On Thursday, Sacramento U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller rejected the new 18:1 crack-to-powder ratio of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 in United States v. Reese et al., 09-cr-00026-KJM. Using the discretion granted district courts in Kimbrough v. United States, 128 S.Ct. 558 (2007), Judge Mueller adopted "as a matter of policy" a 1:1 ratio for this and future cases unless and until the government presents evidence that crack should be sentenced differently than powder cocaine. The Court cited the thoughtful and thorough reasoning in United States v. Williams, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 48599 (N.D. Iowa April 7, 2011), which held, among other things, that the assumptions about the relative harmfulness of crack and powder are not supported by research and data, and that the disparity's disproportionate impact on African-American offenders fosters disrespect for and lack of confidence in the criminal justice system. Ben Galloway and Rachelle Barbour at the Federal Defender's Office represented Mr. Reese with assistance from law clerk Hannah LaBaree.