FAMM helps modify harsh drug bills in Virginia
In 2000, Gov. James S. Gilmore III initiated a series of bills called the Substance Abuse Reduction Effort, or SABRE. The bills incorporated harsh new mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders. Efforts by FAMM and other groups resulted in several changes, including a safety valve for nonviolent persons who, though not drug kingpins, would otherwise be subject to a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Steps towards sentencing justice
A 5-4 Supreme Court decision in 2000, Apprendi v. U.S., returned a bit of fairness to the justice system by ruling that any fact, except for prior offenses, that increases the maximum sentence for a crime beyond the statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The decision offered new hope to thousands of past and future defendants receiving mandatory sentences. 32 More than 1,800 federal prisoners became eligible for sentence reductions in late 2000 after FAMM promoted retroactivity of three sentencing guideline amendments. Recommended by the sentencing commission and allowed to stand by Congress, the amendments assured that sentences are based only on the offense of the conviction, that defendants are not punished twice for the same conduct, and they corrected a typographical error in the Chemical Quantity Table used in sentencing. 33