New Law Could Free 12K Drug Users

Politico reports:

On the heels of a law signed last year by President Barack Obama limiting sentences for crack cocaine offenses, thousands of prisoners for crimes related to the drug will be eligible for early release, the U.S. Sentencing Commission ruled Thursday.

More than 12, 000 prisoners nationwide who have been convicted of felony crimes related to the possession, sale and trafficking of crack could have their sentences reduced in light of the decision, which piggybacks off the Fair Sentencing Act.

The law, which more closely aligns recommended sentences for crack to those for powder cocaine and which was signed last August, didn’t automatically apply to people already imprisoned on crack charges, but members of the commission thought it should.

“I believe that the commission has no choice but to make this right,” said Ketanji Brown Jackson, a vice chairwoman of the panel, The Associated Press reported. “I say justice demands this result.”