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| June 25th, 2007 |
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Media Contact(s): Peter Carr (202) 224-9854,
Jared Whitley (202) 224-5251 |
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Printable Version |
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SENATORS AIM TO CORRECT DISPARITY IN COCAINE SENTENCING
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Washington – Today four senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee introduced legislation to correct the disparity in Federal sentencing between powder and crack cocaine violations. Under current law, it takes 100 times more powder cocaine than crack cocaine to trigger the same five- and ten-year mandatory minimum sentences – referred to as the “100 to 1 drug ratio.” The Fairness in Drug Sentencing Act, introduced by Senators Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), aims to reduce the ratio to 20 to 1.
“The bill is not about getting soft on drug crime, it’s about getting smarter in how we respond to it,” Hatch said. “This bill offers significant penalties for drug dealers, and ensures that those who continue to peddle toxic substances in our communities will endure harsh consequences for their destructive choices.”
“This legislation represents a significant bipartisan effort to address our harsh drug laws that have discriminatory consequences,” Kennedy said. “Severe punishments should be directed at those who truly deserve them, and it’s long overdue for Congress to act on the disparities associated with crack-cocaine sentencing.”
“The sentencing disparity for crack cocaine offenses is illogical and unjust, and has been ignored for too long,” Feinstein said. “There should not be such a wide disparity between the sentencing guidelines for crack offenses and cocaine offenses. The Fairness in Drug Sentencing Act will reduce this sentencing disparity, consistent with the Sentencing Commission’s recommendations.”
“This bipartisan legislation offers reasonable and much-needed reform in crack cocaine sentencing under federal law,” Specter said. “It is based on twenty years of data and studies by the United States Sentencing Commission and provides a framework for Federal drug offenses without removing the necessary deterrent against drug crime and violence.”
In 1986, Congress enacted the Anti-Drug Abuse Act to create the framework of statutory mandatory minimum penalties for Federal drug offenses. The act established significantly higher penalties for crack cocaine offenses, based on assumptions that crack was more dangerous and had increased levels of violence associated with its usage.
During the negotiations in the 1986 drug act, President Ronald Reagan endorsed legislation that set the ratio between crack and powder at 20 to 1 – although the stricter 100 to 1 measure was adopted. Many organizations share the Senators’ concern, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission has advocated that Congress reduce the sentencing disparity four times since 1995.
The commission’s latest report on cocaine sentencing requesting Congressional action is available online at www.ussc.gov/r_congress/cocaine2007.pdf.
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