Discuss the issues between crack versus powder cocaine. Do you believe the sentencing ratio should remain where it is? Why or why not?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

One of the biggest concerns in the sentencing disparity literature is the huge differences in sentencing received by crack possession versus sentences imposed on possession of powder cocaine. Of particular concern was the difference in sentencing imposed on those who used or sold the cheaper crack cocaine, who tended to be minority group offenders, particularly African Americans, versus those who used or sold powder cocaine, which tended to be more expensive and more likely used and trafficked by White offenders. In 1988, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which established a 100-to-1 quantity ratio differential between powder and crack cocaine. That act also specified that simple possession of crack cocaine was to be treated more seriously than the simple possession of other illegal drugs. According to a U.S. Sentencing Commission Report to Congress in 1995, in 1986 Congress was reacting to media hype about how addictive crack was, with congressional members claiming crack use was at “epidemic” levels, crack babies were severely impaired, and about crime related to crack use was out of control in some cities. At the time of this 1995 report, the Commission knew that “88.3 percent of the offenders convicted in federal court for crack cocaine distribution in 1993 were Black and 7.1 percent were Hispanic,” and critics were concerned that instead of fair and evenhanded sentences for all, the effect of the Anti-Drug Act was to be unfair and harsh in sentencing of racial minorities. Criticisms of the different treatment of people convicted of possession of pharmacologically identical drugs resulting in the increased incarceration of minorities for longer periods of time mounted to the point where Congress had to do something. In 2009, a Fair Sentencing Act was introduced and passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on August 3rd, 2010. Under the act, the amount of crack cocaine subject to the 5-year minimum sentence is increased from 5 g to 28 g, thus reducing the 100-to-1 ratio to 18-to-1 ratio (28 g of crack gets as much time as 500 g of powder cocaine). Thus, there is still a large sentencing differential between possessors of crack versus possessors of powder cocaine. This ratio probably reflects lawmaker’s perceptions that crack is more intimately related to violence (in territorial battles) and to a higher probability of addiction than the powder variety. Second part of essay is subjective.