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veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
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Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free
#7746208 - 12/11/07 05:58 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free December 11, 2007 - AHN
Washington, DC (AHN) - The repercussions of the U.S. Supreme Court's Monday ruling granting federal judges wider discretion over penalties on crack cocaine offenders will be felt in the country's penal system. Because of the Court's ruling, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to reduce the sentences of 19,500 federal prison inmates serving term for crack cocaine-related crimes.
Most of the beneficiaries are African-Americans. According to the Los Angeles Times, around 3,800 inmates could be eligible for early release from their prison sentence within a year after the March 5 effectivity date of the commission's decision. The three month delay will give judges and prison officials sufficient time to deal with public safety and related issues to the early release.
U.S. District Judge William Sessions of Vermont, a member of the commission, said the retroactive effect will have "the most dramatic impact on African-American families."
The Bush administration restated its opposition to the measure. Attorney General Michael Mukasey explained that retroactively amending the sentences for crack cocaine offenders reduces the value of mitigating factors the sentencing judge used in determining the prison term during their first trial.
According to a federal government report, on the average, crack cocaine offenders were given 122 months sentence, while powder cocaine users were meted a lighter 85-month penalty.
Louis McClean, president of the Center for Growth and Development, supported the easing of prison sentence for cocaine offenders. He said stiff sentences only flooded the local court system with cases. "The cure is not longer prison terms," McClean said, but rehabilitation and mental health counseling programs.
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Nephlyte
Misfortunate One



Registered: 10/11/05
Posts: 1,025
Loc: South Texas
Last seen: 13 years, 5 months
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Re: Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free [Re: veggie]
#7746616 - 12/11/07 07:25 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Go supreme court.
-------------------- "To do right is to know what you want. Now when you are dissatisfied with yourself it's because you are after something you don't really want. What objects are you proposing to yourself? Are they the objects you really value? If they are not, you are cheating yourself. I don't meant that if you chose to pursue the objects you most value, you will attain them; of course not. Your experience will tell you that. But success in getting after much labor what you really don't care for is the bitterest and most ridiculous failure." -George Santayana
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Le_Canard
The Duk Abides


Registered: 05/16/03
Posts: 94,392
Loc: Earthfarm 1
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Re: Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free [Re: veggie]
#7746658 - 12/11/07 07:39 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Glad to hear it. Something's wrong when you have so many in prison.
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johnm214



Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free [Re: Le_Canard]
#7746706 - 12/11/07 07:51 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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The Bush administration restated its opposition to the measure. Attorney General Michael Mukasey explained that retroactively amending the sentences for crack cocaine offenders reduces the value of mitigating factors the sentencing judge used in determining the prison term during their first trial.
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what does this even mean? The whole point was that judges were given a presumptive sentece much higher than found necessary for the cocaine salt, which made no sense, and that any mitigation was applied to the artifically-high presumptive sentance instead of the more reasonable sentence range for the HCL salt.
So what the hell is he talking about? That's a total side issue, let alone many judges apparently felt that they couldn't sentence based on what they'd like due to government appeals.
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wildchild68
lion in a coma



Registered: 11/19/07
Posts: 5,115
Last seen: 9 years, 8 months
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Re: Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free [Re: johnm214]
#7747385 - 12/11/07 10:25 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Crack FTW.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free [Re: johnm214]
#7747977 - 12/12/07 03:20 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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> So what the hell is he talking about?
People sound stupid when they tow the party line rather than standing up for the principles of their office.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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nolongerinuse


Registered: 05/14/06
Posts: 947
Last seen: 10 years, 1 month
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Re: Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free [Re: Seuss]
#7748143 - 12/12/07 06:37 AM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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I still think it is sofa king retarded that there is some system in our society that tells us what we can and cannot put into our own bodies.
VOTE RON PAUL
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Piston
Stranger

Registered: 11/12/07
Posts: 23
Last seen: 12 years, 10 months
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Re: Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free [Re: nolongerinuse]
#7755530 - 12/13/07 07:42 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Way to put all the crack dealing negroes back on the street.
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djcube
Backwoods Shaman



Registered: 12/11/02
Posts: 572
Loc: Alaska
Last seen: 3 years, 5 months
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Re: Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free [Re: Piston]
#7762802 - 12/15/07 06:22 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Way to put all the crack dealing negroes back on the street.
I dont think they ever left.
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monstermitch
Growing in Bags Doesn't Work



Registered: 02/10/06
Posts: 3,911
Loc: Arizona Bay
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Re: Supreme Court Ruling Will Set 19,500 Federal Prison Inmates Free [Re: djcube]
#7762916 - 12/15/07 06:59 PM (16 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
djcube said:
Quote:
Way to put all the crack dealing negroes back on the street.
I dont think they ever left.
no kidding. I can't believe anyone would think that locking up one dealer actually means the dealer is removed from the equation. They simply are replaced with another eager fellow.
I guess some folks just have no idea how worthless this whole "war on drugs" is... ignorance is bliss though they tell me.
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