March 21, 2005

The story of Kasaundra Lomax

Click to see picture of Kasaundra Lomax (left top) with mother Hamedah Hasan (right top) and two sisters, Ayesha and Kamyra. Kasaundra Lomax, 24, is the oldest daughter of Hamedah Hasan, who is currently serving a 26-year mandatory minimum sentence for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Kasaundra's mother was six months pregnant when she began serving her sentence, and had to leave Kasaundra, 12 years old at the time, and her younger sister with relatives when she was sentenced under mandatory minimums sentences and under the federal sentencing guidelines in 1993.

"Mandatory minimum sentences have been horrible for my family," says Kasaundra. "I've been taking care of my family since I was 12. It's not my job, but I don't have a choice. I would like to be in college, but I have to worry about taking care of my family," she says. "All they care about is punishing a person, and they give no thought to how this affects whole families. It's just not fair."

Although Kasaundra's mother was never found to be in possession of any drugs and had no previous convictions, she was found liable for 5.9 kilos of cocaine base, an amount eliciting an automatic life sentence. Two of her co-defendants testified against Kasaundra's mother and claimed she was a "manager" of the conspiracy in exchange for a plea deal in which they spent no time in prison.

Kasaundra currently resides in Portland, Oregon with her uncle and sister. She will speak on a panel at the Caught in the Net: the Impact of Drug Policies on Women & Families conference on March 17th & 18th at NYU School of Law, hosted by the ACLU, Break the Chains, and the Brennan Center for Justice.

Posted by fairlaws4families at 02:32 AM | Comments (0)