Posted on 02/04/2005 1:04:27 PM PST by neverdem
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH - Drug dealers carrying guns now face five years in prison under a new mandatory-sentencing policy intended to stop drug-related shootings like the one that killed a 10-year-old boy outside of a Philadelphia school last year.
The stiffer sentencing, which went into effect Saturday, adds drug dealing to the list of violent crimes, such as third-degree murder, rape, arson and kidnapping, that have long carried minimum five-year jail terms if a gun is involved in their commission.
The mandatory minimum five-year sentence for gun-toting drug dealers and their accomplices comes after years of gun violence fueled by drugs, including several instances of bystanders being caught in the cross-fire of rival dealers or gangs, but also as the state has relaxed other tough-on-crime measures.
The Legislature overwhelmingly approved the bill that created the tougher sentences on Nov. 20, one day after Gov. Rendell signed legislation designed to get nonviolent drug-and-alcohol offenders out of prison and into treatment faster.
Senate Majority Whip Jeffrey E. Piccola, R-Dauphin, who was behind the legislation to stiffen sentences and who also wrote the state's first "three strikes" bill in 1995, said he believed the new law will act as a deterrent.
The Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers generally opposes mandatory minimum terms, saying they are too rigid. President John Kerrigan declined to comment on stiffer sentences for drug dealers who use guns because he said he hadn't had time to review the most current policy. Meanwhile, some legislators who voted against the stricter sentences criticized the measure as misguided.
"It is a cash business. Typically, they [dealers] are carrying a gun for protection," said state Sen. Mary Jo White, R-Venango, also a member of the state Commission on Sentencing. "I personally don't believe that drug dealers will go around unarmed because of this law."
ping
Yeah, this will solve the drug problem....LOL!
we still have drug dealers? what happened to the war on drugs?
oops, forgot . .
/sarcasm
How long did it take to push this bill through the PA legislature?
I have no idea.
ping
In light of the upcoming restrictions on vitamins and herbal supplements, will carrying a bottle of vitamin C 500mg put me in jeopardy of being an armed drug dealer?
Are those worse than other shootings?
To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, we had a war on drugs and drugs won.
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