For about the last 20 years the sentencing for crack offenses has been 100 times higher than powered cocaine. The new bill passed unanimously in the US Senate lowers the ratio to a disparity of 18 – 1, still giving crack a much stiffer sentence than regular cocaine.
The legislation passed on March 17, 2010 and was reported by the ACLU as states “The Fair Sentencing Act is an encouraging step toward eliminating the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine but still allows for a needlessly unfair sentencing framework. The unanimous passage of this bill speaks to the understanding across the political spectrum that this disparity is unjust and in need of reform. Years of research has yielded no evidence of any appreciable difference between crack and powder cocaine and yet we continue to inflict this disparity on Americans. For over two decades, this sentencing disparity has been a strain on our justice system. Though this bill’s passage is long overdue, it does not go far enough. Without a simple and fair 1-1 sentencing ratio for crack and powder cocaine, we cannot say that these sentencing laws meet constitutional muster.”
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