Momentum is building, a recent National Law Journal article says, to change the “100-to-1” sentencing disparity for seen between crack and powder cocaine offenses.(Subscription)
Three examples are cited by the article: the Supreme Court’s hearing Kimbrough v.U.S. next week, the Sentencing Commission’s proposed guideline amendments seeking to lower offense levels for crack cocaine; and the fact that there are already five bills in Congress, with the Senate holding hearings next month on the different penalty structure between the two offenses.
Kimbrough is asking whether in imposing a sentence that is “sufficient but not greater than necessary” district courts may consider either the impact of the “100:1 powder/crack weight ratio” implemented in the Sentencing Guidelines, or reports & recommendations of the Sentencing Commission regarding that ratio?
The bills referred to are 1383, 1685, and 1711 in the Senate; and 79 and 460 in the House of Representatives.
The Sentencing Commissions proposals were published last May 1st.and are still open to public comment until next Wednesday. Unless rejected by Congress, they’ll go into effect on November 1, 2007.
Kimbrough petitioner’s brief
Kimbrough respondent’s brief
[Also see U.S. Sentencing Commission, Report to Congress: Cocaine & Federal Sentencing Policy (1995)]
U.S. Sentencing Commission, Report to Congress: Cocaine & Federal Sentencing Policy (2007)]
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