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Supreme Court to Rule on Fairness in Drug Sentences

November 30, 2011 By kaia


There is tremendous disparity in our nation’s drug sentencing laws based on whether one is dealing crack or cocaine (same drug in powder form). People convicted for selling crack have historically received similar prison sentences as people convicted of selling 100 times as much powder cocaine. In the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, this disparity was reduced from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1 for cocaine and crack sales. However, the new law only applies to those who were arrested after August 3, 2010, when the act was passed. On Monday November 28, the Supreme Court agreed to investigate the fairness of this provision in the new law — a provision which many federal judges have claimed does not make sense.

Read the full story here from the New York Times.

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