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| Justice Dept. Joins Calls for Drug Sentencing Reform |
| By Ashley Southall - The Caucus |
| Published: 05/01/2009 |
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The Obama administration joined a growing chorus of legal advocates Wednesday pushing for Congress to eliminate a 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine that they say has resulted in harsher sentences for blacks. Testifying before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said the administration “believes Congress’s goal should be to completely eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine.” The gesture is a sharp departure from the tough-on-crime stance of the Bush administration, and a more drastic reduction in the sentencing laws than the 10-to-1 reduction requested by the Clinton administration. To put it in perspective, current sentencing laws mean that a person carrying 5 grams, valued at $69, in crack cocaine to receive the same sentence as someone with 500 grams, or $47,000, in powder cocaine, according to Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. More than four-fifths of crack offenders are black, according to 2007 data from the federal Sentencing Commission. On average, sentences for crack offenses are 24 months longer than those for powder cocaine. A 2007 amendment that allowed judges to mitigate sentences for offenders convicted under the 1984 guidelines spurred more than 19,000 requests, according to Ricardo Hinojosa, acting chairman of the sentencing panel. Of those, he indicated during his testimony that 74 percent of the offenders had an average of two years shaved off their sentences. The panel unanimously blamed the sentencing disparity for stuffing jails with low-level offenders, contributing to the disintegration of black families and eroding public confidence in the criminal justice system. The sentencing laws were enacted in 1986 based on what are now known to have been exaggerated claims that crack was more dangerous that its powder counterpart. The commission began pushing for reforms to the laws in 1995. “Indeed, over the past 15 years, our understanding of crack and powder cocaine, their effects on the community, and the public safety imperatives surrounding all drug trafficking has evolved,” Mr. Breuer said in his written testimony. “That refined understanding, coupled with the need to ensure fundamental fairness in our sentencing laws, policy, and practice, necessitates change.” Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, had asked for specific recommendations from the administration as to how to address past inequities and to work with varying laws in different states. Mr. Breuer, in his first week on the job, was not yet able to provide detailed guidelines. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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