Because crack and powder cocaine are two forms of the same drug, there should not be any disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine offenses the only truly fair ratio is 1. In 2010 congress recognized the massive racial disparity between mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine offenses and cocaine offenses and reduced the ratio from 100. Because crack cocaine offenders tended to be black and powder. Sentencing commission calling for congress to change the crack cocaine. October 08, 20 criminal law and criminology 4 comments 3 min read. Crack and cocaine powder sentencing disparities essay example. Similarly, those carrying ten grams of crack cocaine faced a. Crack and cocaine powder sentencing disparities essay.
The obama administration joined a federal judge wednesday in urging congress to end a racial disparity by equalizing prison sentences for dealing and using crack versus powdered cocaine. The measure changes a 1986 law, enacted at a time when crack cocaine use was rampant and considered a particularly violent drug, under which a person convicted of crack cocaine possession gets the. Powder cocaine after a decade of contentious debate regarding the federal sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a number of significant initiatives to reform current policy have recently emerged. By equalizing probation eligibility for cocaine offenses, sb1010 recognizes drug abuse as a health issue, an essential step in reducing reoffending. Crack and cocaine may be nearly identical on a molecular level, but people who are charged with possession of just 1 gram of crack. Since then the federal bureau of prisons began to have budget and overcrowding problems.
Regardless of changes in the federal law, a charge of crack or powder cocaine is a very serious charge. Dmichigan, recently contended that the new law will reduce sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine from 100to1 to 18to1. We wrote this paper to inform the public and congress about the disparities in the sentencing laws between crack and powder cocaine, which continue to have profound legal and social. Working toward social justice in federal cocaine sentencing. The drugsentencing bill attracted little notice in washington, compared. Cracking the racial disparity for cocaine sentencing center on. Crack and cocaine also differ in the manner in which they are used. Activists argue that the current rules are too harsh. Compared to whites, racial minorities were at low risk for powder cocaine. Disparity, discrimination, and adverse impacts fair sentencing is individualized sentencing.
Written statement submitted by carol chodroff, us advocacy director, to the house judiciary committee, subcommittee on crime. For sentencing purposes, the law stipulated that one gram of crack cocaine be treated as equivalent to 100 grams of powder cocaine. Aug 03, 2010 obama signs bill reducing cocaine sentencing gap. But its not a perfect resolution because it only reduces the current disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine from 100. Only states employ differing sentencing guidelines for crack vs. How an early biden crime bill created the sentencing disparity for. This briefing paper provides background on the cocaine sentencing debate, explores the racial impact of the crack sentencing disparity, and clarifies the misperceptions regarding crack addiction. Sentencing commission concluded that the disparity created a racial imbalance in federal prisons and led to more severe sentences for lowlevel crack dealers than for wholesale suppliers of powder cocaine. At the time, possession of crack cocaine resulted in penalties 100 times higher than possession of. A comprehensive examination of the 100to1 crack versus powder cocaine sentencing disparity under which distribution of just 5 grams of crack carries a minimum 5year federal prisonsentence, while distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine carries the same 5year mandatory minimum sentence. Cracking the racial disparity for cocaine sentencing. May 18, 20 in 2010 congress recognized the massive racial disparity between mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine offenses and cocaine offenses and reduced the ratio from 100. Data show racial disparity in crack sentencing us news. Examining racial differences is of particular importance given that not only are blacks historically and commonly thought to be at higher risk for crack use, but federal statistics also show that blacks experience higher rates of drugrelated arrest rates and may be particularly susceptible to crackpowder cocaine sentencing disparities blumstein, 2003.
When he signed into law the bill that reduces the disparity in penalties for crack and powder cocaine offenses, president barack obama narrowed the racial gap in drug sentencing tuesday by some. Federal sentencing disparity, 20052012, examines patterns of federal sentencing disparity among white and black offenders, by sentence received, and looks at judicial variation in sentencing since booker vs. After cocaine and baking soda are combined, the mixture is boiled, and a solid forms. The house, by voice vote, approved a bill reducing the disparities between mandatory crack and powder cocaine sentences, sending the measure to.
President obama narrows racial gap in drug sentencing. This disparity between crack and powder cocaine was driven by fear. Download page term paper on disparity in sentencing for crack vs. Another difference between crack and cocaine relates to the high produced. Under the 2010 law, the amount of crack that triggers the fiveyear minimum is 28 grams of crack or 500 grams of powder, and, for the tenyear minimum, 280 grams of crack and 5,000 of powder. Yet harsher crack cocaine sentencing laws have resulted in troubling racial disparities. Aug 03, 2010 data show racial disparity in crack sentencing congress passed the fair sentencing act to make punishments for crack and cocaine more equal. Support for reducing the disparity with powder cocaine offenders increased with reports beginning in 2002 by the u.
