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U.S. Sentencing Commission's Ruling May Let Crack Dealers Out Early

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Elano:
Just after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (7-2) Monday that federal judges can use their discretion when giving shorter prison sentences in order to reduce the disparity between crack and powder cocaine, the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) decided today (Dec 12) to make the new sentencing laws retroactive.


Street pharmacists and social activists have been reporting racial injustice since 1986 and 1988 when a federal sentencing law created a 100:1 ratio between crack and powder cocaine in order to activate certain mandatory minimum sentences for dealing and possession.


Federal law required a crack dealer (mostly African Americans) to serve a minimum of five years in prison for selling 5 grams of crack cocaine while a powder cocaine dealer would have to sell 500 grams to trigger the same sentence.


As of November 1, first-time offenders caught with 5 grams of crack cocaine will receive 51 to 63 months, whereas the old law mandated 63 to 78 months and first-time offenders possessing 50 grams now get 97 to 121 months, down from 121 to 151 months.


According to the Commission, approximately 86 percent of inmates affected by the new law are black, 94 percent are men. The Commission's decision to make the new law retroactive affects almost 19,500 prisoners.


The mandatory crack cocaine sentencing laws were created based upon what the Sentencing Project believes was sensationalized portrayals of crack, stating that it is a violence-inducing drug that was 50 times more addictive. The Sentencing Project reports, in fact, that the physiological effects of all types of cocaine are the same.


The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says that thousands of offenders who were harshly sentenced can now have their case reviewed in court. Jesselyn McCurdy, legislative counsel for the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, said that the USSC's decision "to apply the guidelines retroactively means justice for offenders sentenced under the previous guidelines, who may no longer have to serve more time than required by law."


The Supreme Court's ruling in Kimbrough v. U.S, which centered around Derrick Kimbrough's 15-year sentence for distributing 50 grams of crack cocaine when the sentencing guidelines mandated 19-22 year, showed that judges can disagree with the 100 to 1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine by sentencing offenders below the guidelines. 

boycriedwolf619:
this is actually a good post. I read about this couple of days ago. Now that I think about it, the people who will get released depending on how old they are, will probably just end back up in jail. With no work experience and all that stuff, its going to be real tough and being Black too.

Tay:
^^Very true..The Corrections system is bullshit, is doesn't help to rehabilitate or do anything positive. You go away for a few years, hanging around a place where gangs rule, your behaviors become worse, you are treated like shit, and then you get released with nothing. You are already several steps behind and not used to dealing with people, and nobody wants to hire an ex-convict. So what life do they have to go back to?? Same shit that got them in prison in the first place. The rules about crack are bullshit, it is worse as a rock-form instead of base cocaine, but that was targeted to get the black drug dealers.

boycriedwolf619:

--- Quote from: KillaTay10 Supporter of the 'Kill Jimmy Iovine Movement' on December 18, 2007, 12:34:45 AM ---^^Very true..The Corrections system is bullshit, is doesn't help to rehabilitate or do anything positive. You go away for a few years, hanging around a place where gangs rule, your behaviors become worse, you are treated like shit, and then you get released with nothing. You are already several steps behind and not used to dealing with people, and nobody wants to hire an ex-convict. So what life do they have to go back to?? Same shit that got them in prison in the first place. The rules about crack are bullshit, it is worse as a rock-form instead of base cocaine, but that was targeted to get the black drug dealers.

--- End quote ---
Yup, SHALLOW I don't want to even hear you try to deny that either with you bullshit. You ever hear of that dude, Pastor G, who started 'Home Boy Industries'? It's supposed to be a job for gang bangers?

Tay:
Yeah, that's good to see stuff like that. People look at felons like they are these horrible people, and a lot of them are. But a lot of them are normal people, that we went to school with, worked with, and got caught up doing stupid shit, mixed with the wrong people, and their behavior got worse. I was just having this conversation with my friend last week because he told me one of our friends from high school got arrested for selling coke.

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