Families Against Mandatory Minimums Celebrates 15th Anniversary
9/21/06
FAMM Honors “Voices of Justice” at 15th Anniversary Gala including Rep. Bobby Scott and Rep. Bob Inglis; Highlights Achievements in Sentencing Reform
WASHINGTON, D.C. – This year marks the 15th anniversary for Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) – a national nonprofit, non-partisan organization working to reform mandatory sentencing laws. FAMM’s successes over the years include changes to federal LSD and marijuana sentencing policies, and a “safety-valve” to allow judges to sentence below the mandatory minimum in certain federal drugs cases. In Michigan, FAMM led the successful effort to repeal all drug mandatory minimum sentences – a change that provided earlier parole eligibility to hundreds of prisoners serving harsh sentences.
Fifteen years ago, Julie Stewart started Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), to fight for fair and proportionate sentencing laws that fit the crime and the individual. In 1991, Stewart’s brother was arrested on drug charges in Washington State. And though it was his first offense, he faced federal charges and eventually received a five-year mandatory prison sentence. At the time, Stewart was expecting her brother to receive community service or maybe a year in prison as punishment. Then she learned about mandatory minimum sentencing laws and the stiff prison terms they carry. Although the judge criticized the punishment as too harsh, he had no choice but to sentence her brother to five years in federal prison. His two codefendants received probation for turning in her brother.
“The mission seemed so sensible. I expected it to take about five years to convince lawmakers and then I’d move on to other things,” said Stewart, president and founder of FAMM. “I never guessed 15 years would pass and my brother would have long ago left prison, but mandatory sentences would still be in effect.”
While reform of mandatory sentencing laws on the federal level has been tough, FAMM’s work and efforts throughout the years have paved the way for a shift away from mandatory sentencing policies – garnering bipartisan support, including that of Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) and Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) whom FAMM will honor at a formal dinner gala on Thursday. FAMM’s reform efforts have also contributed to more equitable sentences for tens of thousands of defendants nationwide, including JeDonna Young.
In 1979, JeDonna, at the age of 25, was one of the first people sentenced to life in prison under Michigan’s 650 lifer law, and she spent nearly 21 years behind bars before she was paroled after FAMM’s successful reform of the law in 1998. JeDonna was in a car with her boyfriend at the time, when they were stopped by police who found more than 1800 grams of heroin in the car. JeDonna was unaware of the drugs and his drug dealing business, and even though her boyfriend testified to that fact, the case was prosecuted against them jointly. Michigan’s 650 lifer law had just been passed and anyone who was caught in possession of more than 650 grams of heroin received a mandatory life sentence.
During her nearly 21 years of incarceration, JeDonna earned a bachelor’s degree and worked as a paralegal and advisor to many women at Scott Correctional Facility. After her release, JeDonna went on toe earn a Master's Degree in Social Work at the University of Michigan while working part-time for FAMM. She is currently a school social worker and FAMM's volunteer Detroit, Michigan Chapter Coordinator.
In 2003, FAMM led the campaign that changed the rest of Michigan’s draconian mandatory drug sentences.
Voices of Support
While most legislators seem to look for simple solutions to complicated issues of crime and drugs, some have managed to look beyond simple solutions to more meaningful ones. Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) and Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) continuously challenge their colleagues on the issue of mandatory minimums, and have spoken out against mandatory sentences for some of the most controversial offenses.
Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) has been an outspoken champion for mandatory sentencing reform. In May 2005, during the House of Representatives vote on a bill containing mandatory minimums, Rep. Inglis stated “I have voted for mandatory minimums a number of times in my previous time in Congress, and then I had six years out, six years to talk with people in the community, to talk with judges. And during that time, I became very uncomfortable with our approach about mandatory minimums…I voted for them in the past. I will not do it again.”
Rep. Bobby Scott, has remained steadfast in his opposition against mandatory minimums, challenging every bill that contains them. Both members are being honored by FAMM as “Voices of Justice.”
The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act: 20 Years Later
While 2006 marks FAMM’s 15th anniversary, it also marks the 20th anniversary since the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986.
On October 27, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law H.R. 5484 – the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. The law, which was intended to target large-scale traffickers, established low-level drug quantities to trigger lengthy prison terms: five grams (the weight of 5 packets of artificial sweetener, 50 grams (the weight of a candy bar), 500 grams (the weight of two cups of sugar), or 5,000 grams (the weight of a lunchbox of cocaine). Large-scale traffickers organize shipments of drugs totaling tons – many millions of grams – filling tractor-trailors, airplanes and fishing boats. The result? Instead of catching “drug kingpins”, the law has filled the nation’s prisons with countless low-level offenders.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission reports that one-third of all federal cocaine cases involve an average of 52 grams, a candy bar-sized quantity of cocaine, resulting in an average sentence of almost nine years in prison without parole. Not surprisingly, the federal prison population has exploded. Today, it exceeds 190,000, up 527 percent in 20 years. More than half this population is made up of drug offenders.
Looking ahead
Over the next 5 years, FAMM hopes to become an even more powerful national force for fair and proportionate sentencing policies on the federal and state levels. FAMM will work to defeat new attempts to increase federal mandatory sentences, and limit damage of new federal sentencing laws; focus reform around three targeted sentencing issues, such as crack cocaine and school zone laws; and build FAMM membership in areas where FAMM can have more impact on federal judiciary committee members and in states where sentencing campaigns are underway.
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