Organizing for America | Garry Jones's Blog

Garry Jones's Blog

Advocate 4 Justice: Mission Statement Advocate 4 Justice seeks the reinstatement of parole in Federal Prisons. As an advocate, I'm standing up and speaking out on behalf of the thousands of prisoners who have been affected by mandatory and guideline sentencing. My goals include educating the public on the racial disparity in drug sentencing policies, as well as educating the public on how to change the laws that govern imprisonment. I firmly believe that the war on drugs was not meant to be won, and if you continue to think we are winning the war on drugs, you need to think again. If the United States is allowing illegal immigrants to come across our borders and then giving them a job for breaking the law, then the United States is allowing drugs to come into this country to destroy our families by subjecting them to draconian drug sentencing laws. This is a double standard. If you sell drugs, then you go straight to jail and earn pennies making products that the United States Government sell to private companies for millions of dollars My name is Garry L. Jones. I am a retired Lieutenant from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Subsequent to retiring from the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee , Florida , I have had the distinct pleasure and honor to represent inmates who had previously been charged and received excessive sentencing for possession of crack/powder cocaine. For the past 8 years, I’ve been traveling around the country speaking to various groups about the level of misinformation being circulated about mandatory minimum sentencing in the Federal prison system. My life change in October of 1995, I remember them calling on the minister Farrakhan to talk with the inmates before they started rioting. I fought in that riot and I didn't feel right because i knew that the inmates who were rioting had every right to riot because they had just be stomped on because crack was no different than cocaine but blacks were getting all the the time the government could give and whites were getting off Scot free. The government hated minister Farrakhan but they called for his help. It was July 1995; I was promoted to senior Lieutenant in the Federal Bureau of Prisons assigned to the Federal Correctional Institutional Tallahassee in Tallassee, Florida. During the first week of October 1995, there were rumors around the Bureau that Congress was getting ready to pass an amendment to the Anti Drug Abuse Act bill. This bill failed under the Mandatory minimum law. If this bill passes, the inmates who was convicted and given long harsh sentences under the crack/cocaine law will possibly get their sentence reduced. At the last hour, Congress rejected the bill and nine federal prisons went up in smoke. On October 18, 1995, while I was in the office doing Lieutenant work, I was summoned to the Wardens office and told that the inmates were rioting at the Federal Correctional Institution in Marianna Florida. The Warden instructed me to take the Special Operation Response Team to Marianna to assist the staff with the riot. I call the Control Center and instructed them to call every one on the S.O.R.T. team to meet me in the Command Center within the hour The members loaded up the van with M-14's, 9milmeters, stun guns, tear gas grenades, and riot gear. FCI Marianna was one hour and ten minutes away from Tallahassee. The team and I arrived in Marianna Florida in 40 minutes. When we arrived we could see one dormitory was on fire and inmates on the recreation yard throwing everything they could get their hands on to destroy the Administrative building. Needless to say how I felt, my heart was in my stomach because I had a tough decision to make when I got inside the institution. If the inmates attack staff, other innocent inmates, or a certain area of the institution was breached, I had to give orders to shoot. If I gave orders to shoot, people were going to get hurt or lose their life. This story had a good ending without any casualties. Now let me give you the definition of mandatory sentencing: They are prison terms required by law for certain crimes. For a particular crime, the judge must hand out at least a minimum amount of prison time. The laws come down especially hard on drug-related crimes. Mandatory minimum sentences grew out of the War on Drugs in the 1980"s. Worried about illegal drug use and drug crime, lawmakers passed tough new laws to punish drug dealers. The laws included long prison terms for people who aided drug dealers, even if they didn't make or sell drugs themselves. Mandatory minimum sentences were first introduced at the federal level in 1986 in an effort to incarcerate drug kingpins. However, a majority of criminals imprisoned for drug-related crimes have been street-level offenders. I should add in 1970, Congress repealed most of the mandatory minimums which had been part of the Federal criminal justice system's sentencing structure. The evidence clearly showed that increased sentence lengths were ineffective. The United States now has more than most any other nation in the world in the number of people behinds bars. Many of them are nonviolent drug offenders. Since 1972 the population of Federal and State prisons has increased 500 percent to 1.2 million individuals. Including jail populations, as of 2002 America now incarcerates about 2.1million people. One major factor behind the increase has been the imposition of the mandatory minimum sentences contained in many federal laws, especially drug laws. A second reason for the rise is the effect of federal sentencing guidelines, which were adopted in the mid-1980's to make criminal sentences in federal cases more uniform. Did you know almost one in three young black males is under some form of criminal supervision, either in prison or jail or on probation or parole? A Hispanic male born in 1991 has a one in six chance of spending time in prison. There are more young black men under criminal supervision than there are in college and for every 1 black male who graduates from college, over 100 are arrested. Although blacks makes up 12 percent of the population, they constitute 38 percent of those arrested for drugs, 59 percent of those convicted of drug offenses, and 74 percent of those sentence to prison for a drug offense. