Mandatory Minimums

• On October 27, 2006, marking the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, a letter from over 150 professors of criminology, sociology, public policy and law was delivered to the leadership of the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary. Organized by CJPF's Eric E. Sterling (who is teaching sociology at George Washington University part-time next Spring), the letter is at www.cjpf.org/professorsletter. Additional signatures from professors are being gathered. The updated letter will be submitted to the U.S. Sentencing Commission at its all-day hearing on November 14, 2006 on the crack cocaine - powder cocaine sentencing disparity.
  
  The letter was released at a briefing for congressional staff organized by the Justice Roundtable, "The 20-year Legacy of Crack and Powder Cocaine Sentencing," featuring Lisa Rich, U.S. Sentencing Commission; Bradley Hayes, Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee for Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama); Jesselyn McCurdy, Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union; and Eric E. Sterling. The CJPF white paper, Getting Justice Off Its Junk Food Diet, was also distributed. The ACLU distributed its new paper, Cracks in the System: Twenty Years of the Unjust Federal Crack Cocaine Law, as well.

• CJPF President Eric E. Sterling's white paper, Getting Justice Off Its Junk Food Diet, explains the adverse affect of the low mandatory minimum quantity triggers for federal cocaine prosecutions. July 17, 2006

• Undo The Legacy of Len Bias's Death - This op-ed was printed in the Washington Post, the Sacramento Bee, Hartford Courant, Juneau Empire, and the Spokesman Review. In this piece, CJPF President Eric E. Sterling calls for the repeal of the mandatory minimums passed in response to Bias's death. June 24, 2006.

• Justice Roundtable Asks Congress to Address the Disparity in Crack and Powder Cocaine Mandatory Minimums. February 16, 2006

• Mistake with drug sentencing guidelines needs to be resolved - The Greensboro, North Carolina News Record published this op-ed by Eric E. Sterling about the problems of mandatory minimum sentencing on the front page of its opinion section. April 3, 2005.

  Greensboro, NC is the home of U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the House Committee on the Judiciary. On April 12, the Subcommittee favorably reported to the full Committee two bills to create many additional mandatory minimum sentences, H.R. 1528, the "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005" and H.R. 1279, the "Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005."

• Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's landmark speech to the American Bar Association calls for a reinvigoration of the clemency process and an end to mandatory mininum sentences. This is a profoundly important call to action by one of the nation's leading jurists. August 9, 2003.

• PBS FRONTLINE program, "Snitch" - Eric E. Sterling discusses the tragedy of mandatory minimums and the injustice of drug conspiracy laws. January 12, 1999.

• Eric E. Sterling at COURT TV Panel Discussion - Press Release. March 8, 2002.

• Noelle Bush Won't Go To Prison - You Can Bet On It - Press Release. January 30, 2002.

• Statement of Eric E. Sterling Before the Committee of the Judiciary Council of the District of Columbia regarding the "Distribution of Marijuana Amendment Act of 1997". Details the costs and consequences of establishing mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes in the District of Columbia. May 7, 1997.