Legal Commentary

House Subcommittee Passes Bill to End Crack-Powder Cocaine Disparity

By Jeralyn

Great news out of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security today. It unanimously passed the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009, a bill that eliminates the disparity between federal crack and powder cocaine sentences -- and removes the 5 year mandatory minimum for simple possession.

The bill is H.R. 3245, sponsored by Representative Robert Scott (D-VA). This bill goes about eliminating the disparity the best way. It simply removes references to “cocaine base” from the U.S. federal code and removes the five-year mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine.

This is way better than some of the other bills which would change the penalty but add new crimes and throw more money into the War on Drugs.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 22, 2009 (boomark / email).