It's a major point of contention with civil rights and prisoner advocates: penalties for using crack cocaine, favored by minority drug users, are much stiffer than those for powder cocaine, which is more popular with whites. Now the US Sentencing Commission is considering a proposal to shave an average of two years off the sentences of nearly 20,000 federal prisoners sentenced for crack cocaine use, or about 1 in 10 in the 200,000-inmate system. Such a mass commutation would be unprecedented in US history. Larry talks with Julie Stewart, President and founder of FAMM, Families Against Mandatory Minimums about the proposal.
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
-
Listen Listen