DRUG SENTENCE RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Little Rock, Ark. - A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a
life sentence against a man for possession of $20 worth of cocaine,
saying the punishment was "so harsh" that it was unconstitutional.

The 8th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave Arkansas 90 days to
re-sentence the man, Grover Henderson, or free him.

Henderson, 54, received the life sentence in Lafayette County in 1994
for possession of about a quarter gram of cocaine. The sentence was
upheld by the Arkansas Supreme Court, so he appealed to federal
courts, contending the term was cruel and unusual punishment under the
Eighth Amendment.

The appeals court said "it denies reality and contradicts precedent to
say that all drug crimes are of equal seriousness and pose the same
threat to society."