REDUCING THE DISPARITY

Sessions Works for Fairer Drug Sentencing

ALABAMA - U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions helped broker a bipartisan Senate
deal that would make federal sentencing in crack cocaine and powder
cocaine cases fairer and more just.

Sen. Sessions, a long-time critic of the disparity in federal
sentences for possession of crack and powder cocaine, teamed with
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin on legislation that would close most of the
sentencing gap.

Under the current law, possession of five grams of crack -- a cheaper,
crystalline form of cocaine -- brings a mandatory five-year prison
sentence. In order to trigger the same sentence, a powder cocaine user
would have to possess 500 grams of the drug.

The result is a sentencing disparity of 100:1. This has disturbing
racial implications, given that more than 80 percent of crack
offenders are black.

Powder cocaine is more associated with upscale, predominantly white
suburbs while crack frequently is sold in low-income inner-city
neighborhoods.

Sen. Sessions, a former federal prosecutor, has worked for years to
reduce the disparity in sentencing. But partisan differences in
Congress over the need for tough drug sentencing have blocked progress
on legislative remedies.

The compromise bill endorsed by Sen. Sessions, a conservative
Republican, and Sen. Durbin, a staunch liberal Democrat, was approved
19-0 by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The bill reduces the disparity from 100:1 to 20:1. Some liberals
insist the disparity is still unjust. However, it's hard to argue that
crack doesn't have more destructive social effects than powder
cocaine, mainly because crack tends to afflict the poor and the vulnerable.

The compromise bill strikes a good balance, and it should fare well in
the full Senate.

This is a rare, bipartisan moment that reflects a widespread
understanding that the huge sentencing disparities between crack and
powder cocaine convictions aren't defensible from the standpoint of
the law or criminal justice policy.

Congress should ratify the consensus and guarantee more evenhanded
justice.