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Kemba Smith

June 16, 2005

Kemba Smith Receives Early Termination of Supervised Release

On Tuesday, June 14, 2005, Judge Robert Doumar of the Eastern District of Virginia granted a motion filed by attorneys for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) seeking early termination of Kemba Smith's supervised release. Smith has been subject to supervised release (requiring her, for example, to seek permission to travel, or to open a credit card account) since President William Jefferson Clinton commuted her 24-year sentence in December 2000. LDF sought clemency after repeated court appearances produced little progress.

Smith was sentenced in 1994 under mandatory-minimum federal drug sentencing laws although she was a first-time, nonviolent offender who was only connected with a crack cocaine ring because it was led by her abusive boyfriend. Her case represented the unfortunate effects of America's War on Drugs and the severe misapplication of overly punitive federal sentencing guidelines. Women, especially African-American women, have been hard hit by mandatory minimums because these laws now cover "conspiracy."

In his ruling, Judge Doumar complimented Smith:

Undoubtedly, Smith has achieved much since she was incarcerated and while she has been on supervised release. She completed her college education and purchased a home. She works as a legal assistant and is actively raising her son. Her educational efforts and speaking engagements are impressive. She has now been accepted to law school. Governor Mark Warner, Congressman Bobby Scott, and Superintendent of Richmond City Public Schools Deborah Jewell- Sherman, among others, have written letters to the Court on her behalf commending her outreach efforts.

The Court added that "most importantly, in this Court's view, her circumstances have changed for the better, as she has been accepted to Howard Law School." The judge, therefore, made the termination effective on August 1, 2005, shortly before Smith starts her first term at Howard Law School.