Download 32page term paper on sentencing disparities between crack cocaine vs. In unfair system, millions of blacks have been arrested, while compassion was urged for whites. And states crack cocaine laws are not the culprits. Racial disparities and fiscal consequences of americas drug laws abstract in 1986, the united states government attempted to combat the perceived war on drugs by enacting mandatory drug laws, with a primary focus on incarcerating crack offenders. Crack is cheaper, so its found in low income communities more than pure powder cocaine. The sentencing project cracked justice crack cocaine.
After a decade of contentious debate regarding the federal sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a number of significant initiatives to reform current. With a set of mandatory minimum sentencing laws passed in 1986, congress for the first time distinguished between crack and powder cocaine. How an early biden crime bill created the sentencing disparity for crack and cocaine trafficking. Obama seeks crack cocaine sentence changes politics. Fair sentencing act american civil liberties union. Data show racial disparity in crack sentencing congress passed the fair sentencing act to make punishments for crack and cocaine more equal. Most importantly, the bill he signed on tuesday will eliminate the fiveyear mandatory minimum for firsttime possession of crack that compelled judges to send so many blacks to prison. Congress acts to reduce inequity in cocaine sentencing law addresses racial disparity in terms for crack. The punishment difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine exposes an unjust feature in the american justice system, a system that was built to be the epitome of justice. Chief among these is the racial outcome of the sentencing disparity. To read the briefing paper, download the pdf below. That resulted in a disparity with powder of about 18 to 1. The stark difference in federal sentencing laws for possession of the two. Unwarranted disparity is defined as different treatment of individual offenders who are similar in relevant ways, or similar treatment of individual.
The new form of cocaine was called crack, and by the summer of 1986 it. What is the chemical difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine that. How an early biden crime bill created the sentencing. Before this law was passed, the united states had a 100to1 crack topowder cocaine sentencing disparity. Cracking the racial disparity for cocaine sentencing center. The 1986 law created a 100 to 1 disparity between the sentencing guidelines for crack and powder cocaine. The us sentencing commission provided this analogy in 1997 to support equalizing penalties for crack and powder cocaine. Whereas, proposals to remove the federal mandatory minimums for crack and powder cocaine, and to otherwise eliminate the disparity for crack and powder cocaine by sentencing crack in the same manner that powder cocaine is currently sentenced, would threaten efforts to investigate and prosecute significant and violent drug offenders that deal. Sentencing guidelines, discusses how approaches of other.
The drug war drives racial disparities in the criminal justice system misguided drug laws and draconian sentencing have produced profoundly unequal outcomes for communities of color. The drug war has produced profoundly unequal outcomes across racial groups, manifested through racial discrimination by law enforcement and disproportionate drug war misery suffered by communities of color. Regardless of changes in the federal law, a charge of crack or powder cocaine. Crack cocaine became prevalent in the mid1980s and received massive media attention due in part to its exponential growth in the drug market. The general assembly eliminated the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine by increasing the trigger quantity for crack cocaine to onehalf ounce approximately 14. For example, possession of just 5 grams of crack cocaine about a thimble full triggers a five year mandatory minimum sentence. Racial minorities were at low risk for powder cocaine use, but hispanics were at low risk to use crack. Congress narrows disparity between sentences for crack vs. Heroin project found that racial disparities rooted in the 1980s campaign against crack cocaine still persist today despite more compassionate rhetoric about the opioid crisis. For example, the possession of 2 ounces of crack cocaine carried a 10 year mandatory minimum jail sentence compared to 179 ounces of powder cocaine for the same penalty. Crack powder sentencing disparity reduced by congress.
A 2010 federal law rectified some, though not all, of the sentencing disparities. Aug 05, 2010 most importantly, the bill he signed on tuesday will eliminate the fiveyear mandatory minimum for firsttime possession of crack that compelled judges to send so many blacks to prison. Basically, for sentencing purposes in the federal system, the relevant statute 21 u. The sentencing disparity for dealing crack and powder cocaine was 100 to 1. Supreme court examines disparity in crack and powder.
