Senate Staff Briefing Sponsored by the Justice Roundtable

Friday, October 27, 2006

12:00 – 1:00
226 Dirksen
(Bring your brown bag lunch)

On October 27, 1986 President Ronald Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. The law’s mandatory penalties for crack cocaine offenses are the toughest ever adopted for low-level drug offenses. A defendant convicted with five grams of crack cocaine (the weight of less than two sugar packets) is subject to a five-year mandatory minimum sentence. The same five-year penalty is triggered for powder cocaine only when the offense involves 500 grams, 100 times the minimum quantity for crack. Twenty years later it is time to re- evaluate the implications of this law and determine whether the law’s application reflects Congress’s intent in 1986 when the legislation was enacted. Panelists will discuss the effects of the legislation on drug abuse and public safety, as well as a range of proposals for reform.

Join panelists for a frank discussion of this issue. Participants include:

Lisa Rich, U.S. Sentencing Commission

Bradley Hayes, Office of Senator Jeff Sessions

Eric Sterling, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation

Jesselyn McCurdy, American Civil Liberties Union

Moderator:
Kara Gotsch, The Sentencing Project

Please RSVP for this brown bag event to Venus Campbell, justice_ roundtable@yahoo.com. For more information, contact The Sentencing Project, 202/628-0871.

The Sentencing Project
Kara Gotsch, kgotsch@sentencingproject.org