The United States Sentencing Commission voted today to apply the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 guidelines to the retroactively to those currently serving sentences for crack cocaine charges. The amendment will become effective on November 1, 2011. 

Last August, House lawmakers approved a measure to reduce sentencing inconsistencies between crack and powder cocaine. For the past 30 years, people arrested for crack offenses faced more severe sentencing than those caught with powder cocaine.

A person found in possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine would face a five-year mandatory minimum; crack offenders would have only had to be in possession of a mere 5 grams to face the same mandatory sentence.

 The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 changed this discrepancy so that a person would need to be caught peddling 28 grams or more of crack to be slapped with a five-year sentence.

 However, those presently incarcerated for crack cocaine were unaffected and continued to serve their sentences under the prior sentencing guidelines- until now.

 By applying the Fair Sentencing Act retroactively, federal judges across the country will have the opportunity to review crack cocaine offenders’ cases who are already in prison to determine whether they are eligible for a reduction in their sentence.

 But not every crack cocaine offender in federal prison will benefit from this change immediately.

The Commission estimates based on Fiscal Year 2010 sentencing data, that roughly 12,000 offenders may be eligible to seek a sentence reduction. The average sentence reduction for eligible offenders will be around 37 months, and the overall impact will happen incrementally over decades.

The Bureau of Prisons estimates that this measure could save over $200 million within the first five years after the retroactivity takes effect on November, 1 2011.

 The decision to reduce crack cocaine offenders’ sentences will only be determined after many factors have been taken into consideration including whether reducing a sentence would pose a risk to public safety.

Making these guidelines retroactive will essentially offer thousands of people who received unfair or overly harsh sentences the chance for their case to be reconsidered by a federal district court judge.

 Many say this decision is a good thing. It will help make certain that over 12,000 people – 85% of whom are African-Americans – are given the chance to have their sentences reduced and it further eliminates racial discrimination in sentencing.