crack cocaine

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Tatum O'Neal Nabbed in Crack Bust

Oscar-winner arrested buying drugs near NYC apartment

(Newser) - Troubled actress Tatum O'Neal, who wrote a book on her addiction to drugs and alcohol, was arrested last night for buying crack cocaine down the block from her Manhattan luxury condo, the New York Post reports. O'Neal, who at 10 was the youngest person to win an Oscar, for Paper ...

First Inmates Freed in Crack Overhaul

More than 3,000 eligible for release this year under new sentencing guidelines

(Newser) - Federal prisons are beginning to release prisoners to comply with new crack-cocaine sentencing guidelines, the Washington Post reports. The US Sentencing Commission made more than 3,000 inmates eligible for release this year by voting in December to even out punishments for crack-cocaine offenses against those involving powdered cocaine; crack...

Man Throws His 4 Kids From Bridge
Man Throws His 4 Kids From Bridge

Man Throws His 4 Kids From Bridge

Victims range in age from 4 months to 3 years; bodies still missing

(Newser) - An Alabama fisherman confessed to throwing his four young children to their deaths off an 80-foot bridge, the AP reports. Lam Luong, a 37-year-old Vietnamese immigrant, initially told police the children—ranging in age from 4 months to 3 years—were missing before admitting yesterday he had thrown them off...

Slugger Hopes for Shortened Prison Term

Retroactive cuts in crack sentences may aid Willie Mays Aikens

(Newser) - Now that the US Sentencing Commission has agreed to retroactively reduce prison terms for crack cocaine offenses, one of baseball's record-holders stands to benefit. Willie Mays Aikens, the only player to hit multiple homers in multiple games in the same World Series (playing for Kansas City in 1980), may have...

Inmates Can Seek Early Release in Crack Cases

Panel applies new guidelines retroactively

(Newser) - Nearly 20,000 inmates now in jail on crack cocaine offenses can seek to have their sentences reduced, a federal sentencing panel ruled today. The panel decided to apply retroactively more lenient sentencing guidelines for crack convictions that went into effect last month. The move will have the "most...

Recent Cases Showcase New Judicial Leeway

Black, Vick decisions illustrate turn from sentencing guidelines

(Newser) - More federal judges are giving themselves wiggle room when it comes to once-strict sentencing guidelines, as evidenced by three recent high-profile court cases. The three—involving Conrad Black, Michael Vick, and a crack cocaine case that made it to the Supreme Court—illustrate how a spate of high-court rulings have...

Supremes: Judges Can Shorten Crack Sentences

Court sides with judicial discretion

(Newser) - The Supreme Court ruled today that federal judges can use discretion to order shorter prison sentences in crack cocaine crimes, to lessen a disparity with sentencing for powdered cocaine. It was a win for civil rights advocates, who have long argued that sentencing guidelines call for longer terms in crimes...

Sentence Cuts In Store for 19,500 Crack Convicts

Federal commission mulls rule change

(Newser) - The federal panel that sets sentencing guidelines for judges may decide as soon as tomorrow to cut at least 2 years off the sentences of 19,500 inmates convicted of using crack, the LA Times reports. New rules introduced this month equalize crack and powdered cocaine sentences, and tomorrow will...

New Standards Reduce Crack Cocaine Terms

Federal effort tries to bring parity to drug sentencing guidelines

(Newser) - Crack cocaine offenders will receive shorter prison sentences under new federal guidelines, which replaced rules that treated a gram of crack like 100 grams of powder cocaine. The rules introduced yesterday reduce the average sentence to 8 years, 10 months, the Times reports, and may reflect an effort to restore...

Stories 61 - 69 | << Prev