Sentencing Project Coalition Launches Initiative

The Sentencing Project has teamed up with OSI, the Drug Policy Alliance and the ACLU to form a coalition to bring public awareness to the disparity issue surrounding powder cocaine vs. crack cocaine.

WASHINGTON, DC - A coalition of criminal justice advocacy organizations is launching "It's Not Fair. It's Not Working," a national effort to reform the 100-to-1 federal drug quantity ratio between crack and powder cocaine which results in excessive mandatory minimum sentences for possession of small amounts of crack cocaine. The initiative will officially launch at the National Association of Black Journalists 32nd Annual Convention, August 8-12, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"All Americans want to live in drug-free communities. Unfortunately this law locks up smalltime drug users who need to be in treatment programs instead of prison," said Nkechi Taifa of the Open Society Institute (OSI). Other coalition partners include The Sentencing Project, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). According to Jesselyn McCurdy of the ACLU, "We chose to launch our initiative at the NABJ conference to highlight the racial impact of the federal crack cocaine law. These unfair mandatory sentences for crack cocaine have an especially high impact on communities of color. In 2005, blacks constituted over 80 percent of those sentenced under federal crack cocaine laws."
The Sentencing Project