This dramatic sentencing disparity exists despite the fact that the drugs are pharmacologically identical. Supreme court examines disparity in crack and powder. The demographic profile of cocaine offenders must be further examined to analyze any disparity in sentencing. Crack cocaine, race, and the war on drugs legal definition. Aug 03, 2010 support for reducing the disparity with powder cocaine offenders increased with reports beginning in 2002 by the u. Some 2020 democratic candidate argue that the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, which now sits at 18to1. For example, the possession of 2 ounces of crack cocaine carried a 10 year mandatory minimum jail sentence compared to 179 ounces of powder cocaine for the same penalty. Cocaine is generally found in white powder form, and crack is found in a rock form that is generally white, cream, tan, or light brown. The law also contained minimum sentences and other disparities between the two forms of the drug. Crack and cocaine powder sentencing disparities essay sample. While they are both different chemical forms of cocaine, they differ in how they are made, how they are abused, their cost, dangers. Download page term paper on disparity in sentencing for crack vs. Crack cocaine is one of the forms of cocaine base, which is produced from powder cocaine and is smoked. Disparity in sentencing for crack vs powder cocaine.
Another difference between crack and cocaine relates to the high produced. Crack and cocaine powder sentencing disparities essay. The issues raised in the appeal will be discussed in future blogs as will the united states supreme courts recent decision in kimbrough v united. So, the federal law still imposes a different and harsher sentence for crack cocaine possession than it does for powder cocaine possession, but the disparity is not nearly as great as under the 1986 act. Chemically purified, very potent cocaine in pellet form that is smoked through a glass pipe and is considered highly and rapidly addictive. Powder cocaine history and background college basketball star len bias died of a powder cocaine overdose while celebrating his number one draft pick in the 1986 nba draft. Crack cocaine often nicknamed crack after the sound made during its manufacture is a lowerpurity form of freebase cocaine and contains sodium bicarbonate as impurity. Under what is commonly referred to as the 100to1 cocaine sentencing disparity, it takes one hundred times as much powder cocaine as crack cocaine to trigger the federal mandatory minimums. In response, the antidrug abuse act of 1986 included a provision that created the disparity between federal penalties for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses, imposing the same penalties for the possession of an amount of crack cocaine as for 100 times the same amount of powder cocaine. Congress compounded the inequity by making crack cocaine the only drug that carries a mandatory minimum sentence for possession, even for firsttime offenders. Congress compounded the inequity by making crack cocaine the only drug.
Federal policy is responsible for this disparity, the antidrug abuse act of 1986 and public law 10438 federal sentencing guidelines, amendment, disapproval being the most significant contributors. Similarly, those carrying ten grams of crack cocaine faced a. Nov 15, 2007 congress did a serious injustice when it imposed much tougher penalties on defendants convicted of selling the crack form of cocaine the kind most often used in impoverished, minority. Crack cocaine and powder cocaine are sometimes referred to in research and other outlets simply as cocaine, but there is a big difference between the two. There is also, however, some evidence that race does not play a large part in sentencing disparity where crack vs. Federal crack cocaine sentencing the sentencing project. Race and class penalties in crack cocaine sentencing by michael coyle overview after a decade of contentious debate regarding the federal sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a number of significant initiatives to reform current policy. Other issues may actually affect disparity more than someones race or ethnicity. Assistant majority leader dick durbin dil introduced the fair sentencing act of 2009, a narrowlytailored bill that would eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine and increase penalties for the worst offenders.
Why are crack cocaine sentences longer than those for. Crack cocaine, also known simply as crack or rock, is a free base form of cocaine that can be smoked. The disparity is highly controversial and often attributed to racial and economic bias rather than the relative harm of crack versus cocaine. The main difference is the rate at which the high is felt and how long it lasts. Crack cocaine definition of crack cocaine by the free. Cocaine is a hydrochloride salt in its powdered form, while crack cocaine is derived from powdered cocaine by combining it with water and another substance, usually baking soda sodium bicarbonate. The sentencing disparity between convictions for crack cocaine and powder cocaine is discriminatory toward africanamericans. Sentencing guidelines show that 500 grams of powdered cocaine will put you away for the minimum of five years, where only 5 grams of crack cocaine can give you the same amount of years. Crack and cocaine also differ in the manner in which they are used.
