Pubdate: Sat, 29 Dec 2007
Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN)
Copyright: 2007 Chattanooga Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.timesfreepress.com/index.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/992
Author: Adam Crisp, Staff Writer
Referenced: the Justice Policy Institute report 
http://drugsense.org/url/21uS48TR
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?244 (Sentencing - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Justice+Policy+Institute
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/crack+cocaine
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Sentencing+Commission

JAIL MORE LIKELY FOR BLACK DRUG USERS, STUDY FINDS

Black Hamilton County residents are sent to prison on drug 
convictions 19 times more often per capita than whites, but local 
District Attorney Bill Cox challenged the recent study that reached 
the conclusion.

The study, compiled by the nonprofit Justice Policy Institute, 
compared the nation's 200 largest counties.  It stated that 97 
percent of those counties sent blacks to prison more often than 
whites for drug-related convictions.

Mr. Cox said the Justice Institute's claims are tied to a Substance 
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration study showing that in 
2006 about 8.9 percent of blacks admitted to using drugs in the last 
month, and 8.5 percent of whites admitted to the same practices.

"There is a difference between being a drug user and being someone 
who goes to jail for drugs," Mr. Cox said. "Drug users don't 
typically go to jail. People who possess quantities of drugs for 
resale go to jail."

The Justice Policy Institute, based in Washington, D.C., reported 
that, despite similar use patterns, black people account for more 
than 50 percent of sentenced drug offenders, while they are about 13 
percent of the nation's population. The research institution is 
"dedicated to ending society's reliance on incarceration" and 
promotes "appropriate alternatives" to it, according to its Internet site.

The institute found that in Hamilton County about 24 out of every 
100,000 people are sent to state prison each year for a drug crime. 
Whites are sent to prison at a rate of five per 100,000 white people, 
while blacks are sent at a rate of about 95 per 100,000 black people, 
the report found.

Walter Williams, a retired Chattanooga City Court judge now in 
private practice, said the institute's findings confirm "what all of 
us have been saying through the years."

"Crack cocaine users' sentencing was quite more severe than powder 
cocaine users," he said.

Mr. Williams said often crack cocaine users are black, while powder 
cocaine users tend to be white.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission recently amended the federal 
sentencing guidelines pertaining to crack and powder cocaine, 
lowering the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences for crimes.

According to a news release from the commission, the revised 
guidelines will be applied retroactively to many offenders and likely 
will mean reduced sentences for many of those sentenced under the old 
guidelines.

Mr. Cox said he prosecutes people based on current laws. For the most 
part the Tennessee General Assembly provides "a representation of the 
public's values" when it enacts laws, he said.

Doug Berman, a sentencing expert at Ohio State University, suggested 
that those who write the laws find certain drug offenses more acceptable.

"The drugs that are used by less advantaged communities are the ones 
where we tend feel more comfortable with harsher sentences," he said.

"Why don't we have tougher sentences for drunk driving where wine is 
involved?" Mr. Berman said. "Advantaged people would go up in arms. . 
People in power find ways to keep sentences down on things that 
impact their lives."

Amanda Petteruti, the report's co-author, said drug sentencing plays 
a large role in the disparity, but policing practices also matter.

When communities get tough on crime, she said, more police patrols 
are activated, which can result in more officers in black 
neighborhoods and lead to more arrests for drugs there.

"Police are more likely to spot someone on a street corner than at a 
college or university or in a suburban home," Ms. Petteruti said. 
"And people that retain private counsel, and whites are more likely 
to do that, are less likely to go to prison."

Those factors, along with mandatory sentencing guidelines, come 
together and send blacks to jail more often, Ms. Petteruti said.

The report, she said, does not make suggestions on clear fixes.

"We advocate that counties take a closer look at how they are 
spending their public safety money," Ms.  Petteruti said. "Should we 
be putting it in law enforcement, or would it be better spent on more 
positive investments: education or employment training or any other 
investment that would enrich the community as a whole?"

Tennessee laws are the same for powder and crack cocaine, but the 
heavier weights of crack cocaine may result in longer prison terms, 
said Ardena Garth, Hamilton County public defender. Crack, she said, 
is heavier than powder cocaine.

Ms. Garth, whose office represents indigent defendants, said 
communities should think about how increasing sentences and 
criminalizing certain conduct affect people.

Many offenders find it impossible to return to society and get a job 
after prison, which often results in convicts falling back into their 
old habits, she said.

"Understand that calling for longer sentences and more punishment ... 
the consequences is that you have a whole society that will never get 
beyond a certain level," Ms. Garth said. 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake