Reno favors narrowing the crackpowder gap in cocaine penalties

By WILL LESTER
Associated Press

MIAMI Attorney General Janet Reno told black police executives
Monday she favors less disparity in sentences for possession of
crack cocaine vs. powder cocaine but said crack sentences should
still be stiffer.

"Those who sell crack ought to be punished more," she said,
noting the violence and havoc it wreaks on inner cities. But she
said she favors substantially narrowing the gap in the penalties
for possession of crack cocaine and powder cocaine.

The penalty for possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine is six
times tougher than the penalty for possession of 5 grams of
powder cocaine.

Opponents of the current laws have noted in appeals to the
Supreme Court that it takes 100 times more powder cocaine than
crack to draw the same 10year minimum sentence for drug
trafficking.

People convicted of selling at least 50 grams of crack must be
sentenced to 10 years, while a cocaine powder offender gets the
same sentence only if 5,000 grams or more are involved.

"I want the (sentencing policy) to be one that is fair, and one
that the community thinks is fair," Reno said. "I want it to be
one that also imposes a fair, stiff penalty that fits the crime."

Reno did not give specific sentencing recommendations and left
quickly without speaking to reporters.

In 1995, the Federal Sentencing Commission recommended equalizing
the penalties for possession and sale of the two varieties,
partly because of complaints of racial bias. More than 90 percent
of defendants in the more heavily penalized crack cases are
black, compared with only 25 percent of powder defendants.

The Supreme Court in April rejected an appeal challenging as
racially discriminatory the federal sentencing laws that punish
crack cocaine offenders more harshly than those caught with
powdered cocaine.

Reno's comments came as she addressed the annual convention of
the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and
carefully avoided any mention of the massive manhunt for Andrew
Cunanan.

She also talked about the Justice Department's work with local
law enforcement on a broad range of issues, including the search
for arsonists burning black churches.

"The president made it a top priority to investigate and
prosecute those responsible for these crimes and help communities
in their efforts to rebuild," she said. "We have deployed more
than 200 agents all over the country to investigate these
arsons."

She said the efforts of federal agents, working with local
police, have paid off.

"We have investigated more than 400 arsons and with state and
local help have made arrests of 187 people in 136 of those
cases," she said. "That's double the general arrest rate for
arson."

She said it was crucial that police at the local, state and
federal level give a high priority to prosecuting hate crimes.

A federal task force has found that many, but not all, of the
fires were racially motivated; it found some local conspiracies,
but no evidence so far of a national plot.