FAMM Hails Historic DOJ Announcement on Cocaine Disparity

WASHINGTON, April 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Families Against Mandatory
Minimums (FAMM) hails today's announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice
that supports replacing the controversial 100:1 sentencing disparity between
crack and powder cocaine with an even 1:1 ratio. DOJ's announcement, included
in testimony to be delivered on Capitol Hill by Assistant Attorney General
Lanny Breuer, marks the first time the Justice Department has publicly
endorsed equalization of the penalties between crack and powder cocaine. This
signals a significant shift in DOJ policy, which has previously supported the
sentencing disparity that has been in place for more than 20 years.

"DOJ's support of equalization of crack and powder cocaine penalties means a
new day has dawned for fair and proportionate sentencing laws," said Mary
Price, FAMM Vice President and General Counsel. "Two decades ago, little was
known about crack cocaine. Flawed assumptions about the drug drove Congress
to adopt a particularly harsh sentencing structure for crack cocaine when it
established new mandatory minimums for a host of drug offenses. Now, those
perceptions have been repeatedly disproven and discredited."

FAMM has been leading the fight for individualized and proportionate sentences
for 18 years. The group has been especially active in the campaign to change
the laws that set unjustifiably harsh crack sentences.

FAMM and its members have testified countless times before committees of
Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission. FAMM's tireless advocacy helped
convince the Sentencing Commission in 2007 to lessen the disparity by reducing
crack sentences and by making the change retroactive. More than 20,000 people
serving federal sentences for crack became eligible for sentence reductions.

FAMM member Cedric Parker will testify at the hearing during which the DOJ
will make its historic announcement. Mr. Parker's sister, Eugenia Jennings, a
young mother of three, was sentenced for a crack-related crime to nearly 22
years in prison, more than double what she would have received for a powder
cocaine offense. (For more on Ms. Jennings' story, visit www.famm.org.)

FAMM's Price said the battle now turns to Congress. "We urge Congress to end
the crack-powder disparity. This and other sentencing inequities could best
be addressed by eliminating mandatory minimums altogether. It's time for
Congress to act," concluded Price.

Visit www.famm.org to read Parker's testimony to the committee and background
on FAMM and the laws.

SOURCE Families Against Mandatory Minimums

Monica Pratt Raffanel of Families Against Mandatory Minimums ,
+1-202-621-5044