Monday, April 25, 2005

DRACONIAN DRUG BILL INTRODUCED BY SENSENBRENNER

The full House Judiciary Committee is set to vote as early as next week on H.R. 1528, which creates a new group of mandatory miniumum penalties for non-violent drug offenses, including a five year penalty for passing a joint to someone who's been in drug treatment.

The "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005" (H.R. 1528) was introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) on April 6, and it has already passed out of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

The bill would also create a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for a first-time conviction of distributing a small amount of marijuana to a person under 18 years of age ... and a 10-year sentence for a second offense of distributing marijuana to a person under 21.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) also has an action alert on this bill:

MAKES THE FEDERAL SENSENCING GUIDELINES MANDATORY

CREATES NEW MANDATORY MINIMUMS

ELIMINATES THE SAFETY VALVE FOR LOW-LEVEL COURIERS.

PUNISHES DEFENDANTS FOR "RELEVANT CONDUCT" COMMITED BEFORE THEY JOINED A CONSPIRACY

AND THERE'S MORE!
(Suggested by Joe Paul)

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