Featured at FAMM
New updates on federal crack reform bill
Please download our new FAQs on the crack reform bill and retroactivity. FAMM works very hard to make sure you have the best information, but we aren’t perfect and some of the information we gave you previously was inaccurate. As always, please do not rely on FAMM's FAQs as legal advice and talk with your lawyer if you have a question about a case. Although the new crack law does not apply to people who’ve already been sentenced, together we will continue to work to make the reforms retroactive. Click here for all the resources on the new crack law.
Thank Congress for narrowing crack sentencing disparity
Please take a minute to use FAMM's action center to send an email to your federal representative and senators thanking them for narrowing the crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity. Act now!
BOP issues new halfway house guidance
On June 24, 2010, the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) issued a new memorandum to its chief executive officers. The memo gives the BOP staff new guidance on deciding how much time federal prisoners serve in halfway houses, who should go to a halfway house, and who is eligible to be placed directly on home confinement. Click here to read more.
Mass. governor signs sentencing reform law
On Aug. 6, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law limited but promising reform of the state’s harsh mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drug offenses. This is the first time that the Legislature has moved to ease rigid drug sentencing laws since the laws were first enacted nearly 30 years ago. Read Gov. Patrick's official press release that quotes FAMM's Barbara J. Dougan and our press release
President Obama signs historic crack reform law
President Barack Obama signed sweeping reforms to federal crack cocaine laws on Aug. 3, reducing unduly harsh sentences for crack violations and repealing the five-year mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine - the first time that a mandatory minimum drug sentence has been repealed since the Nixon Administration. Click here to read the Washington Post's latest editorial, praising the changes and giving a shout-out to FAMM. Also, check out our resource page on the new law. Read more
FAMM celebrates House passage of Criminal Justice Commission bill
FAMM president Julie Stewart commended the U.S. House of Representatives for its approval of H.R. 5143, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2010, on July 27. “The vote shows Congress is aware that our nation’s criminal justice system is in need of major repair," said Stewart. Read press release