. After the Bill becomes law, it is raised to 28 grams. After the Bill is signed into law 50 grams of crack is raised to 280 grams for a 10 year mandatory minimum sentence. Now a 5 year mandatory minimum sentence for powder cocaine is 500 grams ---this stays the same. Now a 10 year mandatory minimum sentence for powder cocaine is 5 kilograms---this stays the same. The quantity disparity between crack and powder cocaine would move from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1. The law is NOT retroactive. Edited from a Sentencing Project Press Release July 28, 2010 HISTORIC REFORM: Congress Lowers Penalties for Crack Cocaine * House approves Senate compromise on suspension calendar * 3,000 defendants would benefit from sentencing changes each year After decades of debate, research and recommendations, the United States Congress has approved legislation to increase fairness in sentences for crack cocaine offenses...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on July 28, 2010 (boomark / email).