COMMISSION TARGETS COCAINE SENTENCING DISPARITY

Oklahoma laws that some say result in a disproportionate number of
minorities being sent to prison should be changed, a state panel
recommended Thursday. The Oklahoma Sentencing Commission voted 9-1 to
recommend eliminating the disparity between sentences for those caught
trafficking crack cocaine versus powder cocaine.

The recommendations still must be considered and approved by the Legislature.

Under current Oklahoma law, trafficking 50 or more grams of crack cocaine
results in a prison sentence of 10 years to life, the same penalty that
applies to trafficking 300 or more grams of powder cocaine.

The commission approved a change to make 50 grams the threshold for
trafficking in both forms of the drug.

Rep. Opio Toure, a member of the black legislative caucus, said he has long
pushed for eliminating the sentencing disparity.

"Crack cocaine is the one that is possessed more often by black folks,"
said Toure, D-Oklahoma City. "So you have African-Americans being given
much longer sentences for essentially the same crime."

The disparity has long created mistrust among the minority community that
they are dealt with differently by the justice system, said K.C. Moon,
director of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource Center. "Today's action,
if the Legislature adopts it, will help eliminate some of that perception
of disparity, at least for trafficking of cocaine."

Bob Ravitz, head of the Oklahoma County Public Defender's Office, said he
would have preferred the commission increase the threshold for crack
cocaine rather than lowering the limit for powder.

"Fifty grams is not a big-time trafficker," Ravitz said. "These are little
guys.

"We need to use our resources, in my opinion, to go after big-time dealers,
those with 300 grams."

The 15-member panel of judges, district attorneys, public defenders and
others makes recommendations to help legislators deal with the state's
spiraling prison population.

The state Department of Corrections, which has been appropriated more than
$384 million for the current fiscal year, is seeking an $18 million
supplemental appropriation so the agency can make ends meet.

Oklahoma's prison costs have increased 193 percent, or $253 million, in the
past 16 years, according to figures prepared by the Criminal Justice
Resource Center.

Another change approved Thursday was a recommendation that the governor not
be required to sign parole releases for nonviolent offenders.

Oklahoma is the only state in which the governor's signature is required
before a standard parole is finalized.

A spokesman for Gov. Brad Henry declined to comment on the commission's
recommendation.

"Governor Henry will reserve judgment on the proposal until he has an
opportunity to review the commission recommendations and the reasoning
behind them," spokesman Paul Sund said.

The commission also recommended eliminating mandatory prison sentences for
nonviolent felonies and increasing the funding for the state's probation
and parole system.

Moon said he believes more funding for probation is the key to reducing the
state's prison population.

"We don't have a well-funded, secure probation system, and judges don't
trust it," Moon said. "We fund our probation system at half the rate that a
normal state does, so if you wonder why we have so many people in prison,
that may be part of it."

Oklahoma spends $2.04 per day for an offender on supervised parole or
probation, which is half the U.S. average rate of $4.37 per day, according
to the Criminal Justice Resource Center.