authors: Mitchell, Lara
co-authors: Bradford, Skinner, Wieckowski, Wiener
One of the many legacies of the War on Drugs was that a person convicted of drug possession (or a similar offense) is sentenced to an additional three years for each prior conviction, leading to exorbitantly long jail sentences. The prosecution of these cases disproportionately impacts low-income communities of color, the homeless, and the mentally ill. SB 180 reforms the sentence enhancement to be based only on prior convictions involving the use of a minor as a seller or buyer. (This bill is now law.)