1. 2012 Supreme Court Case
Project
A BASIC OVERVIEW OF WHAT THE BUSINESS
LAW 1 FINAL EXAM WILL LOOK LIKE WHEN
COMPLETE
WITH NOTES AND ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION

2. The Case Background
 Under the old law 5 grams of crack cocaine and 500
grams of powder cocaine had the same mandatory
sentence under federal guidelines (5 years)
 And 50 grams of crack cocaine and 5 kilograms of powder
cocaine were the same for sentences (10 years)
 This led to the 100-1 sentencing ratio between crack
and powder cocaine

3. Background Continued
 This bill was introduced by Senator Richard Durbin
(D-Ill)
 According to him:
 “Drug use is a serious problem in America and we need tough
legislation to combat it. But in addition to being tough, our
drug laws must be smart and fair. Our current cocaine laws are
not. The sentencing disparity between crack and powder
cocaine has contributed to the imprisonment of African
Americans at six times the rate of whites and to the United
States’ position as the world’s leader in incarcerations.
Congress has talked about addressing this injustice for long
enough; it’s time for us to act.”

4. Background Continued
 The new law would change this to an 18-1 ratio
 It will eliminate the mandatory minimum 5 year
sentence for simple procession of crack cocaine.
 Enhance penalties if procession involves violence or
bribery of a law enforcement agent

5. The Implementation
 This bill passed the Senate in March of 2010 and the
House in July of 2010
 It was signed into law on August 3, 2010 by
President Obama
 This law is NOT retroactive.
 No one arrested and convicted before will fall under these new
guidelines. This is only for new cases

6. Why this is before the Supreme Court?
 When the new law took effect, there were cases
pending and awaiting sentencing.
 Since the original offense and conviction to place
before the new law was passed the defendant was
sentenced under the old guidelines, not the new ones
even though the sentences happened after the new
law too effect

7. The Specific Case before
the Supreme Court
 Edward Dorsey was arrested in August of 2008 in
possession of 5.5 grams of crack cocaine
 He had a previous drug conviction
 Based on these two factors he was sentenced to the
mandatory minimum of 10 years.
 He was sentenced in September of 2010 (after the
law was signed)

8. More specifics
 Dorsey and his lawyers argue that since the FSA (Fair
Sentence Act) was signed in August and it was put into
effect in November of 2010 as a rush, it should have been
applied to his case
 The judge ruled since his arrest and guilty plea happened
before the FSA went into effect it does not apply
 The FSA states that there is not retroactive sentencing
 Dorsey is asking for the Supreme Court to overturn the
judge’s ruling and allow for his sentencing to be based on
the new guidelines and not the old.

9. Resources
(with notes on how they were used)
 http://www.reuters.com/supreme-court/2011-2012 (this was used
to pick a case)
 From there I used Google to find more information about the actual
case that happened that lead to the Supreme Court getting this case
(I googled 2010 Fair Sentencing Act)
 http://www.famm.org/FederalSentencing/USCongress/BillsinCong
ress/TheFairSentencingActof2010.aspx (this site was where I got
most of my background information on the law that led to the case)
 I also used links within this site for additional information (such as the FAQ
sheet and others)
 I then went back to Google to find out more about Edward Dorsey
and how his case applies to this law (how it all tied together).
 http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1680487864618624
9759&hl=en&as_sdt=2,50 (from here I got the information of how
it all comes together)

10. More Resources and
thoughts behind it
 In order to understand this case, I had to look at many
different sources and go in several directions to get the
big picture.
 This information will not all be clearly presented in one
place since a Supreme Court Case does not just
happen, there are many factors and events that lead to it
coming before the high court
 Information also cannot be copied and pasted. These
sites offer very extensive information and are much more
details than the average person needs or wants.
 You need to take the information and present it in a
logical, easy to understand form.

11. The Assignment
 Choose a Supreme Court Case
 Give background to make it clear how it got this far
and why
 Give any additional information that is needed in
order to make this case clear to the casual reader
(assume they know nothing about this topic)
 Have resources
 Google is not a source, it is a gateway
 Wikipedia can be used but it cannot be the only source, you
need information to back this up.
 Give your thoughts on this case

12. Points
 Court case and overview 25 pts
 Background 25 pts
 Details on how it got to SC 25 pts
 Wrap up/personal thoughts 10 pts
 Resources with how you got to them 15 pts
 Total 100 pts
Make sure all sections are complete for full credit