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 provided mandatory minimum sentences of imprisonment for possession with to distribute powder and crack cocaine. In this stature Congress established a quantitative 100-to—1 sentence ratio between the two (i.e., it takes 100 times as much powder cocaine as crack cocaine to trigger the same sentence). Under this distinction, a person convicted of possession with the intent to distribute a pound of powder cocaine(453.6grams)/Street Value worth $45,000.00 would serve considerably less time in federal prison than one convicted of possession with intent to distribute 5 grams of crack/Street Value worth $500.00. Since the enactment of the amendment, the crack/powder sentencing differential has fallen disproportionately against African-Americans. Allow me to give you a breakdown of the Census Bureau's statistical data referencing one 'race' alone: 78% White; 12% Black; 1% American Indian and Alaskan native; 4% Asian; less than 0.5% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders; 5% Other. According to United States Sentencing Commission in 1994 the vast majority of persons convicted of crack possession were 84.5 percent black. 10.3 percent white and 5.2 percent Hispanic. Trafficking crack offenders were 4.1 percent white, 88.3 percent black and 7.1 percent Hispanic. Powder cocaine offenders were racially mixed. Defendants convicted of simple possession of cocaine powder were58 percent white, 26.7 percent black, and 15 percent Hispanic. The result of the combined differences in sentencing laws and racially disparity is that black men and women are serving longer prison sentences than white men and women. I might add since Congress enacted its mandatory sentences for crack dealers in 1986, instead, virtually all white offenders are prosecuted in state court, where sentences are far less, with differences of up to eight years for the same crime. In 1994 there was the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. I call this act the (snitch act) that is the bill that contained the so-called safety valve for low-level nonviolent drug offenders. The way that is work essentially is that if the defendant can show that he meets five criteria spelled out in the law and mimicked in the sentencing guidelines, basically no violence, no weapon, no aggravating role, not more than one criminal history, and that he all that he knows about the offense to the government, then it lets the defendant out from under the mandatory minimums and allows the guidelines system to work with its mitigating factors that may apply. As a result, the sentence may be reduced below the mandatory minimum. In the most extreme case, a snitch can tell a lie to save his or herself from the mandatory minimum by implementing another person in a crime that they knew nothing about and the government goes on the snitch word and you are sent off to prison for something you didn't have anything to with. The United States Commission found that nearly 90 percent of the offenders convicted in Federal court for crack cocaine offenses are African Americans, despite Federal surveys that routinely show that majority of crack users are white. In addition to these racial disparities, commentators have found that mandatory minimums lead to lengthy sentences for low-level drug dealers, fail to target violent criminals, and do not have a deterrent effect on major drug traffickers. The Sentencing Reform act of 1984, which established determinate sentencing, abolished parole, and reduced good time, as well as mandatory minimum sentences for drug and weapon offenses and increases in prosecution and convictions, all have given rise to a dramatic increase in the Federal inmate population. From 1980 to 1989, the inmate population more than double, from over 24,000 to almost 58,000. During the 1990's the population more than double again, reaching 140,000 early this year. Based upon our population projections, we anticipate in fiscal year 2007, a Federal inmate population of approximately 205, 000. That is the growth of nearly 50 percent over the current level .After examining the disparity in the sentencing issue, the United States Sentencing Commission, following a public hearing on March 14, 1995, voted 4-3 to eliminate the disparity between conditions of possession of crack and powder cocaine. On May 1, 1995, the Commission proposed and sent to Congress an amendment (providing for a 1:1 ratio.) to the federal sentencing guidelines that would equate crack and powder cocaine for sentencing purposes. The United State Sentencing Commission also specifically suggested that Congress should take the 100-to-1 ratio from its own mandatory minimum penalties found in current statues. With the Commission's recommendations scheduled to become law on November 1, 1995, Congress rejected the 1-to1 ratio in the proposed amendment on October 30, 1995. President Clinton had a chance to get rid of those bias mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines and he didn't. He stated they were bias towards African American. His wife Hilliary didn't start talking about the mandatory minimum sentencing in reference to drugs and who it affected until Barack started talking about it. Now she is talking about it because she wants votes. My suggestion is never wait on a candidate to promise you what they are going to do when they get elected, if they are in a position to introduce a bill to eliminate those bias sentencing laws they should do it now. Our black votes will not be taken for granted.

GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY YOU MAKE THE CALL

By Garry from Atlanta, GA - Aug 28th, 2007 at 10:43 pm EDT

GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY YOU MAKE THE CALL. WAKE UP AMERICA

I DO NOT AGREE WITH, NOR DO I WANT DRUGS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD. THOUGH THIS IS THE WAY I FEEL, IT DOES NOT DISMISS THE FACT THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE PLACED IN POSITIONS IN WHICH THEY ARE GIVEN AN ULTIMATUM: EITHER YOU PLEAD GUILTY TO A CRIME OR SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE IN PRISON.

The structure of the criminal justice system leaves those that have been charged of a crime with no choice but to admit to guilt that they may or may not have actually had anything to do with. Granted, there are many people charged with crimes that they actually committed. This, in itself, is not the concern/issue that I present. Guilty or not, our criminal justice system has been deduced to forcing people into not defending themselves by means of jury trials.

The fear inflicted upon the accused by prosecutors and court-appointed attorneys of taking a plea of guilt or else leaves the defendant with little or no choice but to say "I'm guilty", even if it is not necessarily so. False testimony against the accused is another weapon used to force guilty pleas. It's only natural for another to lie to save themselves from punishment by lying or pointing the finger at someone else. Fighting to prove your innocence by taking a case to trial is deadly.

I don't mean to sound dramatic, nor am I attempting to brainwash you or lead you astray. This is the uncut truth of how our judicial works... guilty or not.

I am often asked why I continue to defend the scum of the earth, referencing the incarcerated, and why I believe the things that inmates tell me, along with statements that some inmates should remain in prison and never be released.

I am opposed to the corruption and injustice I have personally witnessed and become aware of within our government. Punishment should be mandated for those who break the law. My concern is the disruption of a system which allows murderers to walk away with barely a slap on the wrist, yet turn around and send an individual to prison for 23 years for a non-violent crime. Such is the case of Vikki Marie Hankins also known as Vanessa Wade and her brother Mark Hankins. Vikki was sent to prison for 23 years for a petty drug case whereas her brother was murdered the week of his acceptance into college. The murderer imprisoned for less than 2 years.

This extreme contrast is only one of the many concerns I have with our government and the criminal justice system. This is not justice. It is insanity. Laws were created to remove the so called big time drug dealers from the streets and out of our neighborhoods. Instead of the king pin dealers going to prison, others are being sent to prison when most of them need to be either in rehab and treatment centers.

Whether you want to face it or not, the government lies just as much as the common criminal. You call these incarcerated people the scum of the earth. Who is the real scum here- the criminal or the government?

Evidence has surfaced linking the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the introduction of crack cocaine into African American neighborhoods with drug profits used to fund the CIA-based Nicaraguan Contra Army in the early 1980s. The government introduces the drug into my neighborhood to make money, then turns around and imprisons people for the use and abuse of drugs they imported in the first place. Again I ask, who is the real criminal?

Right now, our men, women, and children are being killed in another country on a lie that the government told. Telling a lie to start a war that results in thousands of deaths is not only criminal, but sick.

Lewis "Scooter" Libby broke the law, yet was excused because of who he is, never having to serve a day in prison. As you read this, there are many people in prison for breaking the same law Libby broke. They didn't get excused. They are sitting in prison serving their time for breaking the law. The Bush family was involved in the Savings and Loans scandal, and the Unites States gave weapons in exchange for drugs during the Iran Contra scandal.

The government has been polluting our streets with drugs, ensuring it reaches the black neighborhood, creating laws to entrap black people affiliated with drugs or drug use, sending them to prison to build products in which they make money from.

I am opposed to the lies, corruption, set ups, traps, and deceit which is why you see what I do as defense for inmates. The hatred the government has prompted amongst my people reminds me of the Willie Lynch Story, in which light skinned blacks turned against the dark skinned blacks.

