Fair and Balanced
I know this isn’t a political or even social commentary blog, but this bearing attention regardless:
“Federal law sets a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence for trafficking in 5 grams of crack cocaine. It takes 500 grams of cocaine powder to warrant the same sentence. The crack-powder disparity has a strong racial dimension because more than four-fifths of crack cocaine offenders in federal courts last year were black.”
From a recent news clip…
Over a pound of coke for the same sentance? That’s a grundle of coke.
SCOTUS just reviewed this issue and, moreover, the DOJ has held a number of hearings recently regarding adjusting the sentencing guidelines. If your interested, read the briefs from Kimbrough v. US (docket # 06-6330). The bigger problem, however, is the “non-binding”, yet still binding, sentencing guidelines in Fed. Ct.
well i heard they are considering adjusting the sentancing for crack possession, shortening the sentance, but that still disregards the gross imbalance in drug quantity in relation to sentancing.
way to comment on the blog, nichols. obv i need to bring more legalese into the conversation here.
Casey, you are killing me. Remember Einstein’s theory of englishitivity:
Sorry, I realize that might be too much computerese for some of you. != means not equal.
Update: the DOJ lowered the crack sentencing guidelines. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15885119&ft=1&f=1001 (no hyperlink here).
There are, however, good reasons for the disparity. Foremost among them being, lawyers do coke, not crack. We have to be tough on drugs, just not the drugs the lawmakers may partake in now and again.
Get tough on drugs? Why? Do we want people to stop taking drugs? Legalize drugs – all of ‘em and tax the shit out of them like they’re cigarettes or gasoline…or…legalize them and secretely infuse ipecaq into everything so drugs will make people so sick they’ll stop using them…or give them enough drugs to thin out the population a little…or something.