Last week, the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee had a chance to advance a bill to eliminate the disparity. Instead, they chose to reduce it²—with no good reason other than to please “moderate” Democrats and Republicans. And President Obama, who for years has championed ending the disparity,³ is supporting the bill — apparently because it’s bipartisan.⁴ It’s shameful.

Can you take a moment to sign our letter to President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanding they show leadership and push for the House version of the bill, which would eliminate the sentencing disparity?⁵ It only takes a moment:

http://colorofchange.org/cpsenate/

Today’s unfair sentencing laws treat five grams of crack cocaine the same as 500 grams of powder cocaine — a disparity of 100-to-1. Under the Senate Judiciary Committee’s plan, the laws would change to make 28 grams of crack trigger the same sentence as 500 grams of powder.⁶ As one journalist put it, the proposal would “make the law one-fifth as racist as it used to be.”⁷

Here’s what New York defense attorney Gary G. Becker told the Sentencing Law and Policy blog:

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to “reduce” the crack cocaine/powder cocaine punishment disparity from 100:1 to 20:1 is a scandalous, racist, and politically motivated act. In view of the near-unanimous consensus that there is no justifiable basis for punishing crack cocaine more harshly than powder cocaine, and that the 100:1 ratio was both arbitrary and irrational — even [the] DOJ called for elimination of the disparity — the Senate Judiciary Committee settles on an equally unsupportable, irrational, and arbitrary punishment scheme, one that will disproportionately affect minorities, destroy families, and promote disrespect for the law.⁸

Attorney General Eric Holder said last week, “There is no law enforcement or sentencing rationale for the current disparity between crack and cocaine powder offenses, and I have strongly supported eliminating it to ensure our sentencing laws are tough, predictable and fair.” Yet he went on to give his stamp of approval to the Senate’s 20:1 bill and urged Congress to approve it so it can be signed into law.⁹

There is no disagreement that the current sentencing approach pulls non-violent drug offenders out of their communities for unreasonable lengths of time. And most of the committee members, who unanimously supported this plan, acknowledge that the disparity disproportionately affects Black communities.¹⁰

This is politics at its worst. It’s legislation that harms communities instead of helping them — a direct result of political horse-trading that throws the most vulnerable among us under the bus.

Thankfully, there’s a bill in the House that would completely eliminate the sentencing disparity. But if some Senators have their way and are able to quickly send their bill to the House, this diluted compromise could override the House’s bill — our only remaining chance at real reform.

Allowing that to happen would be disastrous. It will mean more broken families and more unequal justice. It will mean that instead of seizing an opportunity to help our communities, Congress and President Obama have decided to write a scaled-back form of discrimination into our laws.

Can you take a moment to tell President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to fight for passage of the House version of the bill? And when you do, please ask your family and friends to do the same:

http://colorofchange.org/cpsenate/

Thanks and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Milton and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
March 17th, 2010

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU–your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

https://secure.colorofchange.org/contribute/

References

1. “1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says,” New York Times, 02-28-08
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28cnd-prison.html

2. “Senate bill would reduce sentencing disparities in crack, powder cocaine cases,” Washington Post, 3-13-10
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/12/AR2010031204124_pf.html

3. “Obama Administration Calls for End to Crack-Powder Sentencing Disparity,” 4-29-09
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jasmine-tyler/obama-administration-call_b_193028.html

4. “Missing Element in Obama’s Ties With G.O.P. Leaders: Good Chemistry,” 2-24-10
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/us/politics/25chemistry.html

5. “Bad science and bad policy,” The New York Times, 3-2-10
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/opinion/03wed3.html

6. See ref 2

7. “Senate Says No To Ending Crack Disparity,” American Prospect blog, 3-11-10
http://tinyurl.com/ykdtp8j

8. “Varied reactions to the crack/powder reform work of the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Sentencing Law and Policy blog, 03-11-10
http://bit.ly/985ddj

9. “Statement of the Attorney General on Senate Judiciary Committee’s Approval of the Fair Sentencing Act,” 3-11-10
http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2010/ag-speech-100311.html

10. See ref 7

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Although he calls the settlement a “huge step in the right direction,” National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd said that more money is needed.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday reflected on her own family’s rise from slavery to the White House as she helped to unveil a statue of abolitionist Sojourner Truth — the first black woman to be so honored at the Capitol.

