THEIR TIME'S UP

Allowing Retroactive Sentence Reduction Was Right Move

The presence of one hydrogen atom and one chlorine atom used to mean
the difference between probation and five years in prison.

That is the chemical difference between powder cocaine and crack, the
freebase form.

With the extreme disparities in federal sentencing for powder and
crack cocaine charges, the U.S. Sentencing Commission made the right
decision to retroactively reduce punishment for crack cocaine offenders.

As a result of this change, inmates in the Charlotte area became
eligible Monday to apply for reduced sentencing.

The debate stems from drug laws instituted in 1988 that mandated a
minimum five-year sentence for possession of five grams of crack. It
would take 500 grams of powder cocaine to receive the same sentence,
a ratio of 100 to 1.

The laws also made crack cocaine the only drug that carries a
mandatory sentence for a first offense of simple possession. That
rock-hard legislation is unheard of in the prosecution of other drug offenses.

Crack and powder forms of cocaine have similar physiological effects
on the body, so the main difference between the forms is cost and area of use.

Because it is less expensive to manufacture, and thus to sell, crack
cocaine is more prevalent in low-income neighborhoods, which tend to
have higher crime rates. This has led to the concern that the crack
trade is inherently more violent.

However, there is no legal basis for the disparities in the way the
different forms of cocaine are prosecuted.

A 1995 study conducted by the USSC concluded that violence associated
with crack sales is correlated more with the drug trade environment,
not use of the drug. That means that any drug being sold in the same
areas by the same people would produce similar rates of violence.

A report to the commission also stated that 90 percent of crack
cocaine offenses were nonviolent.

Moreover, statistics seem to support the notion that sentencing for
crack offenses themselves have racial disparities, which casts
further doubt on the justice of past crack sentencing.

Though two-thirds of crack users are white or Latino, 80 percent of
those prosecuted for a crack-related crime in federal courts were
African American, and 73 percent of those charged were only involved
in low level drug activities.

Prosecution and sentencing for drug offenses should be based on the
severity of the offense itself, not on whether the drug is taken up
the nose or through a pipe.