Senate to Hold Long-awaited Hearing on Federal Cocaine Sentencing Laws

[Courtesy of The Sentencing Project] Dear Friends: The Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on "Federal Cocaine Sentencing Laws: Reforming the 100-to-1 Crack/Powder Disparity" on Tuesday, February 12 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. "The Sentencing Project applauds the Committee for addressing this longstanding disparity," stated Marc Mauer, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project. "Reforming crack cocaine policy will help to remedy the unfairness and ineffectiveness of federal drug policy." Witnesses at the hearing will be: - U.S. Department of Justice designee - The Honorable Ricardo H. Hinojosa, Chair, U.S. Sentencing Commission, Washington, DC - Dr. Nora Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Washington, DC - The Honorable Reggie B. Walton, Criminal Law Committee, Federal Judicial Conference, Washington, DC - James Felman, Co-Chair, Sentencing Committee, Criminal Justice Section, American Bar Association In addition, Marc Mauer, has been invited by the Committee to submit written testimony, focusing on the public safety consequences of crack reform and impact on racial disparity. Committee Chairman Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), has taken a lead in reforming the crack cocaine disparity by introducing the Drug Sentencing Reform and Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2007 (S. 1711), which would eliminate the 100 to 1 quantity-based sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. The legislation would also focus federal law enforcement efforts on serious drug traffickers instead of the low-level offenders who are currently the target of most federal crack prosecutions. This hearing follows the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmation of judicial discretion to sentence below the guideline range based on the unfairness of the crack cocaine sentencing disparity, and the United States Sentencing Commission's vote to make retroactive its recent guideline amendment on crack cocaine offenses.