"Reducing the Crack and Powder Cocaine Sentencing Disparity Should Also Reduce Racial Disparities in Sentences and Prisons"NACDL Press Release
Washington, DC (July 28, 2010) – The House of Representatives today passed the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, adopted in the Senate earlier this year by unanimous consent. Currently, Federal drug sentences for possession and sale are based on the weight of the controlled substance. And for over two decades, possession of five grams of cocaine base (crack cocaine), without intent to distribute, has triggered the same mandatory five-year sentence as distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine. This legislation eliminates that mandatory minimum. Under current law, a powder cocaine defendant must possess or sell 100 times the amount of cocaine to receive the same sentence as a crack cocaine defendant.
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