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| Blacks were once 80% of the defendants sentenced under federal crack cocaine laws. |
Doing The Right Thing
After 20 Years, the Debate Over Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws for Cocaine Heats Up
By CHRISTOPHER WINDHAM
WASHINGTON -- U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton marked the 20th anniversary of federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws for crack and powder cocaine crimes last year by calling for a reexamination of the controversial policy which he once advocated for in the late 1980s.
In the 1980s, Walton pushed for tougher sentences for crack cocaine cases as a top drug policy advisor to former President George H.W. Bush. To Walton and other drug experts, the perceived greater risk of addiction and the level of violence associated with the crack trade warranted a sentencing disparity where the sale of five grams of crack cocaine garners the same five-year prison term as selling 500 grams of powder cocaine.
However, in testimony before the U.S. Sentencing Commission last fall, Walton acknowledged he “never thought that the disparity should be as severe as it ultimately has become,” adding that it was “unconscionable” to maintain the current sentencing structure.
Walton is part of a growing push from judges, civil rights groups and lawmakers for sweeping changes to federal and state crack cocaine mandatory minimum sentencing statutes, which they say disproportionately affects blacks.
Several new bills addressing federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws have been proposed in Congress. States have also moved toward repealing or revising their versions of mandatory minimum sentencing laws. This fall, the Supreme Court is set to wade in on whether judges can issue lighter sentences than those called for under the federal mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines. What’s more, the U.S Sentencing Commission, an independent expert panel charged with developing federal sentencing guidelines, recently issued its fourth recommendation that called on Congress to reform the laws.
Federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws for cocaine have long been scorned for creating racial disparities in drug sentencing. In 2003, African Americans constituted more than 80% of the defendants sentenced under federal crack cocaine laws, whereas whites comprised of only 7.8% of the convictions, according to a U.S. Sentencing Commission report. That disparity is even more troubling for critics of the mandatory minimums given a 2004 survey by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which said 66% of the nation’s crack cocaine users are white or Hispanic.
As a result, blacks are serving longer sentences in prison for cocaine crimes. The average sentence for crack cocaine offenses in 2003 of 123 months was 3.5 years longer than the average sentence of 81 months for a powder cocaine offense. The sentencing laws have also contributed to the widening difference between the average time African-American drug offenders serve in prison, which increased by 77% from 1994 to 2003, and the time whites serve, which increased by only 28% increase during the same period, according to the Bureau of Federal Statistics.
Impact on Black Women
The federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws have also had a profound affect on African-American women. For example, the incarceration rate for African-American women for all crimes has increased by 800% since 1986 compared to 400% for women of all ethnicities, largely due to drug convictions. Since federal judges have little or no flexibility to consider the reasons why women are involved in the drug trade, such as domestic violence or financial dependency, they often receive the same or harsher sentences as major drug traffickers, policy experts say.
Kemba Smith was the girl next door from the Richmond, Va. suburbs. But her three and a half-year relationship with an abusive ex-boyfriend, which tragically ended in 1994, forced Smith into the drug life. As a student at Hampton University in Virginia in 1989, Smith became unknowingly involved with a much older drug dealer, she says, to fit in.
“He was my knight in shining armor,” says Smith, who is 35. “I was naïve at 19 and 20 years old and didn’t know it (the relationship) could have an adverse effect.”
The relationship grew severely abusive, sometimes over jealousy. Smith says she was trapped and too afraid for her life to leave. Initially, her boyfriend left Smith in the dark about his drug-dealing life. But he later relied on her to deliver money-filled envelopes, and to register vehicles and bank accounts in her name to launder money. She also lied to federal investigators about her boyfriend’s whereabouts. “I feared the consequences for me and my family,” she says.
Smith eventually fled West with her boyfriend as he left federal agents and blood shed behind back East. In 1994, Smith surrendered to police, later agreeing to plea guilty to federal charges that she conspired to distribute cocaine, lied to authorities and laundered money. What more, her 31-year old ex-boyfriend was found dead days after she surrendered.
Left to face the charges and a maturing pregnancy alone in jail, Smith says she dwelled on how she betrayed herself and her family. “It was something I thought about constantly,” she says. NEXT
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