Until we wake and see where the true problem lay and who the true villains are, the problems will continue.

Garry L. JonesThe true advocate4justiceAdvocate4justice2004@yahoo.com

www.advocate4justice.org

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The War on Drugs is a Joke

By Garry from Atlanta, GA - Aug 25th, 2007 at 7:11 pm EDT

What the United States Don’t Want You to Know

I come to you in the name of the Jesus and also in the blood; I pray that God open your eyes to see the corruption we have in our government. I pray that God open your heart where you can receive the truth that I’m about to give.

Questions: How many of you all believe that we are winning the war on drugs?

How many of you all believe that we are going to win the war on drugs?

How many of you all believe that the war on drugs was meant to win?

Do you know we are spending 69 billion dollars a year to fight the war on drugs?

If we are spending 69 billion dollars a year to fight the war on drugs, why is the government cutting back on staff in Law Enforcement to tackle the issue such as the police, correction, and the border patrol. Shouldn’t the government give law enforcement everything they need to fight the war on drugs?

Does anyone know the story about Nicky Barnes? He was a nortouis heroin kingpin. In Vietnam, he and a guy name Jimmy Atkinson were working together with some high official in the arm services and some more powerful people. They implemented an operation to transport drugs from Vietnam to the United States by cutting open the body of dead soldiers and putting heroin and opium in their dead bodies and placed them in a body bag to be ship to the United States. Some high rank officials in the military were suspected of having something to do with this illegal operation.

Fact: The first round of mandatory minimum sentencing was enacted in 1951 and 20 years later it was repealed with bipartisan support. Guess who was the person that backed the repeal; you guess it, George W.Bush, then a congressman from Texas. With his son being in the Whitehouse, this would be a good time for history to repeat itself.

Fact: In 1969 President Nixon call for the war on drugs and he created the mandatory minimum sentencing and 16 years later for the second time it didn’t work and it almost broke the country and the population was still using drugs and more drugs were entering in the country.

Fact: June 19, 1986, an election year basketball star from Maryland and later selected in the NBA for the Boston Celtics died of a cocaine overdose.

Fact: Len Bias died of a Cocaine overdose not a crack cocaine overdose.

Fact: In 1986, the Democrats in Congress saw a political opportunity to outflank Republicans by: getting tough on drugs” after basketball star Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose. In 1984 election year the republicans had successfully accused Democrats of being soft on crime. “Tip O’Neil, was from Boston, Ma. The Boston Celtics had signed Bias. During the 4th of July Congressional recess, O’Neil’s constituents were so consumed with anger and dismay about Bias death, O’Neil realized how powerful an anti-drug campaigned would be and he went for it.

Fact: 2006 and 20 years after Len Bias death, there are more drugs coming to this country, the drugs are cheaper and we haven’t put a dent in stopping the war on drugs. The only thing the U.S. is doing is putting people in prisons and throwing away the key. If the United States wants to stop the war on drugs, why are they still funding Mexico and South America where most of the drugs are coming from? The drug war was not about Len Bias, the drug war was about incarcerating minorities and keeping them in prisons for a long period of time to make products for Victory Secret, Boeing, and Eddie Bauer. These companies subcontracted with companies using low cost prison labor to manufacture everything from aircraft components to lingerie and software packages. TWA airlines contracts with the California Youth and Adult Correctional Agency to use prisoners to make airline reservations.

In Nevada, prisoners make waterbeds for Vinyl Products, INC. Another company, Labor to Industry (Formerly Lockhart Technologies) employs sixty Texas prisoners making electronic circuit boards. The Washington Marketing Group employs prisoners as telemarketers. South Carolina Cap and Gown, Inc>, hires prisoners to make graduation gowns.

Fact: From 1954 to 1976 the Federal Bureau of prisons population went from 20,000 people to 24,000. By 1986 the federal Bureau of prisons were incarcerating 36,000 inmates. 20 years later the Federal Bureau of prisons is housing over 190,000 inmates. More than half of the population is made up of drug offenders, most of whom are serving sentences created in the weeks after Len Bias.

There is much more to this story, oh, I forgot IBM, Motorola, Compaq, Dell, Texas Instrument, Honey Well, and Microsoft benefit from prison labor. Are you wondering why you don’t have a job or why are you getting laid off by your jobs. I will tell you the reason why. Inmates are taking your jobs and you the America people who haven’t committed any crimes are getting the short end of the stick. Before I end this blog, I want to let you know that the Federal Bureau of Prisons is using inmates as operators for 411 information. You know what I mean, city and state please, those are inmates you are talking to. The Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee has this program and the Federal Correctional Institution at Butner also are using inmates as phone operators. The Federal Correctional Institution at Memphis Tennessee are using inmates to make sensors that go on our bombs. Have you ever figure our why those bombs are not hitting those targets. Remember before you complain that a non-violent offender should stay in prisons for the rest for life, think about the jobs they are taking from the public. I agree we should have prisons and there are people who should spend a long time in prisons, but the prisons are feeling up with mostly non-violent offenders who have 15 years to life. There are violent offenders in prisons for rape, child molestation, murder, and spousal abuse that will get out of prisons before a non-violent offender.

Garry L. Jones

Advocate4justice

Advocate4justice2004@yahoo.com

www.advocate4justice.org

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This is a travesty and it happens everyday in our Justice system

By Garry from Atlanta, GA - Aug 15th, 2007 at 4:02 pm EDT

Alva Mae GrovesSentenced to 24 years in prison at age 72Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine Base(Ms. Groves passed away on August 9, 2007, still incarcerated in federal prison. Our condolences and sympathies to her family.)

"When I was arrested I had $1,000.00 in the bank from selling eggs and candy. Most of it was deposited in change - nickels, dimes and quarters - and the bankers substantiated this fact. I earned that money one egg at a time, one soda pop at a time, one candy bar at a time. It wasn't from selling drugs as the government contends."I am 86 years old and have been incarcerated since 1994. I was charged with Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute and Distributing Cocaine Base, and I was also charged with possessing a gun. The court sentenced me to 24 years in prison on these charges.My real crime, according to today's laws of betrayal, was refusing to testify against my sons, children of my womb, that were conceived, birthed and raised with love, of which there were fourteen children in all - nine girls and six boys. The government said I could have received a reduction in my sentence if I would have testified, but since I couldn't do such a thing, prosecutors then said I was a manager/supervisor in this offense, thereby raising my offense level by three points and increasing my sentence substantially.Of course I didn't really understand all this talk about enhancements, acceptance of responsibility, and so on, that had to do with my sentencing. But I did understand that since I wouldn't turn against my own family that I was going to receive a very lengthy prison term. Never did I dream it would be twenty-five years.On advice of my attorney, I accepted a deal for a sentence that also had me signing all appeal rights away. I was also denied a three-level decrease in my sentence for acceptance of responsibility because my attorney advised me not to speak without him present. As I say, I didn't understand all the legal jargon and totally relied on my attorney's assistance. I still don't understand how one can sign their right to appeal away when one hasn't even received their sentence. It's all beyond me. I know I sat there and watched while my whole family was buried by sentences of thirty years (my daughter Margaret), seventeen-and-a-half years (my granddaughter Pam) and my other sons, one who received a natural life. I still don't understand all of it.When this all began back in 1994, I was 72 years old and lived out in a trailer in Clayton, North Carolina. That trailer sat on a lot belonging to my son, William Robert, where I lived with and cared for my two granddaughters, Fontara (11 years old) and Jasmine (9 years old), my youngest son's children. The only money I received came from SSI and what money I could earn selling eggs from my laying hens (I had about 100 chickens). I also cleaned houses when I was able, and sold candy bars and soft drinks to the kids coming from school in the afternoons.We lived six miles out of town and there weren't any stores close by. My children were always welcome at my home and would come to check on me and help me as they could. My doors were always locked when I was gone, but my children had keys to get in. The day I was arrested I was working in my garden at my son's house about five miles from my home. I had woods around my own home and no place for a garden. I was working in this garden the day the Sheriff's department came and arrested me. While I was gardening five miles away, the police broke into my home. They said they had found drugs, but I don't believe that.After I was arrested, they wanted me to testify against my son Ricky. I worked hard all my life and I raised my children to be responsible and to work for what they wanted. They all knew how I felt about an honest day's work. If any of my children, including Ricky, were doing anything less than that, they wouldn't have let know about it because they know how I feel. If I can tend my chickens, clean houses, and sell soda pops and candy to make money at 72 years old, they can all work too. I did the best I could to raise my children and grandchildren. But just as it is with anyone else's children, I had no control over what they did when they were grown and on their own.When I was arrested I had $1,000.00 in the bank from selling eggs and candy. Most of it was deposited in change -- nickels, dimes and quarters - and the bankers substantiated this fact. I earned that money one egg at a time, one soda pop at a time, one candy bar at a time. It wasn't from selling drugs as the government contends.Six of my family members are in prison because the government wanted my son Ricky. They offered me home confinement if I would testify against him, but he is my son, and I couldn't do that anymore than I could do anything else that would harm any of my children. When I refused to testify against Ricky in exchange for home confinement, the police got mad and said I was the drug kingpin and that my family was selling drugs for me. I think this was the only way they could justify, or try to justify, arresting a 72-year-old woman who sold eggs for a living. The government gave other people all reduced sentences for their statements. All these people belonged to the government. I've never even seen half of them.I have now been in prison for close to eight years. As I unknowingly signed all my rights to appeal away, the only thing I could do was petition the President of the United States for a Commutation of Sentence. From FCI Tallahassee, I was transferred to the Medical Facility in Carswell, Fort Worth, Texas, due to health problems. My application for a Commutation of Sentence was submitted while there in February of 2000. I have since been transferred back here to FCI Tallahassee and my application is still pending.I realize everyone has a day to die; death is a fate that will not be cheated. But I don't want to die in prison. I want to die at home surrounded by the love of what's left of my family. I do not have enough years left of my life to finish serving this twenty-four year sentence as I am already 80 years old. I'm appealing to anyone to write letters for me to the Pardon Attorney's Office in Washington while my application is still pending.

