New Retroactive Sentence Guidelines

NEWSFLASH:

New retroactive sentence guidelines create possibility to reduce sentences for past crack cocaine-related convictions

In a move that could mean a substantial reduction in sentences for thousands of federal inmates, the United States Sentencing Commission recently voted 7-0 to retroactively ease the sentence guidelines for crack cocaine-related offenses.

The Commission amended policy statement §1B1.10, the crack cocaine sentencing guideline, on December 11. The changes were in response to years of criticism over the inequality of treatment in the criminal justice system based solely on whether cocaine was found in rock or powder form.

Last month, the more lenient guidelines went into effect, reducing the average sentence for crack cocaine possession by nearly two years. The revisions brought the sentence ranges for crack cocaine in line with other forms of the drug but left open the question of how inmates previously convicted under the harsher rules. The Commission's December 11 decision clarifies that issue and applies the guidelines retroactively to prior sentences. It could affect approximately 19,500 federal prisoners, who were sentenced under the old possession rules.

For twenty years, federal guideline sentences for crack cocaine offenses have been more severe than for the powder form of the drug. But in recent years, critics have suggested that the drug is just as dangerous and harmful to society in either form, with no legitimate reason for a distinction. The harsher guidelines almost exclusively impacted African American communities, where the drug is more often found in rock form.

Federal prisoners currently serving sentences for crack cocaine possession will be able to petition the court beginning in March, when the retroactivity guidelines become effective. Not all crack cocaine offenders will be eligible for lower sentences and not all of those eligible will receive the same updated sentence. The change is not automatic and requires petitioning to federal court and consideration of many factors, including an inmate's post-sentencing conduct. Each judge will be left to make a case by case determination within a broad range of discretion.

The new retroactivity guidelines can be found at: http://www.ussc.gov/2007guid/030308rf.pdf. To learn more about this issue, or to retain a lawyer to petition the court, contact the criminal defense attorneys at Nacht & Associates.