Crack Cocaine Sentencing

Mike Sacks

Supreme Court Weighs Fate Of Crack Dealers

HuffingtonPost.com | Mike Sacks | Posted 04.17.2012

WASHINGTON -- A couple of convicted crack cocaine dealers caught between old and new sentencing regimes had their cases argued before the Supreme Cour...

New Government Report Criticizes Mandatory Minimums

Julie Stewart | Posted 01.02.2012

Julie Stewart

Our federal prisons are already operating at 140 percent of their capacity. To slow this problem, the report urges Congress to avoid passing new laws that will waste expensive prison space on low-risk offenders.

John Rudolf

Drug Sentencing Reforms Halt Decades of Prison Population Growth

HuffingtonPost.com | John Rudolf | Posted 12.29.2011

NEW YORK -- In 1986, as the crack cocaine epidemic ravaged America's inner cities, a Democratic Congress passed legislation dictating harsh mandatory ...

ACLU & Elon James White: Just Say NO to the War On Drugs

Elon James White | Posted 08.31.2011

Elon James White

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Justice Is Served

Laura W. Murphy | Posted 08.30.2011

Laura W. Murphy

Following much thought and careful deliberation, the United States Sentencing Commission took another step toward creating fairness in federal sentencing.

Sentencing Disparity On Its Way Out -- And It's About Time

Rev. Al Sharpton | Posted 08.02.2011

Rev. Al Sharpton

Somewhere in a U.S. prison today, a young Black man sits behind bars counting down the days till he sees freedom. He has become hardened and likely more dangerous while his White cellmate was released years prior for virtually the same crime.

New Crack Cocaine Laws May Apply To Old Cases

AP | JESSICA GRESKO | Posted 07.31.2011

WASHINGTON — A year ago, a drug dealer caught with 50 grams of crack cocaine faced a mandatory 10 years in federal prison. Today, new rules cut ...

Cracks in the System Remain Despite Landmark Cocaine Sentencing Reform

Hamedah Hasan | Posted 05.25.2011

Hamedah Hasan

The president can exercise his executive clemency power to right historical wrongs by commuting the remaining sentences of those of us who have fallen through the cracks. I hope he does.

Well Done Congress, Now Make Fair Sentencing Act Retroactive

Julie Stewart | Posted 05.25.2011

Julie Stewart

Congress ignored the temptation of "soft on crime" mudslinging and instead listened to the public, the experts, the courts, and the people who have lost to these racially discriminatory and overly harsh crack sentences.

Lucia Graves

Crack-Powder Sentencing Disparity: Whites Get Probation, Blacks Get A Decade Behind Bars

HuffingtonPost.com | Lucia Graves | Posted 05.25.2011

Before coming to Capitol Hill, Rep. Keith Ellison spent 16 years as a trial lawyer dealing with hundreds of cases involving cocaine arrests. After Pre...

Obama Signs Bill Reforming Cocaine Sentences

AP | Posted 05.25.2011

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed a bill reducing the disparity between federal mandatory sentences for convictions for crac...

Lamar Smith Derides Reduction Of Crack-Cocaine Sentencing Disparity As Damaging To Minorities (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post | Nick Wing | Posted 05.25.2011

Congress passed a historic ruling Wednesday, voting on a Senate-approved measure to pare down a massively prejudiced 100-to-1 sentencing disparity in ...

On The Cusp of History

Laura W. Murphy | Posted 05.25.2011

Laura W. Murphy

Anyone who works on reforming the criminal justice system can attest to the fact that such efforts often take years of commitment and dedication befor...

Durbin Cocaine Bill Passes Senate: Would Reduce Disparity In Crack And Powder Sentences

AP | JIM ABRAMS | Posted 05.25.2011

WASHINGTON — Legislation approved by the Senate on Wednesday would significantly reduce the disparity in sentences handed out to those convicted...

A Bittersweet Moment

Laura W. Murphy | Posted 05.25.2011

Laura W. Murphy

Late on Wednesday evening, the U.S. Senate passed, by unanimous consent no less, a long-overdue bill that will help to reform one of the most egreg...

Senate Panel Approves Weakened Cocaine Sentencing Bill

The American Prospect | Posted 05.25.2011

Earlier this morning, Sen. Dick Durbin announced that he and Sen. Jeff Sessions had reached a "compromise" in the Senate gym over Durbin's bill, which...

Obama's 2010 Drug Control Strategy

Bill Piper | Posted 05.25.2011

Bill Piper

President Obama spoke for millions when he said drug use should be treated as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue. He has failed, however, to change the drug war budget in a meaningful way.

Eric Holder Speaks Frankly On Gitmo, Crack Sentencing, Race

Essence | Posted 05.25.2011

The walls inside the U.S. Justice Department headquarters are painted with themed murals depicting law and lawlessness (a couple being robbed at gunpo...

Former Baseball Star Willie Aikens Testifies Before Congress on Crack Cocaine Disparity

Anthony Papa | Posted 05.25.2011

Anthony Papa

Sentencing disparities between powder and crack cocaine cases have produced the greatest racial disparity in the American criminal justice system.

Ending the War on Drugs: The Moment is Now

Arianna Huffington | Posted 05.25.2011

Arianna Huffington

When it comes to addressing America's disastrous war on drugs, the Obama administration is saying the right things. But when it comes to putting its rhetoric into action, the administration has faltered.

Message to George Will: Racism Ignored is Justice Denied

Anthony Papa | Posted 05.25.2011

Anthony Papa

The knee-jerk conclusion by some is that more black and brown people are in prison because the commit the majority of the crimes. But a closer inspection paints a vastly different picture.

Judges Deny Legal Help To Some Crack Cocaine Convicts

McClatchy Newspapers | Marisa Taylor | Posted 05.25.2011

As federal courts begin the unprecedented task of deciding whether thousands of prisoners should receive lower sentences for crimes involving crack co...

Panel May Cut Sentences For Crack Over Charges Of Racial Bias

Washington Post | Posted 05.25.2011

An independent panel is considering reducing the sentences of inmates incarcerated in federal prisons for crack cocaine offenses, which would make tho...