Thank you.

Alva Mae Groves 15230-056Updated 8/10/

http://www.myspace.com/advocate4justice

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This is not about race, this is the truth

By Garry from Atlanta, GA - Jul 16th, 2007 at 10:59 pm EDT

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God stated when you see something is wrong and you don't do anything about it, you are just as guilty

By Garry from Atlanta, GA - Jul 12th, 2007 at 12:32 am EDT

CHART FOR MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Federal mandatory minimum sentences are determined solely by the type and weight of the drugs or the presence of a firearm during a felony offense. Because the sentences are mandatory, judges must impose them, regardless of the defendant's culpability, role in the offense, likelihood of rehabilitation, or any other mitigating factors. In most violent non-drug offenses, these things must be considered. Many states have adopted similar mandatory minimum sentences.

Federal Mandatory Minimums for First-Time Drug Offenders

Drug 5 years 10 years

Type of substance No parole No parole

LSD 1gram 10 grams

Marijuana 100 plants or 1000 plants or

100 kilos 100 kilos

Crack Cocaine 5 grams 50 grams

Powder Cocaine 500 grams 5 kilos

Heroin 100 grams 1kilo

Methamphetamine 5 grams 50 grams (This is a lie)

Other Mandatory Sentences

Offense Length of Sentence

Possession of a gun in furtherance 5 years (added to sentence)

of a drug offense

Armed Career Criminal Act 15 years (felon in possession of

a gun)

Continuing Criminal Enterprise 20 years

MANDATORY MINIMUMS ARE RACIALLY DISCRIMINATORY

Mandatory minimum sentences are discriminatory in application. They

Create sentencing disparities based on race. Studies show that blacks and Hispanics are more likely to receive MMS more often than whites charged for the same crime.

MMS are structurally discriminatory.

It takes 100 times more cocaine in powder form than cocaine in crack form to receive a MMS, despite the fact that the two are almost identical, both in terms of chemistry is predominantly used by blacks, while powder is more often used by whites. In several cases, DEA agents have actually exploited this distinction and forced dealers to cook powder cocaine into crack for in order to ensure a lengthy MMS.

In January 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstutional for the citizens to receive very harsh penalty under the mandatory minimums sentencing guidelines. The courts gave the judges back their power to make their own decision of how much time they will give a person and said they could use the mandatory guideline as an advisory capacity. Two years later things still haven't changed, blacks are still given more time and in some cases the judges are given more time than the mandatory sentencing guidelines use to be called for.

A Vision of Freedom

Every man, women and child deserve a chance to be free and it does not take 20 years in a cage for a non-violent act to realize a person deserves a second chance.

