Subject: "Incarcerating Blacks" by Maxine Waters

Confronting the Realities of Public Policy Gone Wrong

The Incarceration of Black America

When Congress passed its latest slew of mandatory minimum sentencing laws
in the 1980s, the notion was to get tough on crime, especially drugrelated
crimes. The plan was to unclog the court system, jail drug kingpins who
were preying on our nation's young people, and prevent "liberal" judges
from letting criminals off too easily. The "war on drugs," "get tough on
crime," "three strikes, you're out" slogans that politicians used so well
on the campaign trail have been sadly crafted into laws with little
consideration for their human consequences.

For more than two decades as an elected official, I have witnessed the
negative impact of wrongminded public policy on black communities and,
especially, on black youth. Too often, legislators vote on bills without
fully understanding their impact on individuals. In many cases, they would
prefer not to put a face on those who are affected.

I believe that unless we fully understand how legislation impacts the lives
of the people we govern, we are doomed to pass laws that create more
problems than they solve. This is most evident when we examine how
mandatory minimum sentencing laws impact poor communities.

These mandatory minimum laws remove from the hands of judges and other
court officials the ability to examine the individual circumstances of each
case before sentencing. A judge's discretion can mean the difference
between a young person going to jail and having his or her life irreparably
damaged or being placed in a program that might have a chance to save a
human being.

While judges cannot be caseworkers, they can look at the circumstances of a
young offender's life to make rational and reasoned evaluations of
someone's risk to society. For example, a teenage female addict, called a
"strawberry" on the streets of South Central Los Angeles because she sells
her body to support her habit, needs help and intervention, not a fiveyear
mandatory minimum prison term. A young crackaddicted mother who passes her
habit to her infant needs help first to kick her own habit and then with
educational and employment opportunities so that she can support her child.

Mandatory minimum sentencing laws do little to help in cases like these;
they only punish. And, more often than not, they unfairly punish African
American and Hispanic defendants as compared to whites who commit similar
crimes. Nowhere is this more evident than when we examine the disparate
sentencing laws surrounding the possession or distribution of crack cocaine
versus powder cocaine.

In 1986 and 1988, Congress mandated harsher sentencing for crack cocaine
distributors and users than for powder cocaine despite the fact that they
are simply different forms of the same illegal drug. Crack cocaine, a
cheaper version of cocaine than powder, is more commonly found in poor
communities.

Under the current sentencing mandates passed by Congress, a young person
convicted of trafficking in five grams of crack cocaine receives a
fiveyear mandatory minimum penalty. A young person selling the same amount
of powder cocaine would be charged with a misdemeanor offense punishable by
a maximum of one year. It would take possession of 500 grams of powder
cocaine to receive the same fiveyear mandatory sentence the defendant with
5 grams of crack receives. This statutory 100 to 1 ratio of powder to crack
has relegated a disproportionate number of black and Hispanic youth to
longterm prison sentences that stigmatize them for life.

The recent recommendation by Attorney General Janet Reno to reduce the
disparity to a 10 to 1 ratio is an improvement, but does not end the
imbalance. Indeed, the rationale presented by Reno to reduce the disparity
to 10 to 1 is equally persuasive when applied to the question of
eliminating any sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine.
The violence associated with crack dealing has dropped over the past few
years. There is an almost even split between crack users and powder users,
and the treatment programs for crack and powder users are similar, with
similar success rates.

In addition, both Attorney General Reno and drug czar General McCaffrey
concede that the disparity has led to selective prosecution of
AfricanAmerican and Hispanic young men within the federal courts. This is
true even though "crack cocaine use is more prevalent among young whites
than among young blacks," according to the Office of National Drug Control
Policy; In 1994, for example, "a larger percentage (3.2%) of whites aged
1825 used crack cocaine than did blacks in the same age group (1.8%).
Additionally, in 1994, a larger percentage of whites in age groups
1217,1825 and 2634 used cocaine than did blacks in the same age
(group)." Yet, "blacks and nonwhites are sentenced for crack violations
disproportionately."

The impact of the sentencing disparities is staggering. Today,
MexicanAmerican males make up 6 percent of the American population and
only 15 percent of the drugusing population. Yet, they now represent 35
percent of drug arrests, 55 percent of drug convictions and 74 percent of
those serving prison sentences for drugrelated offenses. One in three
black males between the ages of 20 and 29 is under criminal justice control.

One in 15 is incarcerated. Ninetyfour percent of the crack offenders in
federal courts are African American. In practice, the "war on drugs" has
become synonymous with a war on black communities.

In addition, this socalled war has disenfranchised large segments of
African Americans by taking away their right to vote. A recent study by the
Sentencing Project estimated that 1.46 million black males have lost the
right to vote due to a felony conviction.

Two years ago, we attempted to remove the disparities between the
sentencing for crack cocaine offenses and powder cocaine offenses. The
United States Sentencing Commission reported that there was no scientific
basis for the disparity and acknowledged that blacks were more heavily
impacted by the disparity than whites. Despite these arguments, Congress
rejected the recommendations by a vote of 33283. Ironically, the
Sentencing Commission was created specifically to ensure that sentencing
policy in our nation is fairly and equitably administered and protected
from the political world.

In addition to fighting to correct the harsh and unfair sentencing
disparities between crack and powder cocaine, the Congressional Black
Caucus (CBC) has proposed several initiatives to address the drug problem
in our communities.

Instead of dismantling economic and educational opportunities for poor
communities, we should target more resources toward programs that work to
rebuild our neighborhoods.

Currently, the federal government spends $15 billion each year on law
enforcement, treatment and prevention programs in its "war on drugs." The
CBC antidrug initiative calls for a $200 million allocation for drug
courts to treat lowlevel or firsttime nonviolent drug offenders,
especially youth. There are successful drug court programs, such as those
in New York City, that demonstrate the important role these programs can
play in helping young people solve drugrelated problems.

We must give special attention to youth who come into contact with both the
juvenile justice and the criminal justice system. Helping young people
through mentoring and educational programs at an early age is a critical
component in crime prevention programs.

We must treat prisoners for their drug addictions. Given the overwhelming
rise in the number of drug offenders serving mandatory minimum sentences
and the number of these prisoners who will be released from prison,
treating prisoners for their drug addiction is in society's best interest.

As we look for answers, we must remember that all problems have real human
faces. Our solutions must also.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC),
was elected in 1990 to represent the 35th District of California. She has
made the elimination of drugs in our neighborhoods the number one priority
for the CBC.