• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
The Iowa Torch
  • Home
  • State Government
  • Federal Government
  • Local Government
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • State Government
  • Federal Government
  • Local Government
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Opinion
The Iowa Torch
The Iowa Torch
No Result
View All Result
Home Federal Government

Grassley introduces bill to reduce disparities in federal cocaine sentencings

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley's bill would raise the amount of powder cocaine and lower the amount of crack cocaine triggering mandatory minimum sentences.

Mary StrokabyMary Stroka
May 2, 2022
in Federal Government
Reading Time: 2 mins read
Grassley: Big Victories for Rural Healthcare

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (Official Portrait 2017)

(The Center Square) – U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced a bill last week that would raise the amount of powder cocaine and lower the amount of crack cocaine that triggers five-year and 10-year mandatory minimum sentences.

RELATED POSTS

During Sunshine Week, Ernst introduces bill to bring transperancy to taxpayer funding

Ernst calls on White House to reinstate ban on ‘risky research’

Grassley says ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ threatens religious institutions

Currently, the amount of crack cocaine that triggers five-year sentences is 18 times that of powder cocaine that triggers those sentences in federal courts. The Start Making Adjustments and Require Transparency in Cocaine Sentencing Act (SMART) would reduce the ratio to 2.5:1.

“This sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenders has had a disparate impact on communities of color across the country,” a news release from Grassley’s office said. “Reducing this disparate impact is critical, but must be thoughtfully enacted to prevent likely reoffenders from returning to communities just to violate the law again.”

Grassley cosponsored the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act to reduce the ratio from 100:1 to 18:1 and authored the 2018 First Step Act, which enabled people imprisoned for crack offenses to apply for resentencing.

“Our legislation will significantly reduce this disparity while ensuring those more likely to reoffend face appropriate penalties,” Grassley said. “Powder cocaine is being trafficked across the border in historic volumes, so we also need to take precautions that ensure these traffickers also face justice for spreading poison through our communities.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Under the bill, an attorney general would be required to review and certify any retroactive sentencing adjustments.

Within a year of the bill’s passage, governmental agencies would need to report on the lethality and addictiveness of cocaine and document what violence is associated with cocaine-related crimes. The government would also make recommendations to Congress.

A January 2022 USSC analysis indicated crack cocaine offenders recidivate at the highest rate of any drug type, 60.8%, while powder cocaine offenders recidivate at the lowest rate of any drug type, 43.8%.

Crack cocaine offenders were the most likely drug offenders to carry deadly weapons during offenses, USSC data indicates.

“These statistics show the need for a close look at all available government data before we consider an approach to flatten sentencing for crack and powder cocaine offenses,” the release said.

Iowa’s U.S. Representatives in the House helped a bipartisan bill, the EQUAL Act, pass in fall 2021 to permanently end the sentencing disparities. However, Grassley told reporters last fall that he did not anticipate that bill would pass in the Senate, Quad-City Times reported.

His office said in the release that another Senate bill, which would remove sentencing disparities altogether, does not account for differences in recidivism rates associated with the two types of cocaine offenses.

U.S. Senators Mike Lee, R-Utah, Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, and Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, joined Grassley in introducing the bill.

Tags: 117th CongressChuck Grassleycocainedrug lawsfederal minimum sentencesU.S. Senate
ShareTweetShare
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Ernst: Bidenflation is crushing Iowans

Next Post

Branstad announces new national commerce group

Mary Stroka

Mary Stroka

Mary Stoka is a freelance writer, editor, journalist, and public relations professional who lives in Chicago, Ill.

Related Posts

President Joe Biden speaks at POET Bioprocessing in Menlo, Iowa.
Opinion

Ernst: Biden is trying to make your 401(k) broke and woke.

March 8, 2023
Grassley: Big Victories for Rural Healthcare
Federal Government

Grassley says ‘Respect for Marriage Act’ threatens religious institutions

November 17, 2022
corn field
Federal Government

Grassley, Ernst urge USTR to intervene in Mexico’s ban on American corn

November 15, 2022
Grassley Questions Attorney General Garland Over School Board Violence Memo
Politics

Grassley wins re-election, Iowa Republicans sweep U.S. House races

November 9, 2022
Hendrickson: President Trump is Right on Trade
Politics

Trump to campaign for Reynolds, Grassley in Sioux City

October 26, 2022
Grassley, Franken win primaries in Iowa’s U.S. Senate race
Politics

Watch: Iowa U.S. Senate Debate on Iowa Press

October 7, 2022
Next Post
Branstad announces new national commerce group

Branstad announces new national commerce group

Hendrickson & Williams: Governor Reynolds’ Tax Reform Ideas are Pro-Growth

Reynolds signs bill requiring parental consent for school health screenings

Sign-Up For Our Daily Updates

Get The Iowa Torch right in your inbox!

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

Recommended Articles

Iowa House Passes Universal Parent-Taught Driver’s Education

April 14, 2021
Spirit Lake School Board approves measure to arm school staff

Spirit Lake School Board approves measure to arm school staff

August 24, 2022

Iowa House Approves 2.4% Increase in State Supplemental Aid for PreK-12 Schools

February 15, 2021

Popular Stories

  • Iowa’s New Unemployment Rate Holds Steady, Overall Rates Rise

    Horn: It’s time for employers get serious about Iowa’s untapped workforce

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • School restroom bill heads to Reynolds’ desk

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Ernst: Biden’s WOTUS whiplash.

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Regents Board President pauses new DEI programs at Iowa’s public universities

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Iowa House sends government reorganization bill to Reynolds’ desk

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

The Iowa Torch

The Iowa Torch​ is a for-profit, news organization that focuses on political news as it relates to Iowans

Categories

  • Education
  • Federal Government
  • Iowa History
  • Local Government
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • State Government
  • Uncategorized
  • Uncategorized

Newsletter

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

© 2022 The Iowa Torch, a publication of 4:15 Communications, LLC.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • State Government
  • Federal Government
  • Local Government
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Opinion

© 2022 The Iowa Torch, a publication of 4:15 Communications, LLC.