A FIRST CHANGE IN DRUG SENTENCING

Re "Justices OK latitude on sentencing," Dec. 11

Finally, the Supreme Court has positively reacted to the cruelty of a
bad sentencing law that has been tossed around between legislatures
and the courts for 20 years. In that time, an alarming number of
people's lives have been destroyed by racially discriminatory
crack-cocaine laws that disproportionately sentenced people of color.
However, the decision to give judges more power to use sentencing
discretion is only a first step in correcting these clearly draconian
laws that were constructed because of the politics of the drug war. I
hope it sends a clear message to prosecutors that mandatory minimum
sentences are a part of an archaic judicial structure that needs to be
overhauled in the name of justice.

Anthony Papa

Communications Specialist

Drug Policy Alliance

New York