Fair and Equal Justice?

Is there fair and equal justice in the United States of America?  Check out this news fact!

President Obama signed a bill today significantly reducing the disparity in penalties for the use of crack versus powder cocaine, according to the White House.

The Fair Sentencing Act repeals a mandatory sentence of five years for first time offenders, and for repeat offenders with less than 28 grams of crack cocaine. The old law set the mandatory sentence for conviction at five grams.

The old measure had been in place for over 25 years and led to greater penalties for inner city blacks who statistically are the primary users of crack.

For more on this story here is a link

I think that it is important to note that one of the major opponents of the act was Lamar Smith from Texas who is the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.  He argued vigorously shortly before passage that to reduce the crack cocaine penalties would be a serious mistake.

Texas Tough

Here is a link that explains some of the effects of the old policy

Both the president and the attorney general are African American which in my opinion was necessary for this change to take place.  What do you think?