Featured at FAMM
Crack Victory in U.S. Congress!
On July 28, the U.S. House of Representatives passed landmark legislation to dramatically reduce the sentencing disparity between federal crack and powder cocaine sentences and to repeal the five-year mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine. The bill, S. 1789, already won unanimous approval from the Senate in March and now goes to the White House for President Obama’s signature. Its passage marks the first time that Congress has repealed a mandatory minimum drug sentence since the Nixon administration. Read FAMM's press release and background materials
FAMM Celebrates House Passage of Criminal Justice Commission Bill
FAMM president Julie Stewart commended the U.S. House of Representatives for its approval of H.R. 5143, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2010, on July 27. “The vote shows Congress is aware that our nation’s criminal justice system is in need of major repair," said Stewart. Read press release
The heat is on!
The media is turning up the heat on lawmakers by highlighting America's criminal justice crisis and the problems caused by mandatory minimum sentences. Check out the latest coverage in the New York Times, Economist, Washington Post, Washington Times, Blue Mass Group and Penn & Teller's tv program on Showtime. Read more
Federal guidelines update! Recency and retroactivity
FAMM is getting lots of questions about proposed amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines that would go into effect on November 1. Proposed amendment 5 would change the way criminal history is calculated and eliminate the guideline rule about recency. Eliminating the recency rule will lower sentences in some, but not all circumstances. Read more
State sentencing resources at your fingertips
Interested in learning about sentencing laws across America? Check out FAMM's interactive map, where you can click on each state and obtain hard-to-find state sentencing resources that are constantly being updated and expanded. Learn more