Panel Urges More Parity in Cocaine Sentences

Endorsing a move long sought by African American leaders, the U.S. Sentencing Commission recommended Tuesday that penalties for trafficking in crack cocaine be brought more in line with those for powder cocaine.

Recognizing that crack cocaine is a more potent and dangerous form of the drug, the commission did not suggest total parity in sentences. But it said that a major correction is needed in present laws, which punish possession of 5 grams of crack in the same manner as 500 grams of the drug in powder form.

President Clinton, who rejected a commission proposal two years ago to make sentences equal for both types of cocaine, praised the latest recommendation to reduce the disparity between crack and powder cocaine penalties.

“My administration will give them very serious consideration,” Clinton said. Approval by the Republican-controlled Congress, which overwhelmingly rejected equalizing the penalties in 1995, was less certain.

The Congressional Black Caucus has repeatedly urged eliminating the disparity in penalties, but two years ago many members voted against a change for fear of being portrayed as soft on crime.

Black leaders said that heavy penalties for tiny amounts of crack strike black offenders unfairly, especially since powder cocaine is more common among white users.

Studies show that 96% of those prosecuted for crack violations are black or Latino.

Black Caucus chairman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) did not respond to requests for comment on the commission proposal.

Since 1986, federal law has mandated a five-year minimum prison term for anyone caught with five grams of crack, and 10 years to life for those found with more than 10 grams. But for powder cocaine, an offender must have at least 500 grams to get a five-year sentence.

The commission unanimously agreed that the penalty differential should be reduced by changing the quantity levels of the drug that trigger mandatory minimum penalties.

But noting that such a change “is not a precise undertaking,” the panel recommended a range of possible options.

“For powder cocaine, the current 500-gram trigger for the five-year mandatory minimum sentence should be reduced to a level between 125 and 375 grams, and for crack cocaine, the current five-gram trigger should be increased to between 25 and 75 grams,” the report said. The 10-year penalties should be revised accordingly, it added.

U.S. District Judge Richard P. Conaboy, the commission chairman, said that the ranges should “provide Congress the flexibility to make an informed judgment about the appropriate penalties for these two forms of cocaine.”

The report recommended reducing the penalty for simple possession of crack to the level now in effect for powder cocaine, which generally is no more than a year in prison.

All forms of drugs “cause great harm to individuals and to society at large,” the commission said, but it added that violent street crime and addiction are more often associated with crack distribution.

Clinton said that he would ask Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, his national drug policy coordinator, to study the recommendations and report to him within 60 days.

Reno has said that she favors a move to make the drug sentences more in line because “I don’t think the 100-to-1 ratio is fair.” But she has called for further study “as to what the appropriate ratio might be [for crack trafficking].”

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) told the Associated Press that he had not reviewed the commission’s proposal, but thought his own plan to lower the threshold for powder cocaine sentences “makes the most sense.”

Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) immediately opposed any reduction in crack cocaine penalties, saying it would send the wrong message.

“Lowering sentences for crack dealers is not fair to the vast majority of people living in communities, like Detroit, under attack by the crack dealers,” Abraham told the AP. He also voiced support for tougher powder cocaine sentences.

The president, in his statement, said that “current law creates a substantial disparity between sentences for crack and powder cocaine,” adding that “this disparity has led to a perception of unfairness and inconsistency in the federal criminal justice system.”

But he insisted that federal sentencing laws “must continue to reflect that crack cocaine is a more harmful form of cocaine . . . and has a devastating impact on communities across America.”

The sentencing commission was created by Congress in late 1985 to develop a more uniform sentencing policy for the federal courts. It established guidelines that went into effect Nov. 1, 1987, to ensure that similar offenders who commit similar offenses receive punishments that fall within the same range.

More than 300,000 defendants have been sentenced under these guidelines.

The Supreme Court earlier this month rejected a claim that stiff penalties for dealing crack cocaine amounted to racial discrimination. It was the third time in three years that the justices turned away a race-bias challenge to the crack cocaine laws.

The court has said that laws are not unconstitutional simply because they are shown to have a harsher effect on some groups. The court’s action, however, would not bar Congress from revising sentencing guidelines.