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 withoutawire
Bunny Lover
Registered: 08/16/09
Posts: 10,941
Loc: San Francisco
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 Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing 
#16252827 - 05/19/12 04:03 AM (1 year, 30 days ago) |
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http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/mo-legislature-approves-change-in-crack-cocaine-sentencing/article_b46858c0-a10e-11e1-b16e-0019bb30f31a.html
JEFFERSON CITY • An effort to change the disparity between sentences for crack cocaine and powder cocaine charges has made it through the Missouri Legislature, wrapped in a larger judiciary bill.
The legislation now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon for approval, but House leaders touted it today as one of the major successes of the session that ends at 6 p.m.
“This bill is monumental in its scope,” said House Majority Leader Tim Jones, R-Eureka.
Under the current law, a person who sells 425 grams of powder cocaine would face the same charge and sentencing as someone who sells 2.5 grams of crack cocaine. Both crimes are Class A felonies with mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years.
The bill lessens the ratio, by raising the quantity for Class A crack felonies.
“This is truly a major breakthrough,” said Rep. Jamilla Nasheed, D-St. Louis.
Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, said the crack cocaine provision would have been stripped from the bill but House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, lobbied on its behalf.
“The speaker intervened and took this from dead to alive,” Kelly said.
The move to lessen the crack/powder disparity follows a report from the Sentencing Project last year. It showed that Missouri had the highest weight-based disparity between crack and powder cocaine charges at a 75-to-1 ratio.
In Missouri, trafficking more than 150 grams but less than 450 grams of powder cocaine is treated the same as trafficking at least two grams but less than six grams of crack.
Both crimes are Class A felonies with mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years.
“Harsh drug penalties like these are a contributing factor to the exceptionally high rates of incarceration and overcrowding in state prison facilities,” the Washington-based Sentencing Project’s report states.
The Sentencing Project concluded that such differences in treatment of cocaine versus crack are unfair to black drug users because they are more likely to face crack cocaine charges and end up with longer prison sentences.
“The African-American population of the state of Missouri owes (Tilley) a debt of gratitude,” Kelly said.
Riding the wave of a national crackdown, Missouri adopted its strict penalties on crack in 1989. Supporters of the difference have argued that crack is more addictive and dangerous so punishment should be more severe.
Other states have acted to eliminate the disparities, and in 2010 the federal government adopted measures to fix its own disparities between crack and powder cocaine convictions.
Earlier in the session, Tilley told reporters that he had supported the change “from day one” but some other lawmakers were initially worried that they could appear soft on crime if they supported it.
The broad judiciary bill included 31 sections, including switching the St. Louis circuit clerk’s position from elected to appointed. Supporters said the move was needed to make the courts more efficient because judges will now have more authority over the office.
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bloodsheen
ChemChaplin
Registered: 09/24/08
Posts: 2,666
Last seen: 4 days, 1 hour
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: withoutawire]
#16252982 - 05/19/12 05:28 AM (1 year, 30 days ago) |
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Quote:
withoutawire said:
“The African-American population of the state of Missouri owes (Tilley) a debt of gratitude,” Kelly said.
Tell me this Kelly person wasn't thinking "Stupid niggers in Missouri don't deserve it this good." Fucking prick.
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A cautious young fellow named Lodge / Had seat belts installed in his Dodge. / When his date was strapped in / He committed a sin / Without even leaving the garage. That's clever, isn't it?-A boy and his dog
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searching
Stoner Engineer
Registered: 06/08/11
Posts: 1,438
Last seen: 1 hour, 46 minutes
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: bloodsheen]
#16253511 - 05/19/12 11:20 AM (1 year, 30 days ago) |
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This is a good sign. It shows that we have some politicians that aren't afraid to touch drug laws.
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tibberous
Stranger
Registered: 12/26/04
Posts: 1,192
Last seen: 4 months, 18 days
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: searching]
#16253821 - 05/19/12 01:27 PM (1 year, 30 days ago) |
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Quote:
searching said:
This is a good sign. It shows that we have some politicians that aren't afraid to touch drug laws.
