FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2007
Contact: media@famm.org
President Bush commutes the sentence of a FAMM member serving 20 years for crack
WASHINGTON, D.C.: On December 11, President Bush announced that he pardoned 29 people and commuted the sentence of one federal prisoner, Michael Short.
Like two of President Bush’s prior commutations, Short, a member of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), has already served 15 years of his almost 20-year federal sentence. He was originally scheduled to be released from prison in April 2009 and will now be released in early 2008. Short played a minor role as a drug courier in a Washington, D.C. crack cocaine ring in 1989. Despite having no prior convictions, Short was held accountable for five kilograms of crack cocaine and given a sentence of 19 years and 7 months in federal prison, as the federal sentencing guidelines then required.
Molly Gill, director of FAMM’s Commutations Project, says, “FAMM applauds President Bush’s commutation of Short’s sentence, but the president should grant more commutations to other worthy prisoners serving unjust and excessive mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. However, commutations can only impact individual lives. What we need is systemic change to federal sentencing laws, and that is up to Congress. Congress should address all mandatory minimums so the courts can prevent unfair sentences like Short’s from reoccurring.”
Short’s commutation came on the heels of a landmark Supreme Court ruling handed down yesterday, Kimbrough v. United States. Had Short been sentenced for five kilograms of powder cocaine instead of crack cocaine, he would have been subject to a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The large disparity in the sentences is due to the “100:1 ratio” between crack and powder cocaine sentences established by Congress in 1986, which treats one gram of crack the same as 100 grams of powder cocaine. Kimbrough allows judges to disregard the 100:1 ratio between crack and powder cocaine when sentencing crack defendants.
The commutation was announced just before today’s public meeting of the United States Sentencing Commission, during which the Commission will vote on whether to make its own modest modification shortening crack sentences apply to over 19,500 currently incarcerated crack offenders. Even if the Commission’s changes are made retroactive, they will not change the five and 10-year mandatory minimums set by Congress for crack and cocaine crimes.
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) advocates for fair and proportionate sentencing laws. For more information, visit www.famm.org or email media@famm.org.