Pubdate: Tue, 04 Mar 2008
Source: Daily Tar Heel, The (U of NC, Edu)
Copyright: 2008 DTH Publishing Corp
Contact:  http://www.dailytarheel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1949
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Sentencing+Commission
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/crack+cocaine

THEIR TIME'S UP

Allowing Retroactive Sentence Reduction Was Right Move

The presence of one hydrogen atom and one chlorine atom used to mean 
the difference between probation and five years in prison.

That is the chemical difference between powder cocaine and crack, the 
freebase form.

With the extreme disparities in federal sentencing for powder and 
crack cocaine charges, the U.S. Sentencing Commission made the right 
decision to retroactively reduce punishment for crack cocaine offenders.

As a result of this change, inmates in the Charlotte area became 
eligible Monday to apply for reduced sentencing.

The debate stems from drug laws instituted in 1988 that mandated a 
minimum five-year sentence for possession of five grams of crack. It 
would take 500 grams of powder cocaine to receive the same sentence, 
a ratio of 100 to 1.

The laws also made crack cocaine the only drug that carries a 
mandatory sentence for a first offense of simple possession. That 
rock-hard legislation is unheard of in the prosecution of other drug offenses.

Crack and powder forms of cocaine have similar physiological effects 
on the body, so the main difference between the forms is cost and area of use.

Because it is less expensive to manufacture, and thus to sell, crack 
cocaine is more prevalent in low-income neighborhoods, which tend to 
have higher crime rates. This has led to the concern that the crack 
trade is inherently more violent.

However, there is no legal basis for the disparities in the way the 
different forms of cocaine are prosecuted.

A 1995 study conducted by the USSC concluded that violence associated 
with crack sales is correlated more with the drug trade environment, 
not use of the drug. That means that any drug being sold in the same 
areas by the same people would produce similar rates of violence.

A report to the commission also stated that 90 percent of crack 
cocaine offenses were nonviolent.

Moreover, statistics seem to support the notion that sentencing for 
crack offenses themselves have racial disparities, which casts 
further doubt on the justice of past crack sentencing.

Though two-thirds of crack users are white or Latino, 80 percent of 
those prosecuted for a crack-related crime in federal courts were 
African American, and 73 percent of those charged were only involved 
in low level drug activities.

Prosecution and sentencing for drug offenses should be based on the 
severity of the offense itself, not on whether the drug is taken up 
the nose or through a pipe. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake