• Result in a blanket five-year mandatory minimum sentence for distribution of any quantity of any controlled substance in a metropolitan area. The bill increases to five years the federal mandatory minimum sentence for the sale of a controlled substance, of any type or quantity, within 1,000 feet of a school, college, public library, drug treatment facility (or any place where drug treatment, including classes, are held), or private or public daycare facilities -- in short, almost anywhere in cities across the U.S.

• Unduly restrict the federal "safety valve" to cases in which the government has certified that the defendant pled guilty to the most serious readily provable offense (the one that carries the longest sentence), and has "done everything possible to assist substantially in the investigation and prosecution of another person," and would prohibit the federal "safety-valve" in cases where drugs were distributed or possessed near a person under 18, where the defendant delayed his or her efforts to provide substantial assistance to the government, or provided false, misleading or incomplete information.

• Eliminate the mitigating role cap under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for minimal or minor drug offenders.

• Exacerbate overly harsh sentencing based on drug weight by requiring that a defendant be punished for the conduct of co-conspirators that occurred before the defendant joined the conspiracy.

A hearing regarding this legislation will take place on Tuesday, July 6, before the House of Representative's Crime Subcommittee. Because Congressman Sensenbrenner is the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee and controls the committee's agenda, this legislation poses a serious risk (notwithstanding the Blakely v. Washington decision).

Please contact your representative and ask them to oppose H.R. 4547. Click here for contact information. Thanks to Kyle O'Dowd, NACDL legislative director, for the action alert.

Our prior alert about the bill is here.