Sentencing Guidelines For Crack And Powder Cocaine

Memorandum To: Robin Hudson, Justice, Supreme Court of North Carolina From: James McLean, District Attorney, 14th Judicial District, Durham County Subject: Seeking Equality in Sentencing Guidelines for Crack and Powder Cocaine Date: October 17, 2014 Most of us would agree that drug abuse and addiction is no respecter of persons. Regardless of age, race, gender, or economic status drug addiction can rear its ugly head in any situation. Like most Americans, I have personally been affected by the pitfalls of drug addiction from relatives and friends. Therefore, I have witnessed firsthand the devastation that it leaves on family members, friends, and the communities, in which they reside. Since its inception in 1986 the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, as caused more harm than good. At the start of this Act, Congress implemented maximum drug quantities initially targeted at â€Å"serious† and â€Å"major† drug traffickers. Congress concluded that 500 grams of powder cocaine would trigger a five-year mandatory minimum, and five kilograms would trigger a ten-year mandatory minimum. However, for crack cocaine the triggering quantities were significantly less. Only five grams of crack cocaine would prompt five-years and just fifty gr ams to prompt a ten-year sentence. This massive gap became known as the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity. Soon after several states began to legislate sentencing disparities between powder cocaine and crack cocaine into their criminal codes. The original targets ofShow MoreRelatedMandatory Minimum Sentencing Guidelines And Guidelines942 Words   |  4 Pagesmandatory minimum sentencing. The Committee decided the guidelines would be set the levels in the Drug Quantity Table (Hinojosa 1998). This would be done to create a set standard for levels 26 and 32. see table 1 {Table 1 About Here} These levels would work along with a standard set of program ranges that are above the statutory mandatory minimum sentencing laws (Weld 1986). Congress was not in favor of the sentencing table and told the USSC to prepare to research and present their findingsRead MoreThe Drug Enforcement Agency ( Dea )1574 Words   |  7 Pagesquantities for crack cocaine which triggered the five and ten year mandatory minimum jail sentence for crack cocaine. This created a conflict with the ratio from crack to powder cocaine because it was 100:1 meaning a person caught with crack cocaine would be more likely to serve longer jail time than a person caught with powder cocaine. The unfair ratio would get a person caught with 5 grams of crack cocaine the same amount of jail time as a person who is caught with 28 grams of powder cocaine. 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This was especially true with young African American males in largely poor communities. So these policies not only created a mass incarceration but also racially targeted certain raceRead MoreThe Severity Of Sentencing Guidelines3082 Words   |  13 Pages The Severity of Sentencing Guidelines in Relation to the Type of Drug By: Sunday Saenz FRNS 5653 Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences May 1, 2015 â€Æ' Introduction An illicit drug is actually just a drug that is being abused illegally. A few examples of some commonly heard of illicit drugs are cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana. However, not every illicit drug is actually illegal to possess. Prescription drugs, such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, and morphine are oftenRead MoreRape And Burglary As A Post Incarceration Supervision1730 Words   |  7 Pagesand burglary as strikes for purposes of imposing a life sentence without parole (Sutton, 2013). Mandatory minimums take away the discretion of the judge in sentencing. These officials are bound by statute to place offenders behind bars. Because these statutes are put into place, the judge is not allowed to hand down alternative punishments, nor do they give them the opportunity to prescribe treatment or a change to rehabilitate. Such laws also hold racial discriminatory factors (USSC, 2011). DeterminateRead MoreThe Federal Sentencing Guidelines Adopted1266 Words   |  6 Pagesthe high incarceration rates connected to cocaine sentences. This situation can be connected to the sentences that treat crack violations more harshly than those associated with powder cocaine. It is important to examine in the histories of this hostile guidelines in order to understand how they invited so much criticism, why they were so controversial, why they were so resistant to change, and how nonetheless occurred. The Federal Sentencing guidelines adopted in the United States in 1986 haveRead MoreImpact of Sentencing Guidelines2422 Words   |  10 PagesHead: THE IMPACT OF SENTENCING GUIDELINES The Impact of Sentencing Guidelines on the Criminal Justice System Talisha L Alexander Survey of Public Safety Issues, Theory, and Concepts Abstract Our criminal-justice system has an obligation to impose just sentences. The United States Sentencing Commission is the result of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, part of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984, which sought to change the federal criminal sentencing policy and practiceRead Moremandatory minimum sentence1364 Words   |  6 Pagesmay object to the sentence†. These mandatory sentencing laws however vary from state to state, and in other countries. In 1994 California introduced a policy called â€Å"3 strikes you’re out†, which meant after a third criminal conviction the arrested person would be sentenced to life in prison (Friedman 109). 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