Crack party in MO to celebrate?
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 Maharishi_2_U
Opt Out Super Fag
Registered: 10/21/09
Posts: 5,067
Loc: Front Range, CO 
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: tibberous]
#16254557 - 05/19/12 06:00 PM (1 year, 30 days ago) |
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To bad growing one plant is also a class A felony mandatory min. 10 years.
I speak from experience 
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Ballerium said:
I don't think I'd appreciate it if some woman randomly bent over in front of me and showed her asshole to me.
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jammin
Karma Farmer
Registered: 03/30/11
Posts: 2,540
Loc: Missourah
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: Maharishi_2_U]
#16254571 - 05/19/12 06:03 PM (1 year, 30 days ago) |
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This doesn't really concern me even though I'm a missouri resident. Crack was never my "thing" nor will it be in the future. Most people shouldn't really have a reason to hate this bill, except crack heads and crack dealers.
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"Bassnectar is god, and I am Jesus"
-Bassfreak
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SpecialEd
Invictus
Registered: 01/30/03
Posts: 3,424
Loc: : Gringo
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: jammin]
#16256074 - 05/20/12 12:43 AM (1 year, 29 days ago) |
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idk, i bet there's a lot of folks in independence missouri that should be happy about this one lol.
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"This act is a bore but it makes me who I am..."
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WorldWideWInton
Student
Registered: 03/12/09
Posts: 4,680
Loc: unknown
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: bloodsheen]
#16256688 - 05/20/12 04:04 AM (1 year, 29 days ago) |
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Quote:
bloodsheen said:
Quote:
withoutawire said:
“The African-American population of the state of Missouri owes (Tilley) a debt of gratitude,” Kelly said.
Tell me this Kelly person wasn't thinking "Stupid niggers in Missouri don't deserve it this good." Fucking prick.
Sounds like they made a racist law...
Where is A.R., famous shroomerite african american advocate when you need him to prevent laws like this from being passed...
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My past post are not necessarily reflections of my current opinions.
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jammin
Karma Farmer
Registered: 03/30/11
Posts: 2,540
Loc: Missourah
Last seen: 1 hour, 14 minutes
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: SpecialEd]
#16257247 - 05/20/12 10:12 AM (1 year, 29 days ago) |
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now only if we had stricter meff laws in missouri...then I'd never have to see "faces of meth" type people. and then sadly, there's a heroin problem growing everyday, so this is going to make our state a little uneasy 
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"Bassnectar is god, and I am Jesus"
-Bassfreak
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Leon Ferrum
environmentalist know-it-all
Registered: 09/01/09
Posts: 335
Last seen: 5 months, 7 days
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: jammin]
#16257385 - 05/20/12 11:17 AM (1 year, 29 days ago) |
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Quote:
jammin said:
now only if we had better education and less poverty in missouri...then I'd never have to see "faces of meth" type people. and then sadly, there's a heroin problem growing everyday, so this is going to make our state a little uneasy
fixed
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withoutawire
Bunny Lover
Registered: 08/16/09
Posts: 10,941
Loc: San Francisco
Last seen: 19 minutes, 54 seconds
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: jammin]
#16262069 - 05/21/12 12:04 PM (1 year, 28 days ago) |
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Quote:
jammin said:
now only if we had stricter meff laws in missouri...then I'd never have to see "faces of meth" type people. and then sadly, there's a heroin problem growing everyday, so this is going to make our state a little uneasy
Stricter laws don't do anything except create more crime.
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PostiveOutlook
Growery > Shroomery
Registered: 05/13/09
Posts: 11,241
Loc: Mars
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Re: Mo. Legislature Approves Change in Crack Sentencing [Re: Leon Ferrum]
#16262550 - 05/21/12 02:04 PM (1 year, 28 days ago) |
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ten years in jail for 2 grams of crack... sounds like another scam to get the poor into jails, so corporations to get paid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison
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