Meanwhile, Attorney General Mukasey is urging Congress to block a plan to give thousands of federal prisoners jailed on crack cocaine offenses a chance to reduce their sentences.
Mukasey said, “Many of these offenders are among the most serious and violent offenders in the federal system, and their early release… would produce tragic, but predictable results.” Last year the US Sentencing Commission voted to reduce the sentences in an attempt to offset the disparity in sentences involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Under current law, possession of five grams of crack cocaine triggers the same mandatory minimum sentence as possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine.