Scooter Judge: Crack Penalties "Unconscionable"
U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton, who presides over the Scooter Libby case, testified today at the U.S. Sentencing Commission hearing on crack-powder cocaine penalties.
Judge Walton was a deputy drug czar and top drug policy advisor to President G.H. Bush.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton told the U.S. Sentencing Commission that federal laws requiring dramatically longer sentences for crack cocaine than for cocaine powder were "unconscionable" and contributed to the perception within minority communities that courts are unfair.
"I never thought that the disparity should be as severe as it has become," said Walton, who sits on the bench in Washington, where he previously served as a Superior Court judge, a federal prosecutor and a deputy drug czar.
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