In the mid 80s, congress passed the antidrug abuse act of 1986. At the time, possession of crack cocaine resulted in penalties 100 times higher than possession of an equal amount of the powdered form. Some 2020 democratic candidate argue that the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, which now sits at 18to1, should be eliminated entirely. Since the law went into effect, the ratio dropped to 18to1. By equalizing sentencing, sb1010 promotes racial equality, a nonnegotiable component of a fair and just society. In a yearlong investigation, the asbury park press and the usa today network examined hundreds of thousands of arrest records and federal drug convictions. President obama signed the new sentencing law on august 3, 2010. Because crack cocaine offenders tended to be black and powder cocaine offenders tended to be white, critics of the law denounced it as racially biased in hindsight. Racial double standard hardwired into how we deal with drugs. In 2008, willie mays aikens made headlines when a federal judge reduced his lengthy prison term to 14 years as a result of the u. The disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing has been the most notorious example of profound racial bias baked into our superficially neutral criminal laws.
Congress is considering a bill to change drug laws that punish crack cocaine violations more severely than those for powder cocaine. Crack, which emerged in the mid1980s, had been deemed. Race and class penalties in crack cocaine sentencing by michael coyle overview after a decade of contentious debate regarding the federal sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a number of significant initiatives to reform current policy. Jul 28, 2019 how an early biden crime bill created the sentencing disparity for crack and cocaine trafficking. People of color experience discrimination at every stage of the criminal justice system and are more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, convicted, harshly. Falsely treating crack cocaine as 50 times more addictive than powder cocaine, as congress did more than in creating the 100toone quantity ratio, has implications beyond that of mere unfair sentencing. A comprehensive examination of the 100to1 crack versus powder cocaine sentencing disparity under which distribution of just 5 grams of crack carries a. So, the federal law still imposes a different and harsher sentence for crack cocaine possession than it does for powder cocaine possession, but the disparity is not nearly as great as under the 1986 act. Cocaine is a hydrochloride salt in its powdered form, while crack cocaine is derived from powdered cocaine by combining it with water and another substance, usually baking soda sodium bicarbonate. Jan 30, 2020 this legislation enacted an astounding 100to1 disparity in crack vs. Powder cocaine use is more evenly spread among ethnic backgrounds, and more white americans have tried powder cocaine than black americans.
Moreover, the significant racial disparity in federal prisons will continue. The nations lawmakers took a step in that direction nine years ago when they passed the fair sentencing act, which reduced the disparity between powder cocaine and crack from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1. The usscs crack guideline amendment is made retroactive, reducing sentences. Congress addressed a historic wrong on wednesday afternoon, replacing it instead with a slightly lesser wrong, when the house voted to reduce the disparity in the sentencing of people caught with crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. Spohn 20 examined racial disparities in sentences from drugtrafficking cases in three us district courts and found that, compared to white. Obama needs to fix the crack cocaine sentencing gap. In august 2010 president barack obama signed the fair sentencing act fsa, historic legislation that reduced the quantitybased sentencing differential between federal crack and powder cocaine convictions that resulted in significant racial disparities and excessive penalties. Assistant majority leader dick durbin dil introduced the fair sentencing act of 2009, a narrowlytailored bill that would eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine and increase penalties for the worst offenders. Jun 11, 2016 in the mid 80s, congress passed the antidrug abuse act of 1986. C 841 treats one gram of crack cocaine as equivalent to 100 grams of powder cocaine. Cocaine is typically snorted, and crack is typically smoked. Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in federal sentencing today a. But in reality, according to experts, crack cocaine and powder cocaine are essentially identical.
What is the chemical difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Jul 29, 20 the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing has been the most notorious example of profound racial bias baked into our superficially neutral criminal laws. Law reduces inequity in cocaine, crack sentencing the. The explosive popularity of crack cocaine was associated with its cheap price, which for the first time made cocaine available to a wider economic class. Oct 28, 1995 with a set of mandatory minimum sentencing laws passed in 1986, congress for the first time distinguished between crack and powder cocaine. One would think, based on the sentencing laws, that crack cocaine is a very different drug than powder cocaineand much worse. People of color experience discrimination at every stage of the criminal justice system. Crack and cocaine powder sentencing disparities essay sample. Cocaine is generally found in white powder form, and crack is found in a rock form that is generally white, cream, tan, or light brown. Federal crack cocaine sentencing the sentencing project. Crackpowder sentencing disparity reduced by congress. Compared to whites, racial minorities were at low risk for powder cocaine use, and hispanics were at low risk for crack use. Sentencing commissions adjustment to the crack cocaine sentencing guidelines.
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