June 26, 2012
Dear FAMM supporter --
Last week, we told you about a U.S. Supreme Court decision that made all of us here at FAMM cheer – Dorsey v. United States. Now, we need your help to make sure Dorsey isn’t the last word on federal crack sentencing reforms.
In Dorsey, the Court ruled that the historic 2010 Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) reforms to federal mandatory minimum crack cocaine sentences do apply to so-called “pipeline” offenders – people who committed federal crack offenses before August 3, 2010, but were sentenced after that date.
Dorsey is a big win, but it does not benefit anyone sentenced before August 3, 2010 – in other words, it doesn’t make the FSA retroactive. That leaves us – and a lot of you – asking: don’t all the other federal crack offenders sentenced before the FSA became law deserve fair sentences, too?
We say yes! FAMM is still urging Congress to make the FSA retroactive. Justice shouldn’t depend on the date a person was sentenced.
Now is the perfect time to tell Congress to make the FSA retroactive. Click here to write to your U.S. representatives and tell them to support H.R. 2316, the Fair Sentencing Clarification Act. The bill is currently pending in the House Judiciary Committee and has a long way to go before it can become a law.
You and your loved ones can help by writing to your representatives today and telling them to finish what the U.S. Supreme Court started in Dorsey. Fairer, more rational crack sentences should be available to all federal prisoners sentenced under the old, unjust law.
Together, we can make this happen!
My best –
Julie
Julie Stewart
President