House may reduce crack disparity
The House is set to reduce the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.
After passing the Senate in March, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (S 1789) is poised to pass the House this afternoon and head to President Obama, reports CQ's Seth Stern.
The bill would establish an 18-to-1 ratio in sentencing guidelines for crack and powder cocaine and eliminate the mandatory minimum prison sentence for simple possession of crack.
Currently, the ratio is closer to 100-to-1, causing some civil rights advocates to argue that the law unfairly punishes racial minorities who are more likely to use crack
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who sponsored the bill, dropped attempts to eliminate the disparity entirely in order to win Republican support.
— Ryan Teague Beckwith, Congress.org
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