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Newly Released Crack Cocaine Defendants: How Are They Faring?

The Washington Post today reports on some crack defendants who were able to leave prison early due to the recent retroactive sentencing guideline reductions. They seem to be coping pretty well, considering the changed world they've returned to after a decade or more behind bars.

More than 7,000 crack cocaine offenders ... have received reduced sentences since March, when the U.S. Sentencing Commission put retroactive sentence guidelines into effect to offset what the commission felt were overly harsh punishments for crack cocaine related crimes, and it is an open question whether they will succeed or return to a life behind bars.

....Nearly 90 percent of those who received the tough sentences for crack cocaine were black men and women. Most users and dealers of powder cocaine are white and Latino.

There were 19,500 federal inmates serving sentences for crack when the reduction went into effect in March. Many aren't eligible for the reduction for a variety of technical reasons. For others, mandatory minimum sentencing laws which trump the guidelines will prevent them from getting a reduced sentence. The Government files objections to scores of requests, arguing either that the reduction doesn't apply to a particular defendant or the court should exercise its discretion and deny the relief.

The recent reduction is but a first baby step towards what's needed to reintroduce fairness into our federal criminal justice system. [More...]

The mandatory minimum sentencing laws for non-violent drug offenses need to be scrapped altogether. As to powder and crack, the penalties need to be equalized at the current powder levels.

We don't need bills like Joe Biden's S. 1711, the "Drug Sentencing Reform and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2007" which tags on tens of millions of dollars to beef up prosecutions in the war on drugs.

Biden's bill provides (per year for 2008 and 2009) $36 million for prosecutor and DEA agent salaries, $20 million for salaries of agents conducting drug investigations for the Treasury Department's Financial Crime Enforcement Network and the Department of Homeland Security and $0 for defenders. In all, a paltry $15 million is authorized for prevention and treatment at the state and federal levels.

As to the crack cocaine penalty reductions, Biden's bill expressly states it is not retroactive. Unfortunately, Barack Obama has signed on as a co-sponsor (as did Hillary.)

The best bill is Charlie Rangel's House bill, "The Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act of 2007"H.R. 460 (with 24 co-sponsors.) It reduces the crack penalties to the current level for powder -- period.

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    Excellent Post (5.00 / 2) (#1)
    by Katherine Graham Cracker on Sun Jun 08, 2008 at 06:02:59 PM EST
    "The mandatory minimum sentencing laws for non-violent drug offenses need to be scrapped altogether. As to powder and crack, the penalties need to be equalized at the current powder levels."  Can't not be said often enough

    All the drug war is a war on people and an excuse to hassle them.  Drug use as part of the criminal justice system is expensive and frankly stupid.
    I think if people understood the waste of money involved in enforcing drug law they would place the priority very low.

    Biden should be ashamed of himself.  I don't think modeling yourself after Nelson Rockefeller is a good idea.

    Makes my stomach turn... (5.00 / 2) (#2)
    by Alec82 on Sun Jun 08, 2008 at 06:26:09 PM EST
    ...whenever I think about the amount of money wasted.  

     Here is how you get the initiative system to solve this mess: pass along the cost of enforcement entirely to the federal government for the non-violent drug trade...possession and sales.  Pass enough initiatives, and the resources of the federal government will be spread so thin they will be forced to reform.

     Ah, in dreams...