NEW COCAINE SENTENCING GUIDELINES MEAN 20,000 COULD GO FREE SOONER

Nearly 20,000 people in federal prisons for crack cocaine offenses
can apply for early release under new sentencing guidelines, the U.S.
Sentencing Commission said Tuesday.

One day after the U.S. Supreme Court gave judges more leeway to
impose shorter sentences for crack cocaine offenses, the seven-member
commission voted unanimously to make new sentencing guidelines
retroactive beginning March 3.

The guidelines that took effect Nov. 1 reduced, but did not
eliminate, a disparity in mandatory sentences between crack and
powder cocaine offenses. Previous guidelines directed judges to
impose much stiffer sentences on people convicted for crimes
involving crack cocaine. Crack is a rock form of cocaine that can be smoked.

Federal prisoners who are eligible under the guidelines would have to
apply to a judge for a reduced sentence. The releases would occur
over the next 30 years, said the commission, a federal agency that
sets sentencing policies for the federal courts.

"Not every crack cocaine offender will be eligible for a lower
sentence under the decision," the commission said in a statement. "A
federal sentencing judge will make the final determination."

The Sentencing Commission estimates that eligible offenders could see
their sentences reduced an average of 27 months. The commission also
estimates 3,804 offenders could be released in the year after the
retroactivity takes effect. In the second year, 2,118 prisoners could
be released.

Civil liberties groups and legal groups such as the American Civil
Liberties Union and the American Bar Association have long criticized
the disparity in sentences as discriminatory.

Crack cocaine is more often used by blacks, and 86% of 19,500 federal
prisoners serving time for crack offenses are black, according to
U.S. Sentencing Commission data. In 2006, powder cocaine offenders
were sentenced on average to 85 months in prison, while crack cocaine
offenders were sentenced to 122 months in prison.

"Applying this fix retroactively is only fair and just," said Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy
Alliance, a non-partisan organization that supports alternatives to
the drug war, called the decision a "bold step." "It's time to start
treating drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue."

The Bush administration opposed any loosening of the sentences and
retroactivity.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Craig Morford said the decision "will
make thousands of dangerous prisoners, many of them violent gang
members, eligible for immediate release. These offenders are among
the most serious and violent offenders in the federal system."

Attorney General Michael Mukasey said early releases also might pose
problems for the probation and supervision systems.

Neither the commission's new sentencing guidelines nor the Supreme
Court decision alters the congressionally mandated minimum sentences
of five and 10 years for crack cocaine offenses.

A federal law passed in 1986 established the same five-year minimum
sentence for dealing 5 grams of crack cocaine or dealing 500 grams of
powder cocaine. Congress is considering several bills to reduce or
eliminate the disparities.