Georgia Criminal Lawyer Blog

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a measure this week to reduce criminal penalties for defendants caught with crack cocaine.  The proposed legislation addresses for the first time in two decades a sentencing disparity that has troubled many.

The Senate bill would reduce the sentencing disparity to 18 to 1 for people caught with crack cocaine versus powdered cocaine.  The current ratio is 100 to 1, disproportionately hurting African Americans, who are convicted of crack offenses in far greater numbers.

The Senate bill would also increase the amount of crack cocaine required to trigger the 5 year mandatory minimum sentence for possession with intent to distribute from 5 to 28 grams.

The House Judiciary Committee passed a cocaine sentencing reform bill in July that would treat all forms of cocaine the same for sentencing purposes.