Federal Government

On May 15, the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) updated its 2002 Report to Congress on Federal Cocaine Sentencing. The USSC report once again finds that there is no rationale for the sentencing differences between the two forms of the drug. Under current law, possessing or selling 5 grams of crack cocaine results in the same five-year mandatory minimum sentence as selling 500 grams of powder cocaine. The law harshly punishes low-level offenders, and has had a disparate impact on African-American and low-income communities. Join us in a frank discussion on avenues for reform of this unjust law.

The federal government continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year on drug prevention programs that make little if any impact on youth drug use. Programs such as D.A.R.E., the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign and Random Student Drug Testing stand in sharp contrast to the successful anti-smoking “Truth” campaign, which generally follows the rules of good social marketing. This discussion will explore why federally-funded youth drug prevention programs fail and offer pragmatic alternatives that Congress should consider.

The United States Sentencing Commission will host a Symposium on Crime and Punishment in the United States: Alternatives to Incarceration on July 14-15, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in W