Federal crack cocaine law may change after recent recommendation and ruling

The Drug Policy Alliance reported this past week that the U.S. Sentencing Commission in an unanimous vote recommended changes in the disparity between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine sentences; crack cocaine carries a sentence up to a hundred times greater than the same quantity of powered cocaine under current federal law. Also,  the U.S. Supreme Court, later in the week, ruled that federal judges may now sentence individuals below the mandatory minimum sentence in crack cocaine cases, though it will take an act of the U.S. Legislative branch to eliminate the law which has been in place for over 20 years. So, for the time being crack offenders will be at the mercy of judges in federal cases until Congress acts. So far, hearings are scheduled in the Senate for early 2008, but no hearings have been set for the House of Representatives on the issue.

Read more: Drug Policy Alliance