Before this law was passed, the united states had a 100to1 cracktopowder cocaine sentencing disparity. Keith ellison spent 16 years as a trial lawyer dealing with hundreds of cases involving cocaine arrests. Cracking the racial disparity for cocaine sentencing. While they are both different chemical forms of cocaine, they differ in how they are made, how they are abused, their cost, dangers, effects, and more. Racial minorities were at low risk for powder cocaine use, but hispanics were at low risk to use crack.
The federal government sought to crack down on the problem by implementing severe prison sentences for those people caught dealing crack cocaine. The federal law has set one to a hundred sentencing difference between the two kinds of drugs. With a set of mandatory minimum sentencing laws passed in 1986, congress for the first time distinguished between crack and powder cocaine. Disparity in sentencing for crack vs powder cocaine. In fact, the law probably made sense at the time, when a gram of crack did. Crack cocaine and powder cocaine are sometimes referred to in research and other outlets simply as cocaine, but there is a big difference between the two. This bill will go a long way toward ensuring that our sentencing laws are. The amount of powder cocaine necessary to trigger the sentence is still. The sentencing disparities between crack and cocaine attn. This report addresses disparities in cocaine sentencing in states and documents efforts at the federal and state level to correct these injustices. Despite the fact that the chemical structure of powder cocaine and crack cocaine is nearly identical, the punishment for crack possession or. Data show racial disparity in crack sentencing us news.
Before this law was passed, the united states had a 100to1 cracktopowder cocaine sentencing. Sentencing commission amendments to equalize the penalties for crack and powder cocaine from taking effect see congress nixes amendments to sentencing guidelines on cocaine, money laundering, 58 crl 1086, october 25, 1995. One would think, based on the sentencing laws, that crack cocaine is a very different drug than powder cocaineand much worse. After president obama signed off on new legislation to reduce the sentencing disparity between. Today, states maintain sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine offenses. The adaa created a 100toone ratio between the quantity of crack versus powder cocaine needed to trigger mandatory minimum sentencing. While a person found with five grams of crack cocaine faced a fiveyear mandatory minimum prison sentence, a person holding powder cocaine could receive the same sentence only if he or she held five hundred grams. 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. 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. The controlled substances act established a minimum mandatory sentence of five years for a firsttime trafficking offense involving over five grams of crack, as opposed to 500 grams of powder. But in reality, according to experts, crack cocaine and powder cocaine are essentially identical.
A couple of years ago, we wrote a column about crack cocaine, which ended with a discussion of the federal sentencing guidelines for crack vs. Since then the federal bureau of prisons began to have budget and overcrowding problems. The stark difference in federal sentencing laws for. There is no significant chemical differencecrack and powder cocaine are both forms of cocaine. Why are crack cocaine sentences longer than those for. The difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine powder cocaine is made from coca paste, which is derived from the leaves of the coca plant. Crack and powder cocaine are both different types of a similar drug, and have the same effect of the nervous system and the brain of the person utilizing it. 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.
For powder cocaine, a conviction of possession with intent to distribute carries a five year sentence for quantities of 500 grams or more. This disparity between crack and powder cocaine was driven by fear, instead of by research, of the intensity and perceived dangers of. In 2010, congress passed the fair sentencing act fsa, which reduced the sentencing disparity between offenses for crack and powder cocaine from 100. Crack cocaine sentencing policy prison policy initiative. Powder cocaine united states sentencing commission.
The sentencing guideline amendments relating to cocaine base usually known as crack, which were adopted by a 43 vote of the commission, would drastically reduce crack penalties without recognizing the significant differences between crack and cocaine hydrochloride cocaine powder. The disparity started in the 1980s, when crack cocaine started to ravish urban black communities in america. Crack cocaine first hit the national radar in 1986 but, contrary to media reports, it was not a new drug. Download page term paper on disparity in sentencing for crack vs. Now that disparity is being reduced from 100to1 to 18to1.