While they are both different chemical forms of cocaine, they differ in how they are made, how they are abused, their cost, dangers, effects, and more. The 2010 act eliminated the fiveyear minimum sentence and increased the amount of crack necessary to result in sentencing from 100toone to 18toone. Lawmakers rushed to establish the disparity and stiff sentences for crack cocaine in. Famm supported that reform, the fair sentencing act fsa. New rules slashing crack cocaine sentences go into effect cnn. What is the difference between crack and powder cocaine in. In the mid 80s, congress passed the antidrug abuse act of 1986. Congress is considering a bill to change drug laws that punish crack cocaine violations more severely than those for powder cocaine. Powder and crack cocaine differ in appearance, side effects, duration of effects, demographics and incarceration rates. Activists argue that the current rules are too harsh. These include legislation introduced in congress and a series of hearings resulting in recommendations by the united states sentencing. Crack cocaine is different from powder cocaine in that it is processed to make a rock crystal, then heated to produce vapors, which are smoked.
Similarly, those carrying ten grams of crack cocaine. The manual of adolescent substance abuse treatment calls it the most addictive form of cocaine. After a decade of contentious debate regarding the federal sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a number of significant initiatives to reform current policy have recently emerged. After cocaine and baking soda are combined, the mixture is boiled, and a solid forms. The sentencing disparity for dealing crack and powder cocaine was 100 to 1. Crack and powder cocaine have similar pharmacological and physiological effects on the body, as major studies have shown us. The commission establishes sentencing policies and practices for the federal courts. The amount of powder cocaine necessary to trigger the sentence is still five kilos.
It is all too common these days to listen to news commentators discussing the disparity between federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Whereas, proposals to remove the federal mandatory minimums for crack and powder cocaine, and to otherwise eliminate the disparity for crack and powder cocaine by sentencing crack in the same manner that powder cocaine is currently sentenced, would threaten efforts to investigate and prosecute significant and violent drug offenders that deal. Mar 31, 2020 sentencing disparities between crack cocaine vs. At the time, possession of crack cocaine resulted in penalties 100 times higher than possession of an equal amount of the powdered form. Spohn 20 examined racial disparities in sentences from.
Some 2020 democratic candidate argue that the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, which now sits at 18to1, should be eliminated entirely. October 08, 20 criminal law and criminology 4 comments 3 min read. Powder cocaine after a decade of contentious debate regarding the federal sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a number of significant initiatives to reform current policy have recently emerged. The fsa changed this socalled 100toone disparity to a disparity of 18toone. Cracking the racial disparity for cocaine sentencing. Prior to the enactment of the fsa, it took 100 times as much powder cocaine as crack cocaine to receive the same five, 10, or 20year mandatory minimum prison term. The figures for the 6,020 powder cocaine cases are far less skewed. Fair sentencing act american civil liberties union.
Reducing the crackpowder cocaine disparity drug war facts. Crack cocaine sentences have long been much more harsh than those for powder cocaine. Federal sentencing guidelines disparity in crack versus. While the effect of such policies on racial disparities in incarceration is. Since the law went into effect, the ratio dropped to 18to1. In 2010 congress passed the fair sentencing act, which repealed the mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession and reduced the sentencing disparity from 100.
This disparity between crack and powder cocaine was driven by fear, instead of by research, of the intensity and perceived dangers of crack cocaine. The 1986 law created a 100 to 1 disparity between the sentencing guidelines for crack and powder cocaine. After president obama signed off on new legislation to reduce the sentencing disparity between people caught with crack cocaine and those caught with powder cocaine, the minnesota democrat spoke to huffpost about what it. Under federal sentencing guidelines, a smalltime crack retailer caught selling 5 grams of crack cocaine receives the same prison sentence as a largescale powder cocaine dealer convicted of distributing 500g rams of powder cocaine. Dec 06, 2010 im working on a paper that deals with the disparity of crack vs.
Sentencing commissions recommendation to reduce the penalties for crack cocaine offenses from the powder crack cocaine ratio of 100 to 1, to 5 to 1. The disparity started in the 1980s, when crack cocaine started to ravish urban black communities in america. Crack, which is derived from powdered cocaine, is a rocklike form of cocaine that can be smoked to achieve a high. The difference between powder cocaine and crack cocaine. The federal government sought to crack down on the problem by implementing severe prison sentences for those people caught dealing crack cocaine.
Despite harsher penalties for crack versus powder cocaine, crack use declined less than powder cocaine and even less than drugs not included in sentencing. Case coincides with congressional push to repeal racially discriminatory sentencing scheme. Once the fair sentencing act was passed in 2010, however, this social disparity was slowly lessened. The us government created a 100to1 minimum sentence. Powder cocaine use is more evenly spread among ethnic backgrounds, and more white americans have tried powder cocaine than black americans. This process is frequently done with baking soda sodium bicarbonate, water, and a spoon. Because crack and powder cocaine are two forms of the same drug, there should not be any disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine offenses the only truly fair ratio is 1. Crack is essentially powder cocaine mixed with water and baking soda which is dried into a solid mass. In 2010, congress passed the fair sentencing act fsa, which reduced the sentencing disparity between offenses for crack and powder cocaine from 100. A 2010 federal law rectified some, though not all, of the sentencing disparities. Whereas, the fiveyear federal mandatory minimum sentencing amount for cocaine base hereinafter crack is five grams and the corresponding amount for cocaine hydrochloride hereinafter powder cocaine is 500 gms. Crack and cocaine are both drugs created from the coca plant but have a different level of refinement. Feb 19, 2015 in light of the current sentencing disparity18.
