{"id":87941,"date":"2019-08-20T20:41:25","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T00:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sentencing.net\/?p=87941"},"modified":"2019-11-05T12:43:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T17:43:41","slug":"the-first-step-act-applies-the-fair-sentencing-act-retroactively-what-does-that-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sentencing.net\/legislation\/the-first-step-act-applies-the-fair-sentencing-act-retroactively-what-does-that-mean","title":{"rendered":"The First Step Act Applies the Fair Sentencing Act Retroactively \u2013 What Does That Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
The First Step Act<\/a>, passed last December, has several provisions in it that fix some errors of the past.\u00a0 The most prominent of which came from the initial choice by Congress, back in the 1980s, to impose different sentences for crack cocaine offenses compared to powder cocaine offenses.<\/p>\n Specifically, back when the \u201cwar on drugs\u201d was in full swing, stricter penalties were required for crack cocaine.\u00a0 The sentencing disparity between offenses involving crack cocaine compared to powder cocaine had the effect of imposing longer sentences on African-American defendants compared to defendants of other races.<\/p>\n In 2010, the sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine offenses was only partially rectified through the Fair Sentencing Act<\/a>.\u00a0 The Fair Sentencing Act, passed on August 3, 2010, generally required that sentences for powder and crack cocaine offenses be the same.\u00a0However, the Fair Sentencing Act only applied to offenders who were sentenced after <\/em>August 3, 2010.\u00a0 That meant that anyone sentenced before that date had to continue to live with the inherent unfairness of disparate sentences between crack and powder cocaine.<\/p>\n