Congress narrows disparity between sentences for crack vs. Addressing the sentencing disparity of crack cocaine vs. For reasons beyond the scope of this posting, certain stakeholders view this disparity as the product of systemic racism. Put in perspective, the maximum jail sentence for simple possession of any other drug, including powder cocaine, was one year. Crack cocaine is simply made by taking powder cocaine and cooking it with baking soda and water until it forms a hard rocky substance. The current quantitybased penalties overstate the relative harmfulness of crack cocaine compared to powder cocaine, the sentencing commission advised in. It is all too common these days to listen to news commentators discussing the disparity between federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Fair sentencing act in 2010, congress passed the fair sentencing act fsa, which reduced the sentencing disparity between offenses for crack and powder cocaine from 100. Congress is considering a bill to change drug laws that punish crack cocaine violations more severely than those for powder cocaine. Federal crack cocaine sentencing the sentencing project. Judges are not free to shorten sentences based on a disagreement with the sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine offenses, the fourth circuit court of appeals found.
Supreme court examines disparity in crack and powder. These rocks are then broken into pieces and sold in small quantities. Specifically, the penalty for possessing 500g of powder cocaine was comparable to possessing only 5g of crack. 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.
Crack cocaine sentences have long been much more harsh than those for powder cocaine. The difference between powder cocaine and crack cocaine. Crackpowder sentencing disparity reduced by congress. Under the current law, crack users possessing only 5 grams of the drug are charged with a felony to get the same charge, powder cocaine users have to be caught with 500 grams. President obama signed a new law that will close the longdisputed 100. Crack users were at a higher risk than powder cocaine users for reporting multiple recent arrests or a lifetime arrest. Some 2020 democratic candidate argue that the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, which now sits at 18 to 1, should be eliminated entirely. Whites get probation, blacks get a decade behind bars. President obama signed a new law at the white house today that will close the longdisputed gap in federal sentencing for crack vs. Before 1986, federal sentencing laws treated possession of crack and powder cocaine the same.
This disparity has often been called racist since it disproportionately imprisons blacks. That year, national news outlets began reporting inflammatory anecdotes. Powder cocaine use is more evenly spread among ethnic backgrounds, and more white americans have tried powder cocaine than black americans. Powder cocaine history and background college basketball star len bias died of a powder cocaine overdose while celebrating his number one draft pick in the 1986 nba draft. The us sentencing commission provided this analogy in 1997 to support equalizing penalties for crack and powder cocaine. While a person found with five grams of crack cocaine faced a fiveyear mandatory minimum prison sentence, a person holding powder cocaine could receive. Readerfriendly version of amendments on crack cocaine and retroactivity effective may 1, 2008 and amendments submitted to congress on may 1, 2008 effective november 1, 2008. New drug law narrows crack, powder 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. Federal sentencing guidelines disparity in crack versus. Fair sentencing act american civil liberties union. The excessively harsh sentencing laws for crack cocaine versus for powder cocaine are not inherently discriminatory, as many lawsuits have. Seeking rehab for cocaine or crack addiction is an important step toward achieving sobriety. The issues raised in the appeal will be discussed in future blogs as will the united states supreme courts recent decision in kimbrough v united states, 128 s. Crack is cheaper, so its found in low income communities more than pure 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.
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. This legislation enacted an astounding 100to1 disparity in crack vs. At the time, possession of crack cocaine resulted in penalties 100 times higher than possession of an equal amount of the powdered form. On october 30, president clinton signed a bill that blocks the u. Congress passed the fair sentencing act to make punishments for crack. The fair sentencing act 2010 reduced sentencing disparities to 18. The sentencing disparity for dealing crack and powder cocaine was 100 to 1. The drugsentencing bill attracted little notice in washington, compared. Clinton signs bill to disapprove of equalizing crack. Unjustified and unreasonable overview crack cocaine became prevalent in the mid1980s and received massive media attention due in part to the death of college basketball star len bias subsequently found to have used powder cocaine on the night of his death and not crack. We wrote this paper to inform the public and congress about the disparities in the sentencing laws between crack and powder. Since the law went into effect, the ratio dropped to 18to1. 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. What is the difference between crack and powder cocaine in.