Judge Says Crack Sentencing Goes Too Far

[FernBell]

A federal judge who served as a top drug policy adviser to the first President Bush and advocated harsher penalties for crack cocaine crimes said Tuesday the policy had gone too far and was undermining faith in the judicial system.

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton told the U.S. Sentencing Commission that federal laws requiring dramatically longer sentences for crack cocaine than for cocaine powder were "unconscionable" and contributed to the perception within minority communities that courts are unfair.

.......

Walton said there may still be a need for tougher sentences for crack because it is more addictive and more closely associated with violence. But he said the disparity is too great.

As an example, he offered two hypothetical cases involving a white college student arrested with a kilogram of powder cocaine and a black high school dropout caught with the same amount of crack. The white man would face a likely sentence of 3 to 4 years in prison, Walton said in exhibits filed with the commission. The black man would face a mandatory 10-year sentence and the possibility of a life sentence.

Walton said the law wasn't intended to target poor people or minorities. But with a disproportionately high number of minorities in prison and potential jurors openly balking at convicting drug offenders because of concerns over the fairness of the system, Walton said the problem must be addressed.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CRACK_COCAINE_SENTENCES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[ixion]

1. ALL drug related sentencing goes too far

IMO.

[Mythsaje]

2. End the Drug War!!!

'nuff said.

[Skip Intro]

5. second that! n/t

[Keseys Ghost]

3. Check out Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

http://gnn.tv/links/1134/Law_Enforcement_Against_Prohibition

Good video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LayaGk0TMDc

[Cerridwen]

4. The Law of Unintended Consequences as applied to

ignorant morons who don't listen to the experts who dispute their political prejudices.

Gee, whoda thunk it?

[bemildred]

6. Maybe kneejerk incarceration is not really the answer to this problem. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

7. We were talking about this 15 years ago, ferchristsakes.

Another variation on the "Southern wink wink nudge nudge Strategy."

[greccogirl]

8. Most drug sentences ALWAYS

go too far. When are we ever going to learn?

[Heidi]

9. Kick.

Recommended.

:kick:

[Toots]

10. Crack, the poor man's free base.

Crack is junk. It is mostly baking soda and that is why it can be smoked instead of snorted and why it is so very cheap. Because it is so cheap it has found a place in the inner city, not because it is more powerful or addictive. It was created by design to enter the inner city and make felons out of young blacks so they forever lose their voting rights and thus any say in how America is run. When it comes to this type of shit Republicans are extemely ingenious. With crack they killed a whole bunch with one stone. More money for their Contras plus the devastation of the inner cities and the placement of a large percentage of young blacks in prison. Notice that since the Contras no longer are a problem that Crack sort of disappeared from the headlines...

[noonwitch]

11. There is an unfair disparity between crack sentences and those for powder cocaine

First time offenses of simple possession of small amounts of either should be handled with probation and treatment, whenever possible.

Dealer-level charges should be the same for crack as it is for powder cocaine. It needs to be consistent, because crack is a poor man's cocaine, and the rich buy powder cocaine. If nothing else, the rich dealers need to know that what they are doing is just as bad as what the poor crack dealers are doing.