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Uniformed Secret Service officers put plastic handcuffs on Reps. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), along with Save Darfur Coalition president Jerry Fowler and Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast after the group stepped behind yellow police tape in front of the embassy.

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These sentencing laws are destroying communities across the country and have done almost nothing to reduce the level of drug use and crime.

We now have an opportunity to end this disaster once and for all. A bill is moving through Congress right now that would end the sentencing disparity.³ It’s critical that members of Congress see support from everyday folks. Join us in asking our representatives in the House and Senate to push for its passage, and please ask your friends and family to do the same. It only takes a moment:

http://colorofchange.org/crack/?id=1829-173305

At every step in the criminal justice system, Black people are at a disadvantage — we are more likely to be arrested, charged, and convicted, but less likely to have access to good legal representation, and get out of prison on parole.⁴ While there’s no denying that the presence of crack has a hugely negative impact in Black communities across the country, it’s clear that the overly harsh crack sentencing laws have done more to feed the broken system than improve our communities.

You have to be convicted of moving roughly $75,000 worth of cocaine to trigger a 5-year sentence.⁵ For crack? About $500 worth.⁶ These laws punish the lowest-level dealers, while providing a loophole that helps those running the trade escape harsh sentences.

Recently, attention has turned to these ill-conceived policies as prisons burst at the seams with non-violent drug offenders. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which provides sentencing guidelines for judges, has petitioned Congress numerous times to change the sentencing laws.⁷

Last year, we reached out to you when Senator Joe Biden– one of the original architects of the disparity– introduced a bill that would have finally eliminated it and ended the mandatory minimum for crack possession, while increasing funding for drug treatment programs and providing additional resources for going after major cocaine kingpins.⁸

His proposal stalled, but that same legislation is moving through Congress again with new support, and it looks like there’s a real chance it could pass. The White House is a clear ally. President Obama has said many times that punishment for crack and powder cocaine should be the same, ⁹ and Biden is now Vice President and still an ardent advocate for getting rid of the disparity.

But there are foes of this plan. Others want to see the disparity reduced to 20-to-1 or 10-to-1, but not eliminated. As Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance has said, that “would be like amending the Constitution’s three-fifths clause to make African-Americans fourth-fifths citizens or desegregating 60 percent of public establishments instead of all of them.”¹⁰ Members of Congress need to hear that there is strong support for a full elimination of the disparity, and that now’s the time to support such legislation.

We can take this opportunity to join the Sentencing Commission and countless other advocates in calling on Congress to change this unjust law. Please join us:

http://colorofchange.org/crack/?id=1829-173305

Thank You and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, William, Dani, and the rest of the ColorOfChange team
April 20th, 2009

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU–your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or corporations and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

https://secure.colorofchange.org/contribute/?id=1829-173305

References:

1. “1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says,” New York Times, 02-28-08
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28cnd-prison.html

2. “Crack/Cocaine Sentencing Disparity,” Drug Policy Alliance
http://www.drugpolicy.org/drugwar/mandatorymin/crackpowder.cfm

3. “H.R. 265 - Drug Sentencing Reform and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2009″
http://maplight.org/map/us/bill/79139/default/history

4. “Annotated Bibliography: Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System,” Sentencing Project
http://tinyurl.com/d2f6tk

5. “Cocaine Price/Purity Analysis of STRIDE Data,” Drug Enforcement Agency
http://www.dea.gov/concern/cocaine_prices_purity.html

6. “FAQ About Crack,” Narconon
http://www.addictionca.com/FAQ-crack.htm

7.U.S. Sentencing Commission Report to the Congress: Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy, May 2007.
http://www.ussc.gov/r_congress/cocaine2007.pdf

8. “Senate Bill Will Fix Sentencing Disparity for Crack Cocaine Possession,” Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, 7-18-07
http://tinyurl.com/cp5gtu

9. “White House Civil Rights Agenda”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/civil_rights/

10. “Congress to Hold Historic Hearing Tuesday on Draconian 100-to-1 Crack/Powder Sentencing Disparity,” Drug Policy Alliance, 02-25-08
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/pressroom/pr022508.cfm

Additional resources:

“Race and the Drug War,” Drug Policy Alliance
http://www.drugpolicy.org/communities/race/

“Federal Crack Cocaine Sentencing,” The Sentencing Project
http://www.sentencingproject.org/PublicationDetails.aspx?PublicationID=573

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