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The Powder-Crack Cocaine Penalty Problem
Currently under Federal law, trafficking in 5 grams
of crack cocaine or 500 grams of powder cocaine incurs
a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years imprisonment
(up to 40 years). Trafficking in 50 grams of crack cocaine
or 5000 grams of powder cocaine incurs a mandatory minimum
sentence of 10 years imprisonment (up to life imprisonment).
Persons convicted of aiding and abetting trafficking
or being participants in conspiracies to traffic are
also subject to these penalties.
In FY 2003, 11,451 persons were sentenced in Federal court for trafficking or possessing cocaine, out of 26,023 total drug cases, and 70,258 total criminal offenders sentenced by Federal courts. One in six of all Federal offenders are convicted of a cocaine offense. (Source: US Sentencing Commission, 2003 Datafile, USSCFY03)
On April 16, 2002, twenty-eight judges of the U.S. Courts of Appeals or the U.S. District Courts who were formerly United States Attorneys, wrote to the U.S. Sentencing Commission condemning the current disparity in powder and crack cocaine laws and sentencing guidelines, declaring they "cannot be justified and results in sentences that are unjust and do not serve society's interest."
ANALYSIS
In May 2002, the U.S. Sentencing Commission submitted a comprehensive report to Congress, Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy. This excellent report is worth reading closely.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission found in its report:
(1) The current penalties exaggerate the relative harmfulness of crack cocaine. They found that "The negative effects of prenatal crack cocaine exposure are identical to the negative effects of prenatal powder cocaine exposure and are significantly less severe than previously believed. In fact, the negative effects from prenatal cocaine exposure are similar to those associated with prenatal tobacco exposure and less severe than the negative effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. (Emphasis added).
They found that "Recent data indicate that the epidemic of crack use by youth never materialized to the extent feared."
(2) Current penalties sweep too broadly and apply most often to lower level offenders. They found that over one-quarter of Federal crack cocaine offenses involved relatively small drug quantities (less than 25 grams). Only 2.7% of Federal powder cocaine offenses involved less than 25 grams.
They found especially disparate penalties for small offenders. The average sentence for trafficking less than 25 grams of powder cocaine was 13.6 months. The average sentence for trafficking less than 25 grams of crack cocaine was 64.8 months, over 5 years.
(3) Current quantity-based penalties overstate the seriousness of most crack cocaine offenses and fail to provide adequate proportionality. "The current penalty structure was based on many beliefs about the association of crack cocaine offenses with certain harmful conduct B particularly violence B that are no longer accurate."
(4) Current penalties' severity mostly impacts minorities. In 2000, about 85 percent of Federal crack cocaine offenders were black. Thus the impact of "unduly severe penalties...falls primarily upon black offenders."
The Commission recommends unanimously:
(A) That the threshold for the 5-year mandatory minimum be raised from 5 grams to at least 25 grams, and the 10-year threshold be raised from 50 grams to at least 250 grams. They also recommend the repeal of the simple possession of crack cocaine mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years.
(B) Specific sentencing enhancements to account for involvement of weapons, infliction of bodily injury from violence, distribution to persons under 21, distribution near schools and colleges, etc.
(C) That the current powder cocaine mandatory minimum threshold quantities be maintained at current levels of 500 and 5000 grams.
However, the U.S. Department of Justice supports the current crack cocaine sentences and urges stronger powder cocaine sentencing at the lower levels. On March 19, 2002, Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson told the U.S. Sentencing Commission, "After thorough study and internal debate, we have concluded that the current federal policy and guidelines for sentencing crack cocaine offenses are proper. It would therefore be more appropriate to address the differential between crack and powder cocaine by recommending that penalties for powder cocaine be increased. . . . Lowering crack penalties would simply send the wrong message. The message that we care more about crack dealers than we do about the people and the communities victimized by crack. That is something we simply cannot support."
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Share your opinion with your Representative and Senators.