Mandatory five years for passing a joint!

A truly terrible new sentencing provision is going before the full House Judiciary Committee, and then, unless we are lucky, to the full house.  Its main thrust is to make virtually all federal drug distribution crimes (distribute means sell or give or transfer in any way) subject to mandatory minimum penalties.  That is, small street sales (or dorm room transfers) will subject people to a mandatory five years in federal prison, no exceptions.

Its even broader provisions will apply the federal sentencing guidelines as mandatory minimum penalties to all crimes, removing the power of judges to impose lower sentences when appropriate, but not similarly restricting the imposition of higher sentences.    

  Even Justice Kennedy (now, ironically, a bete noir of the radical right) has criticized mandatory minimum penalties.  And anyone who has worked in the criminal justice system can cite cases in which required penalties have done great injustice, when the circumstances of the crime or of the offender called for flexibility in deciding what penalty was correct.

Please take some action to signal your opposition to this misguided law to your Representative at this time, if she is on the judiciary committee, or later, when the bill goes to the full house.  Strong opposition in the House could give the Senate (which is less enthusiastic about this nutzoid stuff) some cover in not passing it.

Update [2005-4-16 9:6:41 by David in NY]: Kainah has an important comment with a link to full text of the bill below. The bill makes it punishable by a mandatory term of imprisonment of three years not to turn your child into the police and assist in her prosecution if you "learn" of her violation of various sections of the law. That is, you can't just get treatment for your kid. As in the Schiavo case, Congress is once again pushing the government into family life.

I'm away from a reliable computer, so anyone else who can check the text of the law for more such details and outrages, feel free to do so.

Information about taking action can be found at FAMM's site.  More legal information is at Sentencing Law and Policy.

Thanks