12,000 people eligible?
1 in 17 federal inmates involved (12,000?). This afternoon the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously today to give retroactive effect to its proposed permanent amendment to the federal sentencing guidelines that implements the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. Last year Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act that reduced the penalty on crack cocaine after 26 years of particularly harsh sentencing on a drug disproportionately used by poor black males. A few stories news…
The Seattle Times
Reuters
Christian Science Monitor
San Francisco Chronicle
House Judiciary Committee Chair Lamar Smithlobbied the commission not to grant sentencing retroactivity that could give early releases and warned it, “merely gets criminals back into action faster.”
Lamar Smith
Aug 3, 2010: Fair Sentencing Act signing
Last Week, Reps. Scott, Conyers and Ellison Dropped a Cocaine Retroactivity Bill. Reps. Bobby Scott, Ron Paul, John Conyers, Roscoe Bartlett, Alcee Hastings, and Keith Ellison, introduced the Fair Sentencing Clarification Act of 2011 to further clarify the retroactively issue. “There is absolutely no reason that individuals sentenced under the old crack cocaine laws should not receive the benefit of the FSA … Congress has acknowledged that the 100-to-1 disparity was fundamentally unfair and had a racially disparate impact. People sentenced under the old law should not be required to serve out sentences imposed as a result of what Congress has now recognized to be an unjust law,” said Rep. Scott.
In August 2010, the President signed the Fair Sentencing Act which reduced the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine in federal law to 18-to-1. Before the FSA, it took only 5 grams of crack cocaine to trigger a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence, but for powder cocaine it took 500 grams to trigger the same 5-year mandatory minimum sentence. The Fair Sentencing Clarification Act would allow all offenders, regardless of when they were arrested or convicted, to receive the benefit of the changes that Congress made in the Fair Sentencing Act.
There are Approximately[40]Million Black People in America. Did You Know That People of Color Around The Earth Out-Number White People[11-to-1]…More Than[4,400,000,972]Out-Side of America?…And There are More Young,Black People in America in Jail Than all Black People all Over The World Combined…Incarceration!! Somebody is Working,and We Intend to Expose Them Today…This Criminalization Process Starts in Elementary School,with Black Male Children as Young as[6-7] Years Old Being Arrested in Staggering Numbers, According to a Report Called Education on Lock-Down…The Rest of The World is Watching and Following The Lead of America…Other Countries Including England,Canada,Jamaica,Brazil,and South Africa are Adopting American Social Policies…The Encourage The Incarceration and Destruction of Young Black Men,is Leading to a World-Wide Catastrophy…Still There is No Response from The American Community What is Worst of All is The Passivity, The Neglect and The Disengagement of The Black Community Concerning The Future of Our Black Children…We Do Little,While The Future Lives of Black Boys are Being Destroyed in Record Numbers….Here is The”Kicker” The Schools That Black Boys Attend, Prepare Them With Skills That are Short Term, Unusable Skills That Will Make Them Obsolete Before They Even Graduate….We Have To Close Down The Criminal Industrial Complex System,That is Destroying Our Black Children and Families in The United States of America and Abroad….We Need More Oversight,Transparency,Legislation and Accountability in Our Unfair,Unjust Justice System Immediately….Jobs are Needed for Our Youth….We Need Training Programs, More Youth Program, Keep The Arts in The Schools and We Need Good Livable Wage Jobs,with Affordable Health-Care for All!