US Sentencing Commission reduces crack cocaine sentences

[JURIST] The US Sentencing Commission (USSC) [official website] released new guidelines [materials] Tuesday that will reduce the federal minimum sentencing guidelines for those convicted on charges related to crack cocaine. They also published a 645-page report assessing the impact of statutory minimum sentences on federal sentencing [press release, PDF], specifically targeting those that the commission finds to be too severe and applied too broadly. The new guidelines, which go into effect Tuesday, are estimated to reduce the sentences of approximately…