Cracks in the System: Twenty Years of the Unjust Federal Crack Cocaine Law(2006): In the 20 years following passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 2006, many of the myths surrounding crack cocaine were dispelled, making it clear that there was no scientific or penological justification for the 100:1 sentencing ratio.
Crack Send Personally 1 18 2
Observations and resultsOnce you and your friend both understand how to use a Caesar cipher it should be relatively easy to send encrypted communications to each other. This can be a fun way to pass secret messages back and forth between friends. As discussed above, however, although the Caesar cipher provides a great introduction to cryptography, in the computer age it is no longer a secure way to send encrypted communications electronically.
The hate crime legislation enacted in 2009 directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to submit a second report on federal mandatory minimums.28 The commission presented its second report in October 2011.29 A number of things had changed between the first and second Commission reports. Sentencing under the Guidelines had been in place for only a relatively short period of time when the first report was written. By the time of the second report, the number of defendants sentenced by federal courts had grown to almost three times the number sentenced under the Guidelines when the commission wrote its first report.30 The judicial landscape has changed as well. When the commission issued its first report, the Guidelines were considered binding upon sentencing judges.31 After the Supreme Court's Booker decision and its progeny, the Guidelines became but the first step in the sentencing process.32 In addition, the Fair Sentencing Act, passed in 2010, reduced the powder cocaine-crack cocaine ratio from 100 to 10 to roughly 18 to 1.33
The eight substances are heroin, powder cocaine, cocaine base (crack), PCP, LSD, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and marijuana. Criminal penalties related to each substance provide one set of mandatory minimums for trafficking in a very substantial amount listed in Section 841(b)(1)(A), and a second, lower set of mandatory minimums for trafficking in a lower but still substantial amount listed in Section 841(a)(1)(B). The first set (841(b)(1)(A) level) features the following thresholds:
At one time, possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine (cocaine base) was punished 100 times more severely than possession with intent to distribute cocaine in powdered form.294 Defendants claimed the distinction had a racially disparate impact. The claim was almost universally rejected.295
P.L. 111-220, 2(a), 124 Stat. 2372 (2010). Prior to enactment, 5000 grams of powder cocaine or 50 grams of crack cocaine triggered the Controlled Substances Act's 10-year mandatory minimum, 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)(ii) and (iii) (2006 ed.), and 500 grams of powder or 5 grams of crack triggered its 5-year mandatory minimum. Id. 841(b)(1)(B)(ii) and (iii) (2006 ed.). The FSA established a 5000 grams to 280 gram ratio for the 10-year mandatory minimum, 21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)(ii) and (iii), and a 500 grams to 28 gram ratio for the 5-year mandatory minimum. Id. 841(b)(1)(B)(ii) and (iii).
18 U.S.C. 3553(f)(2). United States v. Sandoval-Sianuqui, 632 F.3d 438, 443 (8th Cir. 2011) (the disqualifying violence or threat of violence extends to efforts to avoid detection or conviction). But see United States v. Carillo-Ayala, 713 F.3d 82, 91 (11th Cir. 2013) ("At least one of our sister circuits appears to hold that imposition of the enhancement under [U.S.S.G] 2D1.1(b)(1) [(enhancement under the drug conviction guideline for possession of a dangerous weapon without explicitly requiring that it be possessed in connection with the offense)] necessarily precludes safety valve relief ... See United States v. Ruiz, 621 F.3d 390, 397 (5th Cir. 2010).... We hold that not all defendants who receive the enhancement under 2D1.1(b)(1) are precluded from relief under subsection (a)(2) of the safety valve. Where 'a firearm was possessed' by the defendant personally, and yet the defendant also seeks the protection of the safety valve, the district court must determine whether the facts of the case show that a 'connection' between the firearm and the offense, though possible, is not probable.").
Phishing is when a hacker posing as a trustworthy party sends you a fraudulent email, hoping you will reveal your personal information voluntarily. Sometimes they lead you to fake "reset your password" screens; other times, the links install malicious code on your device. We highlight several examples on the OneLogin blog.
