S. 522 · 118th Congress
SMART Cocaine Sentencing Act
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 118th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
GrassleySponsor3 cosponsors · 3 R
3 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
Start Making Adjustments and Require Transparency in Cocaine Sentencing Act or the SMART Cocaine Sentencing Act
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Feb 16, 2023
Start Making Adjustments and Require Transparency in Cocaine Sentencing Act or the SMART Cocaine Sentencing Act
This bill reduces the federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine.
Currently, different threshold amounts of crack cocaine and powder cocaine (e.g., 28 grams of crack cocaine and 500 grams of powder cocaine) trigger the same statutory criminal penalties.
This bill reduces the federal sentencing disparity by altering the threshold amounts of crack cocaine and powder cocaine that trigger statutory criminal penalties. Specifically, the bill increases the threshold amounts of crack cocaine (e.g., from 28 to 160 grams) and decreases the threshold amounts of powder cocaine (e.g., from 500 to 400 grams) that trigger statutory criminal penalties.
The changes may apply retroactively, but only if the Department of Justice (DOJ) certifies that the sentence of a defendant should be reduced.
The bill requires DOJ to review and report on various data related to crack cocaine and powder cocaine, including individual dosage amounts, addictiveness, and associated violence.
Additionally, the U.S. Sentencing Commission must report publicly on cocaine offenses and offenders, including trends in cocaine trafficking patterns, price, and use; the interaction of state penalties with federal prosecutorial decisions; and federal case law developments related to federal cocaine sentencing.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: SMART Cocaine Sentencing Act
Also known as: Start Making Adjustments and Require Transparency in Cocaine Sentencing Act
Latest action (Feb 16, 2023): Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Feb 16, 2023
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.