There is a word that stands out in my mind… Conspiracy. What is conspiracy? Conspiracy is a simple phone call to a friend's house, conspiracy is knowing of someone, even if you do not have contact with that individual, being the girlfriend, boyfriend, husband or wife is conspiracy. The legal term is when two people conspire to commit an illegal act even if they change their mind and do not commit the illegal act. Conspiracy is knowing someone who is committing illegal activities. Well let me tell you something folks, we all are guilty of conspiracy in this room. We see people commit illegal activities everyday. It's only when the government can not indict the person they want for committing this illegal activity, is when they find someone like you and me to convict for not telling. You may be wondering… what does conspiracy has to do with anything… conspiracy is going to make sure you go straight to jail/prison and for a very long time.

These are the laws the government has made up to take your freedom of your sister, brother, mother or child. Let me ask you all a question…if someone threatened to kill you or a loved one if you gave the police information… would you? Would you be willing to risk your life or the life of your loved one by giving police information? You tell, you die, or your loved one dies. This is the scenario that a snitch is face with everyday, It is a no win situation.

Well, this is the expectation of the government. In order for a person to receive a fair prison sentence, they must give information that could easily get them killed. After the government finish with a snitch, they throw them out to the wolves. In some cases the government will make a plea offer to a snitch and when the snitch give all the information they know, the government will take the plea agreement off the table and tell the snitch you are withholding some information, so therefore; the deal is off and the snitch gets 20 years to life in prison without parole. The only way you are going to get a reduced sentence is that you have to be the first one that tell on your partner in crime. Whoever tells first gets the best offer.

. According to United States Sentencing Commission in 1994 the vast majority of persons convicted of crack possession were 84.5 percent black. 10.3 percent white and 5.2 percent Hispanic. Trafficking crack offenders were 4.1 percent white, 88.3 percent black and 7.1 percent Hispanic. Powder cocaine offenders were racially mixed. Defendants convicted of simple possession of cocaine powder were58 percent white, 26.7 percent black, and 15 percent Hispanic

Since Congress enacted it's mandatory sentencing for crack dealers in

1986, virtually all white offenders are prosecuted in mostly state court where there is no mandatory sentencing and offenders are granted parole. Whereas, blacks are sentenced in federal court, where they have mandatory sentencing and no parole.

EX: Stephen Green, a 20 year-old African American first-time offender, was arrested with 70 grams of crack by a federal undercover agent. He was sentenced to a 10-year federal prison term. Daniel Siemianowski, a 37 year-old first-time offender, was arrested with 67 grams of crack by a county sheriff. He was sentenced in state court to less than a year in jail and probation. Something is wrong with this picture

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We are tired of Bush doing what he wants to do instead of doing what is right.

By Garry from Atlanta, GA - Jul 12th, 2007 at 12:25 am EDT

Dear President George W. Bush:

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mr. Garry L. Jones, "The Advocate "I'm a retired Lieutenant from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

I listened to your words of why you saw the need to commute the 30 month federal prison sentence of Mr. Lewis Libby.

You mentioned the fact that Mr. Libby's sentence was "excessive" hence your decision to commute the term of imprisonment.

As you spoke these words, a lady came to mind, Ms. Vanessa Wade; she too, has been given an "excessive" and harsh term of imprisonment for the circumstances surrounding her case. If there is any story that tells the injustice in our criminal justice system, it is the sister and brother duo, Mark Hankins and Vikki Marie Hankins aka Vanessa Wade. President Bush, I want you to see the contrast to this tragic story. Vanessa receives 23 years for a non-violent offense while the guy who murders her brother received less than two years in prison for a violent offense. Mark was killed the very same week he was accepted into Bethune Cookman College.

Ms. Wade, who is presently incarcerated at a Federal Correctional Camp in Coleman, Florida, has served 17 years of a prison sentence, which simply did not "fit the crime". I do believe you use these words in reference to Mr. Lewis Libby.

Vanessa Wade is a victim of trauma (her mother's suicide). Treatment/counseling should have been meted out, instead of a 23 year federal prison sentence; she landed on the doorsteps of a judge with a drug charge, not too long after her mother's suicide.

At the time of this occurrence Ms. Wade was 19 years old, now a few months shy of 39 years old. I am asking that you commute her sentence of which she has served 17 years with 3 years remaining.

Though her term of imprisonment is almost complete, Ms. Wade deserves the same compassion shown to Mr. Libby at this time.

Mr. Garry Jones, "The Advocate"

Cc: Advocate4justice staff
www.advocate4justice.org

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