|
FAMM
Victory:
Amendment
to
Cap
Federal
Guideline
Sentences
for
Low-Level
Drug
Offenders
is
Now
Law
11/8/02
(press release from Families
Against Mandatory Minimums)
On November 1, 2002, a federal
sentencing guideline amendment to "cap" sentences for the least culpable
drug offenders became law.
Amendment 4 is designed to
limit the exposure of low level drug offenders to increased penalties based
on drug quantity alone. The guideline puts a ceiling on the sentence
of a defendant who is a minimal or minor participant.
"Amendment 4 targets the
least culpable of all drug defendants, capping their base sentences at
Level 30, roughly 10 years," commented Julie Stewart, president and founder
of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM). "This cap prevents
their sentences from being driven above Level 30 by drug quantity, which
is the primary factor that determines sentence length. Drug quantity
may be a relevant sentencing factor, but a defendant's role in the offense
is also a very important factor in determining a just sentence. Amendment
4 strikes a reasonable balance between these factors."
Amendment 4 will not result
in wholesale changes to drug sentences. The only defendants covered
by it are those found by a court to have been minor or minimal participants
in drug offenses. While the amendment would cap their base offense
level at 30, it does not prohibit a judge from increasing the sentence
based on any other factor the court deems appropriate. The Sentencing
Commission estimates that only six percent of all drug defendants -- those
who receive a minimal role adjustment -- will qualify, approximately 240
people each year.
FAMM urges the Commission
to make Amendment 4 retroactive to apply to those prisoners with mitigating
role adjustments whose sentences are above Level 30. Visit http://www.ussc.gov
to read the language of Amendment 4, plus other amendments to the federal
sentencing guidelines. Visit http://www.famm.org
for further information on mandatory minimum sentencing.
-- END --
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Issue #262, 11/8/02
Editorial: More to This Vote Than Meets the Eye | Black Tuesday for Drug Reform | Arizona Steps Back as Decrim Initiative Loses, Anti-Reform Sentencing Initiative Wins | Legal Pot in Nevada? Not This Year | New York: Pataki Victory Swamps Dems, Golisano, Marijuana Reform Party, Libertarians | Ohio "Treatment Not Jail" Initiative Runs Into Drug War Buzzsaw | No Hemp, No New Rights for Defendants in South Dakota | Wisconsin: Libertarian Thompson Gets Ten Percent | DC Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Treatment Not Jail Initiative | Massachusetts Voters Tell Reps to Support Marijuana Decrim | San Francisco Voters Ask City to Look at Growing Its Own | FAMM Victory: Amendment to Cap Federal Guideline Sentences for Low-Level Drug Offenders is Now Law | Colombian Campaign for Drug Legalization | Anti-Prohibitionists Meet Human Rights Advocates and Political Leaders at Albania Congress of Transnational Radical Party | Newsbrief: Nordic Prohibitionists Beginning Counter-Campaign Supporting UN Drug Conventions | Web Scan: Forbes on Hope Taft, Newsday on Tony Papa, New Scientist on Cannabis, Raich v. Ashcroft Lawsuit Docs | Action Alerts: Rave Bill, Medical Marijuana, Higher Education Act Drug Provision, Tulia, Salvia Divinorum | The Reformer's Calendar
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