House Eases Crack-Cocaine Sentences
July 29, 2010 by supermario
Filed under US News
Gary Fields
The Wall Street Journal
The House approved a bill Wednesday that lightens federal sentences for crack-cocaine defendants, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature.
After years of false starts and dashed hopes for sentencing advocates, lawmakers approved the legislation on a voice vote. The Senate had passed the bill this spring, and Mr. Obama is expected to sign it soon.
The bill would raise the minimum quantity of crack-cocaine required to trigger a five-year sentence to 28 grams from five grams, potentially shortening prison time for thousands of defendants sentenced each year.
The change, sought since the 1990s, addresses a disparity in the punishment for defendants in powder cocaine and crack-cocaine cases. Since the mid-1980s, the minimum quantity of powder cocaine required to trigger a five-year sentence was 500 grams—100 times the threshold for crack.
Critics said the rules unfairly targeted African-American communities where crack is more prevalent. In contrast, suburban white users tend to buy powder cocaine.
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