A type of brute force attack, dictionary attacks rely on our habit of picking "basic" words as our password, the most common of which hackers have collated into "cracking dictionaries." More sophisticated dictionary attacks incorporate words that are personally important to you, like a birthplace, child's name, or pet's name.
In years past, someone convicted in federal court of possessing crack cocaine would receive the same sentence as someone who possessed 100 times more powder cocaine (also known as coke). You might wonder what the difference is between crack and coke to justify this 100-to-1 ratio, but as it turns out, there's no significant chemical difference between them: They're both forms of cocaine. The huge difference in federal sentencing laws for possession of each form of the same drug had more to do with wrong information and political pressure than with public safety and health. A 2010 federal law fixed some, though not all, of the sentencing differences for crack and cocaine, and a 2018 law took those changes further.
Crack is made by dissolving powder cocaine (which comes from coca leaves) and baking soda in boiling water and then cutting the resulting paste into small "rocks" after it dries. The rocks are usually sold in single doses to users who smoke them. Because of the inexpensive additive (baking soda), a rock of crack cocaine is cheaper than a similar "dose" of powder cocaine. But the two forms of the drug are chemically the same and affect the user in the same physical and psychological ways. A person smoking crack cocaine (as compared to snorting or injecting powder cocaine) experiences a faster, more intense high simply because smoke in the lungs affects the brain more quickly than other methods of ingestion.
The harsh sentences for crack came after reports in the mid-80s that the United States was experiencing a "crack epidemic." News outlets reported that crack was more potent, more addictive, and more likely to lead to violence than powder cocaine or other drugs. For example, a 1986 Newsweek article quoted a drug expert who said crack was "the most addictive drug known to man." But within four years, that magazine, and most other media outlets, academics, and law enforcement agencies abandoned that view because no real evidence supported it.
While crack was a hot topic in the news in 1986, Congress held hearings to address the so-called crack epidemic. At the hearings, several senators recited the unscientific (and later discredited) claims about the heightened dangers of crack and its impact on urban communities. The result was the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which severely penalized crack cocaine offenses, and was arguably one of the most unjustified sentencing schemes ever created in the United States.
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 created a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for possession of five grams (or just a few rocks) of crack cocaine. (21 U.S.C. 841 (2006).) "Mandatory minimum" means just what it says: A conviction for possessing five grams of crack required at least five years in federal prison, even if it was the person's first offense. By contrast, under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, people arrested for powder cocaine had to possess 100 times more than that (500 grams, or over a pound) to face a five-year mandatory minimum. This 100-to-1 ratio was not based on evidence: During the debate on the Act, Congress simply considered various arbitrary ratios (including 20-to-1) and settled on the 100-to-1 ratio, with no evidence to support that figure.
Crack cocaine's lower price, ease of production, and manner of distribution (small quantities sold to individuals for personal use) made it widely accessible in poor, urban communities, which included many Black communities. Although white people also used crack, police efforts to control crack focused mainly on urban Black communities, in part because it was easier; drug deals in those communities usually happened in public on the street, not in private residences as in white communities. They also happened more often, because, unlike people who have the money to stock up on their drug supply, lower-income people can afford only one dose at a time, and each drug deal carries a risk of arrest. The increase in arrests of Black people and the increase in sentences for crack meant that Black people went to prison for cocaine offenses far more often and much longer than white people, even though white people used cocaine (both powder and crack) more than Black people did.
Many legislators who had voted for the Anti-Drug Abuse Act became concerned that most defendants convicted of crack possession were Black, while most defendants in powder cocaine possession cases were white or Latino. And the media (along with the general public) began to note the lack of scientific evidence justifying the vastly different treatment of the two forms of the same drug. Although it took a long time, Congress finally passed legislation in 2010 to address the problem.
The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 eliminated the five-year mandatory minimum for possession of five grams of crack, and increased the amount required to trigger mandatory sentencing. (21 U.S.C. 841, 844.) The Act changed the ratio of crack to powder cocaine from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1, for purposes of imposing the same sentence for possession of each drug. So, the federal law still imposes a harsher sentence for crack than for coke, but the difference is now less severe. 2ff7e9595c
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