Pubdate: Tue, 11 Dec 2007
Source: Press-Register (Mobile, AL)
Copyright: 2007 Mobile Register
Contact:  http://www.al.com/mobileregister/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/269

CONGRESS SHOULD ACT ON SENTENCING GAP

THE U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Sentencing  Guidelines Commission
have done their part to remedy  the injustices created by overly harsh
sentencing laws  for crack cocaine offenses. Now Congress should
finish  the job by approving federal sentencing reforms long favored
by Alabama's U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions.

On Monday, the Supreme Court decisively affirmed that  federal judges
have the discretion to impose shorter  prison terms for crack cocaine
offenders. In a 7-2  decision, the court refused to overturn a 15-year
  sentence given to Derrick Kimbrough, even though the  sentence was
lighter than called for under federal  sentencing guidelines.

According to the guidelines, he should have received 19  to 22 years
in prison.

The trial judge rejected the guidelines in sentencing  Mr. Kimbrough,
a Gulf War veteran with no prior record  of felony convictions. Judge
Raymond A. Jackson said  the guidelines were "ridiculous," and he
imposed the  lightest sentence allowed under the sentencing law.

Interestingly, the case partially bridged the Supreme  Court's
ideological divide, bringing together Justice  Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
one of the court's most activist  members, and Justice Antonin Scalia,
its strictest  strict constructionist. The controversy over cocaine
sentencing has provoked a similar response in Congress,  with
conservative Republicans like Sen. Sessions  pushing a bipartisan plan
to reduce the sentencing  disparity.

Federal sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum  sentences treat
crack cocaine offenses far more  severely than offenses involving
powder cocaine. The  minimum sentence for those convicted of
possession of  five grams of crack is the same as the sentence for 500
  grams of cocaine powder.

This 100-1 disparity has obvious, though unintended,  social and
racial implications. More than 80 percent of  crack offenders are
black, with most coming from poor,  inner-city areas. Middle-and
upper-class whites are  more likely to commit powder cocaine offenses.

In the Kimbrough case, the Supreme Court strengthened  and clarified a
2005 ruling that federal sentencing  guidelines were advisory, not
mandatory. The two  rulings give judges the latitude to lessen the
huge  sentencing disparity in cocaine cases, but it should be  noted
that the Supreme Court hasn't overturned the  harsh mandatory minimum
sentences set by Congress.

In 1986, Congress acted in response to a perceived  epidemic of crack
cocaine in the nation's inner cities.  At that time, crack was thought
to be more addictive  than powder cocaine, and its impact was
considered more  devastating because it afflicted poor neighborhoods.
But as Justice Ginsburg pointed out in her opinion in  the Kimbrough
case, the two drugs actually "have the  same physiological and
psychotropic effects."

Sen. Sessions may seem an unlikely crusader for  defendants' rights.
During a stint as a federal  prosecutor, he aggressively went after
drug offenders.  However, he understands that blatant inconsistencies
in  sentencing undermine the entire justice system. The  senator has
repeatedly co-authored legislation that  would raise the threshold
triggering a mandatory  sentence for crack cocaine, and lower it for
the powder  form of the drug.

This year, three other senators with previous  experience prosecuting
criminals are joining Sen.  Sessions in co-sponsoring a bill to reduce
the  disparity. The co-sponsors are Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.;  Sen.
John Cornyn, R-Texas.; and Sen. Ken Salazar,  D-Colo.

Congress can and should find a bipartisan solution to  the injustices
of the current sentencing rules. The  Sentencing Guidelines Commission
showed the way last  month by changing the guidelines to ease the
penalties  for crack cocaine offenses.

Now that the Supreme Court has weighed in on the issue,  Congress
should quickly follow up with legislation that  reflects Sen.
Sessions' tough-but-fair approach.
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MAP posted-by: Derek