1/20/95
The new Republican Congress has hit the ground running, so it's time for DRCNet to do the same. This bulletin requests your action on two items.
- 10 years for selling drugs to a minor (up from 1 year);
- 5 years for selling drugs in a "Drug Free School Zone" (up from 1 year);
- 10 years for use or possession of a firearm during a felony offense (up from 5 years);
- 20 years is firearm is discharged;
- life without parole if death results from discharged firearm;
[Note: DRCNet is devoted to drug policy reform and takes no position on gun policy. We have listed the gun-related sentences in the Senate crime bill for completeness and because they can apply to drug or drug-related offenses.]
The bill would also make the safety-valve so narrow that few if any people will qualify. (The safety-valve is a provision of last year's crime bill that allows judges the discretion to exempt certain first-time offenders from 5 or 10 year mandatory minimums.)
Please write, fax or call your two Senators and your Representative;
ask them to oppose new mandatory minimums and to oppose any weakening of
the safety-valve.
Addresses for any member of Congress:
The Honorable {Your Senator} The Honorable {Your Representative}
United States Senate House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510
You can reach them on the phone (or find out who they are) through
the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
Please also contact the following members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
phone fax
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) (202) 224-5251 224-6331
Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) (202) 224-3424 224-1315
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) (202) 224-4254 N/A
Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC) (202) 224-5972 224-1300
Some points for your letters:
Mandatory minimums clog the courts and jails with non-violent offenders, forcing the early release of violent felons.
We've been locking people up on drug offenses for 80 years, and drug problems have only gotten worse.
Increased federalization of crime policy is contrary to the spirit of the "Contract with America." Let states devise their own crime- reduction strategies, so they can learn from each other.
The Republican majority is promising to move swiftly on a new crime bill, so please write soon.
#37: Marijuana -- changes the plant-weight ratio to 1 plant = 100 grams. (Currently 1 plant is considered 100 grams for 49 plants or fewer, but becomes 1 kilo [1000 grams] for 50 plants or more.)
#38: Crack Cocaine -- reduces the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Currently 1 gram of crack is considered equivalent to 100 grams of powder cocaine. Please tell the commission you think the ratio should be 1:1 at the current level of powder cocaine.
Methamphetamine -- Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), a sentencing reform advocacy group, has proposed an amendment that would exclude the weight of waste-water left over from the methamphetamine production process when calculating weight in sentencing. No amendment number is available yet.
Letters must be received by March 7th to be considered in the Sentencing Commission's deliberations. Send them to:
U.S. Sentencing Commission
One Columbus Circle NE
South Lobby, 2-500
Washington, D.C. 20002
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