Index of Stories A - J
Index of Stories K - Z
Putting Fairness in the Sentencing Act
The US Sentencing Commission has extended invitation for public comments on retroactivity of the Fairness in Sentencing Act until June, 1, 2011. The Commission wants to hear from you regarding crack cocaine sentencing retroactivity. Consider sending the letter we suggested Razor Wire readers personalize for the Commission.
Read the Commission's Analysis of the Impact of the Fair Sentencing Act if made retroactive (2011).
The New York Times is covering what the report describes as a "Judicial Renaissance." Read, Judges See Sentencing Injustice, but the Calendar Disagrees.
Washington Post has a February 2011 Editorial in support of crack retroactivity.
The Federal office of public defender's website has legal resources on recent cocaine sentencing changes.
The Sentencing Project has a more information about the crack cocaine disparity and changes in 2010 law.
Eddie Abbott -- #09715-026
27 Years -- Drug Conspiracy
I am a federal prisoner originally sentenced to 26 1/2 years. At sentencing the judge declared me a "non-villainous criminal" and lamented the fact that he had to sentence me to an inappropriate disposition, but Congress had mandated he must, and that his hands were tied, for he was only a servant. He said he would depart from this sentence if he could.
I went back to court for an evidentiary hearing on my #2255 habeas corpus petition. But the judge ruled against me again, saying I didn't have the information to prove my allegations. But I did. (see Fd3rd 195, 964 at bottom of page)
The U.S. Attorney made a deal to secure an informant's testimony against me and withheld this information from me and the jury. I had a due process right to receive this before trial. The evidence is indisputable: a handwritten letter from the informant to the U.S. Attorney complaining that their "agreement was ... no parole violation"; an affidavit from the informant's probation officer stating that she "remembered a deal being worked out; a letter from the Prison Review Board stating the informant "fully cooperated in the successful federal investigation and prosecution of (Eddie) Abbott.
The government made a deal in exchange for an informant's testimony, and this information was withheld. For the judge to ignore this evidence is simply another injustice heaped upon my shoulders. Knowing that my convictions are tainted with constitutional violations, that the justice system knows this and ignores it, makes me angry and sad.
This was my 9th Christmas in prison, and it gets tougher. My dad almost died last year and had his colon removed. He is fighting prostate cancer and has limited time left. My mother is also terminally ill and isn't expected to live out the year. This has been very tough on my father, and he doesn't understand much of this. He never condoned my drug use, but he knows that a bunch of 40-year-olds who smoke pot aren't much danger to anyone.
So, I grow older, and am sickened by the total waste of my own life. Who have I killed? Where are my graveyards? We know where they keep theirs: in plain sight. They are killing the Constitution, they have killed the Bill of Rights - the right to choose - they have all but killed the land of the free. The killing fields are right here at home.
(The Fd.3rd 195, 964 has the appeals court decision and lists the evidence I presented. Makes pretty interesting reading.)
(Eddie was released in early 2008)
27 Years -- Drug Conspiracy
I went back to court for an evidentiary hearing on my #2255 habeas corpus petition. But the judge ruled against me again, saying I didn't have the information to prove my allegations. But I did. (see Fd3rd 195, 964 at bottom of page)
The U.S. Attorney made a deal to secure an informant's testimony against me and withheld this information from me and the jury. I had a due process right to receive this before trial. The evidence is indisputable: a handwritten letter from the informant to the U.S. Attorney complaining that their "agreement was ... no parole violation"; an affidavit from the informant's probation officer stating that she "remembered a deal being worked out; a letter from the Prison Review Board stating the informant "fully cooperated in the successful federal investigation and prosecution of (Eddie) Abbott.
The government made a deal in exchange for an informant's testimony, and this information was withheld. For the judge to ignore this evidence is simply another injustice heaped upon my shoulders. Knowing that my convictions are tainted with constitutional violations, that the justice system knows this and ignores it, makes me angry and sad.
This was my 9th Christmas in prison, and it gets tougher. My dad almost died last year and had his colon removed. He is fighting prostate cancer and has limited time left. My mother is also terminally ill and isn't expected to live out the year. This has been very tough on my father, and he doesn't understand much of this. He never condoned my drug use, but he knows that a bunch of 40-year-olds who smoke pot aren't much danger to anyone.
So, I grow older, and am sickened by the total waste of my own life. Who have I killed? Where are my graveyards? We know where they keep theirs: in plain sight. They are killing the Constitution, they have killed the Bill of Rights - the right to choose - they have all but killed the land of the free. The killing fields are right here at home.
(The Fd.3rd 195, 964 has the appeals court decision and lists the evidence I presented. Makes pretty interesting reading.)
(Eddie was released in early 2008)