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WSJ notes dispute over application of FSA to pending cases

By Douglas A. Berman

The Wall Street Journal has this new piece noting the on-going legal battles over applying the new crack  law to federal cases in the sentencing pipeline.  The piece is headlined "Crack Sentences Still Tough: Hard Time Given Even for Small Offenses Committed Before Rules Eased in August," and here are excerpts: The Fair Sentencing Act passed this summer knocked down the requirement of long prison sentences for possession of crack cocaine, but a quirk in how the law was written has resulted in some defendants being sentenced under the old rules ? and the situation could continue for years. Lawmakers who backed the change, with the support of the attorney general and federal sentencing officials, aren't pleased with the outcome. They said the new guidelines rectified an injustice born during the drug wars of the 1980s...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 21, 2010 (boomark / email).