LSD Disparity Issue

Peggy Sterling (psterling@igc.apc.org)
Wed, 17 Mar 1993 18:57:26 -0800 (PST)

I,m posting this at the request of 2 brothers who gave me
copies of letters which had been sent to them. This is my
first attempt at uploading a file and I hope it will get
to you in a readable format. I'm copying 3 documents
which I have been given.

Please consider acting on this information. Many of our
brothers and sisters are facing considerable time in
jails across this country.

The first letter refers to an article which appeared in
U.S.A Today on December 17 1992. The article describes
the harsh penalties given for relatively small amounts
of LSD.
------------------- C U T H E R E ---------------------

Dear Sisters & Brothers

There is a serious injustice brought by the U.S.
Department of Justice (Please read enclosed article).
There are approximately 200 of us in the Federal prison
system serving excessive and needless amounts of time
because of a quirk in the law.

We ask that you take the time to make 10 copies of the
enclosed papers. Your packet should contain this cover
letter, a copy of the newspaper article, a letter to Bill
Clinton and a letter with a blank heading to be filled in
with the addresses to the Sentencing Commission, Joseph
Biden, and Jack Brooks. There are also other addresses if
you know your Senators and Representatives. You may find
them by calling a local Government office or the
switchboard in Washington. Then send complete copies of
this packet to as many friends as you can. Don't forget
to fill out your own and keep a complete set of masters.
Feel free to spread copies all around, ie, concerts,
gatherings, parties etc.. We hope you will elect to help
us by spreading this message. We appreciate very much the
small financial sacrifice you are making to help end our
suffering and bring justice back to this country.

We would like to hear from you especially if you receive
a response from Washington or if you would like more
information. You can reach us at the address below and
are open to suggestions, contacts or any info that may
help. We can make a change if we all pull together.
Again, we thank you for helping spread our message and
encourage you to get more involved with matters you feel
strong about. Your caring will be greatly blessed.

Info: F.A.M.M.
Families Against Mandatory Minimums
ATTN: Denise Helou
1001 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Suite 200 South
Washington, DC 20004
(202)457-5790 / fax (202)457-8564

U.S. Sentencing Commission
ATTN: Chairman-William Wilkins
1331 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Suite 1400
Washington, DC. 20004

Jack Brooks
Chairman of House Judiciary
213 RHOB
Washington, DC 20515

Joseph Biden
Chairman-Senate Judiciary
Room 224 Dickson
Washington, DC 20510

U.S. Capitol Switchboard - (202) 224-3121

The Honorable (name)
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable (name)
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

President ClintonPresident Clinton_____ C U T H E R E -------------------

LSD DISPARITY ISSUE

President ClintonPresident Clinton_
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20500 Name____________________
Address_________________
________________________
________________________
DatePresident ClintonPresident Clinton____
Dear Mr. President:

The current sentencing scheme for LSD cases is totally ridicu-
lous. A person who is convicted of purely historical evidence
has the advantage of having his sentence based on the number of
dosage units and the value for each dose based on the Dosage
Equivalency Table of the Sentencing Guidelines. A person con-
victed of physical evidence is sentenced based on the total
weight of the carrier medium and LSD. This produces two widely
disparate sentences. If the sentence based on the Dosage Equiv-
alency Table is adequate for one offense where there is nothing
to weigh, then why isn't a similar sentence appropriate when
there is something to weigh? This sentencing scheme is unfair to
those who are unfortunate enough to be caught with LSD on a car-
rier. As it stands now 100 hits on sugar cubes yields 16 years,
100 hits on paper gets 5 years, 100 hits of pure LSD gets 10
months, and 100 hits based on pure historical evidence produces
10 months.

The only way to be fair in all LSD cases is to base all
sentences on the number of doses or actual amount of LSD. The
excessive sentences are wasting our precious tax dollars. I urge
you to support retroactive legislation that will:

1. Base all sentences in LSD convictions on the number
of doses or actual amount of LSD in the sample.

2. Credit any excessive sentence already completed by
a prisoner toward any consecutive Federal or State
sentence, probation, parole or supervised release.

3. Compensate monetarily any excess sentence that cannot
be applied to any Federal or State sentence,
probation, parole or supervised release.

Thank you for helping bring justice and fairness back to
America. I eagerly await your response.

Respectfully Submitted,

___________________ C U T H E R E -------------------------

LSD DISPARITY ISSUE

President ClintonPresident Clinton__
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington DC 20500 Name____________________
Address_________________
________________________
________________________
DatePresident ClintonPresident Clinton____
Dear Mr. President:

The current sentencing scheme for LSD cases is totally ridicu-
lous. A person who is convicted of purely historical evidence
has the advantage of having his sentence based on the number of
dosage units and the value for each dose based on the Dosage
Equivalency Table of the Sentencing Guidelines. A person con-
victed of physical evidence is sentenced based on the total
weight of the carrier medium and LSD. This produces two widely
disparate sentences. If the sentence based on the Dosage Equiv-
alency Table is adequate for one offense where there is nothing
to weigh, then why isn't a similar sentence appropriate when
there is something to weigh? This sentencing scheme is unfair to
those who are unfortunate enough to be caught with LSD on a car-
rier. As it stands now 100 hits on sugar cubes yields 16 years,
100 hits on paper gets 5 years, 100 hits of pure LSD gets 10
months, and 100 hits based on pure historical evidence produces
10 months.

The only way to be fair in all LSD cases is to base all
sentences on the number of doses or actual amount of LSD. The
excessive sentences are wasting our precious tax dollars. I urge
you to support retroactive legislation that will:

1. Base all sentences in LSD convictions on the number
of doses or actual amount of LSD in the sample.

2. Credit any excessive sentence already completed by
a prisoner toward any consecutive Federal or State
sentence, probation, parole or supervised release.

3. Compensate monetarily any excess sentence that cannot
be applied to any Federal or State sentence,
probation, parole or supervised release.

Thank you for helping bring justice and fairness back to
America. I eagerly await your response.

Respectfully Submitted,

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