Meaning of crack cocaine, race, and the war on drugs as a legal term. Data show racial disparity in crack sentencing us news. Since then the federal bureau of prisons began to have budget and overcrowding problems. In the 1980s, crack use created an epidemic that affected thousands of people in poor urban communities in the united states. The punishment difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine exposes an unjust feature in the american justice system, a system that was built to be the epitome of justice. Nov 01, 2011 many inmates are being released starting tuesday, thanks to changes easing the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences. The precise terms of the legislation that would address the discrepancy were somewhat more difficult to devise. Laws that were supposed to focus federal efforts on locking up drug kingpins. Mandatory minimum sentencing policies and cocaine use in the u. Cracking the racial disparity for cocaine sentencing center. It also ignored the clinton administrations proposal to reduce the ratio to 10 to 1. This disparity between crack and powder cocaine was driven by fear, instead of by research, of the intensity and perceived dangers of crack. The legislation also eliminates the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine. Under what is commonly referred to as the 100to1 cocaine sentencing disparity, it takes one hundred times as much powder cocaine as crack cocaine.
However, blacks who did use either powder cocaine or crack tended to use at. The new law significantly reduces the cocaine sentencing quantity disparity from 100 to 1 to 18 to 1 by raising the quantity of crack cocaine necessary to trigger the five and tenyear mandatory minimum sentences first set in 1986. We define cocaine base as any freebase or crack cocaine use within the. To get a comparable sentence, a dealer selling powdered cocaine would have to. A comprehensive examination of the 100to1 crack versus powder cocaine sentencing disparity under which distribution of just 5 grams of crack carries a minimum 5year federal prisonsentence, while distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine carries the same 5year mandatory minimum sentence. Regardless of changes in the federal law, a charge of crack or powder cocaine is a very serious charge. Sep 03, 2015 and a central feature of this framework was the now infamous minimum sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine violations. The drug causes short but intense euphoric effects. The us sentencing commission provided this analogy in 1997 to support equalizing penalties for crack and powder cocaine.
Cocaine is derived from the coca plant, which is indigenous to south america. How mandatory minimums helped drive mass incarceration youtube. For reasons beyond the scope of this posting, certain stakeholders view this disparity as the product of systemic racism. Seeking rehab for cocaine or crack addiction is an important step toward achieving sobriety.
Crack is cheaper, so its found in low income communities more than pure powder cocaine. What does crack cocaine, race, and the war on drugs mean in law. Keith ellison spent 16 years as a trial lawyer dealing with hundreds of cases involving cocaine arrests. Addressing the sentencing disparity of crack cocaine vs. Crack cocaine is frequently purchased already in rock form, although it is not uncommon for some users to wash up or cook powder cocaine into crack themselves. Both crack and powder cocaine produce similar effects. What is the chemical difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Nyu study identifies arrest risk disparity for cocaine use socioeconomically disadvantaged adults are more likely to use crack over powder cocaine, and are thus more likely to be subject to arrest. Aug 03, 2010 data show racial disparity in crack sentencing. This imbalance means that 28 grams of crack will receive the same sentence as 500 grams of powdered cocaine. Act in 1970, which defined modern drug regulation musto, 1999.
Cocaine is typically snorted, and crack is typically smoked. The adaa created a 100toone ratio between the quantity of crack versus powder cocaine needed to trigger mandatory minimum sentencing. When someone smokes crack cocaine, the effects are felt almost immediately and can last for five to 10 minutes. Despite these differences, both drugs can have devastating effects on a persons health. Sentencing commission calling for congress to change the crack cocaine law. Definition of crack cocaine, race, and the war on drugs in the legal dictionary by free online english dictionary and encyclopedia. Before this law was passed, the united states had a 100to1 crack to powder cocaine sentencing disparity. This report addresses disparities in cocaine sentencing in states and documents efforts at the federal and state level to correct these injustices. Inherent in the law is the infamous 100to1 disparity, whereas trafficking in 5 grams of crack cocaine draws a fiveyear prison sentence, while it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to land. Now, the ten year sentence is triggered by 280 grams of crack instead of 50.
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