WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- One more piece of the crack cocaine puzzle fell into place today when 10 senators introduced a bill to make crack cocaine penalties the same as those for powder cocaine. The picture is nearly complete - the White House and Department of Justice have endorsed the elimination of the cocaine sentencing disparity, the Sentencing Commission has found the disparity unreasonable, and the House of Representatives and now the Senate have introduced legislation to equalize crack and powder cocaine penalties.

"No institution stands in the way of crack cocaine changes," said Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) president Julie Stewart. "Every piece is in place to make this decades past due reform a reality."

Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), who introduced the bill to equalize powder and crack cocaine sentences, offered this statement:

"Drug use is a serious problem in America and we need tough legislation to combat it. But in addition to being tough, our drug laws must be smart and fair. Our current cocaine laws are not. The sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine has contributed to the imprisonment of African Americans at six times the rate of whites and to the United States' position as the world's leader in incarcerations. Congress has talked about addressing this injustice for long enough; it's time for us to act."

Other sponsors include Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs Chairman Arlen Specter (D-Penn.), and Senators Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Al Franken (D-Minn.).

If the Fair Sentencing Act of 2009 becomes law, crack and powder cocaine mandatory minimums will be equal: 500 grams will require five years and five kilograms will require 10 years, no matter what form of cocaine is involved. The proposal also eliminates the five-year mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack.

FAMM urges Congress to make the changes retroactive so that people currently serving mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine can benefit. Retroactive changes made in 2007 to the federal Sentencing Guidelines for crack cocaine offenses prove such reforms can be enacted without compromising public safety.

FAMM is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working for fair and proportionate sentencing laws. For more information, visit www.famm.org.

SOURCE Families Against Mandatory Minimums

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