The Leadership Conference Filed an Amicus Brief in US v. Williams

On April 7, 2011, The Leadership Conference filed a brief joining the Federal Defender, et al., advocating for the rejection of the 18:1 ratio in crack/cocaine sentencing.  Instead, we argued for a use of 1:1 ratio in part because of the failure of the Sentencing Commission to exercise its characteristic institutional role in developing the Guidelines regarding the 18:1 ratio, the lack of support for the assumptions that apparently motivated adoption of the 18:1 ratio, and the disparate impact of the 18:1 ratio on black offenders.