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Panel Weighs Equity of Crack, Cocaine Sentences

U.S. sentencing guidelines treat 1 gram of crack the same as 100 grams of powder cocaine. So crack users can get much longer prison sentences than powder users. For more than 10 years, that disparity has been the subject of heated debate. The U.S. Sentencing Commission is considering the 20-year-old law in public hearings.

When cocaine comes into the United States, it crosses the border in powder form. The powder travels from a smuggler to a wholesaler to a dealer, divided from kilograms into ounces, and then into grams.

Then a dealer puts the powder into a microwave oven with other ingredients, and creates rocks of crack cocaine.

Attorney David Debold, who spoke on behalf of defense lawyers, told the sentencing commission that simple conversion has an enormous impact on the prison sentence for the guy caught holding the bag.

"Should the guidelines recommend such disparate treatment of two defendants," Debold says, "one who handles the drug in powder form, and the other one who handles it later in rock form?"

In the past, the sentencing commission has said the punishments should not be so different. But Congress has never enacted the commission's recommendations before.

Alex Acosta, the U.S. attorney for Miami, says the Justice Department is willing to discuss changing the sentencing guidelines. But he said he believes crack merits harsher punishments than powder.

The strong federal sentencing guidelines presently available represent one of the best tools for law enforcement's efforts to stop violent crime," Acosta says. "Attempts to reduce these sentences create a risk in my opinion of increased drug violence."

He said crack dealers are more likely to be parts of violent drug gangs. Women who use crack are more likely to become prostitutes. And he said crack is more potent and addictive than powder cocaine.

Carmen Hernandez spoke on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She believes the rules have a disproportionate impact on poor black and Latino communities.

"That, I think, is a terrible symbol," Hernandez says, "of the racial and socioeconomic inequalities that are present in our criminal justice system at all levels."

Several commissioners asked witnesses to describe the way forward. Stephen Saltzburg of the American Bar Association replied that he's encouraged by the fact that the Justice Department is willing to talk.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, considered to be one of the most conservative members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has already introduced a bill on the subject. It would reduce the crack/powder cocaine sentencing ratio from 100-to-1 to 20-to-1.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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