Fair Sentencing Act An Important First Step But Sizeable Sentencing Gap Remains

WASHINGTON - July 28 - The House today passed a bill that would make much needed changes to current cocaine sentencing laws and which will now go to President Obama’s desk for signature. The bill, the Fair Sentencing Act (S. 1789), was unanimously passed by the Senate in March.

As originally introduced in the Senate, the bill would have completely eliminated the discriminatory 100:1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing under federal law. However, during the bill's markup in the Senate, a compromise was reached with Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members to reduce the disparity to an 18:1 ratio. The bill also eliminates the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine and comes at a time when the United States Sentencing Commission is reconsidering the legitimacy and effectiveness of mandatory minimum sentencing. The commission is expected to release a new report on the subject in October.

"We commend Speaker Pelosi and Congressmen Hoyer, Clyburn, Conyers and Scott who, with the help of the Obama administration, helped this bill pass its final hurdle,” said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Legislative Office. “Congress has just struck down a mandatory minimum for the first time in history and has sent the correct message that we cannot continue to use a one-size-fits-all approach to sentencing. The passage of the Fair Sentencing Act by both chambers of Congress is an important first step toward finally eliminating the sentencing disparity. However, the bill does leave in place a sizable sentencing disparity that we will continue to work to eliminate.”

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