procedural guides

Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Reform

 

The “War on Drugs” as we know it today in the United States, spans just over 40 decades and has involved a series of laws, both state and federal, to decrease, if not eradicate, illegal drug use and increase public health and safety.

The emergence of crack cocaine in the United States and the rash of increased crime and other social ills that accompanied it led to new federal drug laws and sentencing guidelines designed to deter any type of involvement with the drug – specifically a five-year mandatory minimum sentence for possession alone under the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act.

Crack cocaine posed a new phenomenon in illegal drug use because unlike powder cocaine which commands a high price when sold illegally, crack cocaine is significantly less expensive to manufacture, hence it was  accessible to underserved areas (www.fda.gov).

Unlike other drugs which have been problematic in the U.S. for decades, crack cocaine was new, cheap, and disproportionately available within inner cities. Because of the demographic breakdown the majority crack cocaine users revealed young African American men. The penalty for being in possession of five grams of crack cocaine would automatically trigger a five-year mandatory sentence while it would take 500 grams of powder cocaine (statistically proven to be more likely attributed to Caucasian men) to trigger the same sentence (Washington Post 2010).

Yet, despite the outbreak of crack related violence noted in the media during the 1980’s, a study in 1997 indicated that both forms of cocaine were equally addictive and likely to elicit the same types of behavior.  An editorial piece in the Los Angeles Times surmised: “There was never any scientific basis for the disparity, just panic as the crack epidemic swept the nation’s cities.”

In response to pressure from advocacy groups declaring this to be a social justice issue since crack infiltrates the inner cities and underserved areas whereas powder cocaine tends to be used by the more advantaged, President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (Washington Post 2010, www.govtrac.us 2011).

This act amended the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act in part by augmenting the threshold of crack cocaine to a higher level at which point the mandatory minimum sentence of five years would be triggered (www.ussc.gov 2010).

Additional amendments imposed by the Fair Sentencing Act 2010 serve to “(1) increase the amount of a controlled substance or mixture containing a cocaine base (i.e., crack cocaine) required for the imposition of mandatory minimum prison terms for trafficking; and (2) increase monetary penalties for drug trafficking and for the importation and exportation of controlled substances” (www.ussc.gov 2010).  However, if a possession of crack cocaine is found to be below the threshold but the incident involved violence or maintaining a drug house, the advantages of the Fair Sentencing Act may not be invoked (www.ussc.gov 2010).

 

While many considered this act to be a step forward for social justice, it is not structured to be applied retroactively. As such, advocacy groups continue to fight for retroactive sentencing guidelines for those convicted prior the Fair Sentencing Act’s effective date.

 

Sources

United States Sentencing Commission . (2010, October 21). Amendment to Sentencing Guidelines. Retrieved October 18, 2011, from http://www.ussc.gov/Legal/Amendments/Reader-Friendly/20101021_RF_Amendments.pdf

Los Angeles Times. (2010, July 31). The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010: It’s about time http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/31/opinion/la-ed-sentencing-20100731

S. 1789–111th Congress: Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. (2009). In GovTrack.us (database of federal legislation). Retrieved October 18, 2011, from http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1789

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Controlled Substances Import and Export Act. In FDA: Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved October 19, 2011, from http://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Legislation/ucm148751.htm

Washington Post. (2010, August 3). The Fair Sentencing Act corrects a long-time wrong in cocaine cases. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/02/AR2010080204360.html