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Crack/Cocaine Sentencing Disparity Addressed

By Steve Hall

The New York Times report from yesterday's paper was, "Congress Moves to Narrow Cocaine Sentencing Disparity," written by Erik Ekholm. The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would reduce the disparities between mandatory federal sentences for crack and powder cocaine violations, a step toward ending what legal experts say have been unfairly harsh punishments imposed mainly on blacks. The bill, which passed the Senate in March, was adopted by the House in a voice vote and now goes to President Obama for his signature. Administration officials have described the sentencing disparity as ?fundamentally unfair,? and Mr. Obama said during the 2008 presidential campaign that it ?disproportionately filled our prisons with young black and Latino drug users...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on July 30, 2010 (boomark / email).