MORE REFORM NEEDED

Equal justice under the law still remains elusive for 20,000 people
serving federal sen-tences for crack cocaine, de-spite the U.S.
Sentencing Commission's long-awaited reform of federal sentencing
guidelines for crack, effective Nov. 1.

These prisoners are currently serving sentences so harsh that they
will no longer be imposed on future defendants, but they are
ineligible for relief because the new guideline is not yet
retroactive. People serving mandatory minimum sentences for crack
cocaine under the very laws that created the 100:1 sentencing
disparity between crack and powder cocaine are also not affected by
the new guideline. Only Congress can change mandatory minimum laws.

The Sentencing Commission should make the new guideline retroactive
and Congress must act decisively and now to reform mandatory sentencing laws.

Brenda H. Snipes

Riverview