New crack law gives hope to Mobile civil rights activist Bip Beasley

MOBILE, Al.
A federal judge here on Thursday indicated that, unless prosecutors object, he would reduce the life prison sentence of a local civil rights activist who later was convicted of running a crack cocaine ring in southwest Alabama.

Noble “Bip” Beasley,

Noble “Bip” Beasley, 79, long has been a controversial figure in Mobile. He headed the group Neighborhood Organized Workers, which during the 1960s and 1970s protested against local cultural institutions such as Mardi Gras and America’s Junior Miss. Even after his conviction, he has continued to enjoy the support of some prominent city leaders, including City Councilman Fred Richardson.
The courts have rejected numerous appeals over the years, most recently a letter that Beasley sent in April to Chief U.S. District Judge William Steele asking for help with his clemency petition.
Steele rejected the request in May, but he ruled Thursday that he would grant Beasley’s request for a sentencing reduction based on a law passed by Congress last year unless prosecutors object by Dec. 28.
After a review of all of the relevant factors, “the Court has determined that a reduction of sentence based on the amended guideline range may be appropriate in this case,” Steele wrote.
Representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to questions about their position on the sentencing reduction. Generally, though, prosecutors have objected to sentencing reductions based on the new law only in cases in which the defendant is not eligible or had a history of discipline problems in prison.
If Steele follows through and changes Beasley’s prison sentence to 27 years in prison, he could be eligible for release — with good behavior — in 2013.
“That’s monumental,” said Richardson, who served with Beasley in NOW and has lobbied aggressively on his behalf. “He is probably going to be the most ecstatic prisoner in the entire federal system.”
A federal jury in Mobile convicted Beasley in 1990 of conspiring to sell crack cocaine, powder cocaine and heroin. Based on the amount of crack the defendant was held responsible for — more than 22 pounds — a judge sentenced him to life without parole.
Richardson long has maintained that law enforcement authorities targeted Beasley — and got a conviction based on unsubstantiated testimony of “snitches” looking to cut deals in their cases — because of the defendant’s civil rights activities.
“I believe that if he had not been involved in that struggle, he would not be in prison,” Richardson said.
Years after his conviction, Beasley challenged his sentence based on the argument that the judge used an incorrect sentencing table to calculate his punishment. The judge used harsher guidelines in effect during the time of the sentencing but should have used guidelines that applied during the time that Beasley committed the crime, he argued.
A U.S. probation officer initially sided with Beasley and then reversed course, determining that the life prison term was correct.
Steele ruled in 2004, however, that he would not consider the argument because Beasley had failed to raise the issue during earlier appeals.
Beasley got new hope in August 2010 when Congress passed a law narrowing the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine cases. Earlier this year, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to apply those changes retroactively.
“If this had not happened, there would be no other way to do it short of a presidential pardon,” said Federal Defender Carlos Williams, who filed the motion for a sentencing reduction on Beasley’s behalf.
In his letter to Steele earlier this year, Beasley wrote that his health is declining.
“I don’t know how many more years God has planned for me on this earth, however, I do know that because of my health and age that I would pose no threat or danger to society if I would be released from confinement,” he wrote.