I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2316 

To apply reduced sentences for certain cocaine base offenses retroactively 

for certain offenders, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2011 

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Mr. PAUL, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. BARTLETT, 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, and Mr. ELLISON) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To apply reduced sentences for certain cocaine base offenses 

retroactively for certain offenders, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Sentencing Clari5 fication Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 was 

9 signed into law by President Obama on August 3, 

10 2010. 


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1 (2) Most district courts in the United States 

2 are applying the Fair Sentencing Act to pending 

3 criminal cases, including United States v. Douglas, 

4 746 F. Supp. 2d. 220 (D. Me. 2010), ll F. 3d. 

5 ll, 2011 WL 2120163 (1st Cir. May 31, 2011); 

6 United States v. Raymond Brown, CR No. 10–135– 

7 GLL–1 (W.D. Pa. June 16, 2011); and United 

8 States v. Marlon Jermaine Spencer, CR No. 09– 

9 400–JW–1 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 30, 2010). 

10 (3) There are, however, district courts that are 

11 not applying the Fair Sentencing Act to pending 

12 cases, including United States v. Derrick Steven 

13 Clemons, CR No. 08–028–AJS–1 (W.D. of Pa. Nov. 

14 18, 2010) and United States v. Anthony L. Jackson, 

15 CR No. 10–178–JRS–1 (E.D. Va. Nov. 19, 2010). 

16 (4) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commis17 sion’s analysis, 20,905 offenders would receive a re18 duction in their sentences if both the statutory 

19 changes and guideline changes were made retro20 active, and the average sentence reduction would be 

21 46 months, representing a savings of over $2.2 bil22 lion at an average incarceration cost of $28,284 per 

23 year, the latest yearly cost estimate from the Bureau 

24 of Prisons. 


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1 (5) The purpose of this Act is to clarify that 

2 the amendments made by the Fair Sentencing Act 

3 are to be applied to pending cases and retroactively 

4 to cases that are no longer pending. 

5 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICABILITY WITH REGARD 

6 TO PENDING CASES. 

7 With respect to any offense for which the penalties 

8 were modified by section 2 or 3 of the Fair Sentencing 

9 Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–220) and which was com10 mitted before the date of enactment of such Act, and not11 withstanding the provisions of section 109 of title 1, 

12 United States Code— 

13 (1) in cases in which a sentence has not yet 

14 been imposed, the court shall impose such sentence 

15 as if sections 2 and 3 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 

16 2010 (Public Law 111–220) were in effect on the 

17 date the offense was committed; and 

18 (2) in cases in which a sentence has already 

19 been imposed, if subject to a pending appeal on or 

20 after August 3, 2010, the Court of Appeals shall re21 mand the case for resentencing consistent with the 

22 amendments made by sections 2 and 3 of the Fair 

23 Sentencing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–220). 


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1 SEC. 4. COURT MAY REDUCE TERM OF IMPRISONMENT. 

2 In the case of a defendant who has been convicted 

3 of a crime committed before August 3, 2010, for which 

4 a term of imprisonment has been imposed, on motion of 

5 the defendant or the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, 

6 or on its own motion, the sentencing court may reduce 

7 the term of imprisonment for that crime consistent with 

8 the amendments made by sections 2 and 3 of the Fair 

9 Sentencing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–220) if such 

10 crime is— 

11 (1) punishable by a term of imprisonment 

12 under— 

13 (A) section 404(a) of the Controlled Sub14 stances Act for possession of a substance which 

15 contains cocaine base (21 U.S.C. 844(a)) (as in 

16 effect on the date of the commission of the 

17 crime); 

18 (B) section 401(b)(1)(A)(iii) of such Act 

19 (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(A)(iii)) (as in effect on 

20 the date of the commission of the crime); or 

21 (C) section 401(b)(1)(B)(iii) of such Act 

22 (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(B)(iii)) (as in effect on 

23 the date of the commission of the crime); or 

24 (2) punishable by a term of imprisonment 

25 under paragraph (1)(C) or (2)(C) of section 1010(b) 

26 of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act 


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1 (21 U.S.C. 960(b)) (as in effect on the date of the 

2 commission of the crime). 

Æ 


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