Crack Sentencing Disparity Reduction Gains Ground

Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and federal drug czar Barry McCaffrey have recommended sharply reducing the gap between mandatory federal prison sentences for possession of crack cocaine, heavily used by black offenders, and powder cocaine, popular among whites, administration officials said Monday.

President Clinton has not yet accepted the recommendation, which would remove a sentencing disparity that has long angered African American leaders and symbolized, in their view, the discriminatory nature of the nation’s criminal justice system.

But Justice Department officials were already conducting what one source described as “strategy” sessions on how to announce the decision without appearing “soft on drugs.”

Under the recommendation by Reno, the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, and McCaffrey, the director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, the disparity between the amount of crack and powder cocaine possession that triggers the same required sentence would be cut from 100 to 1 to 10 to 1.

Under federal law in effect since 1986, anyone convicted of possessing 5 grams of crack receives a mandatory minimum of five years’ imprisonment, while a person must possess 500 grams of powder cocaine to draw the same punishment.

Under the Reno-McCaffrey recommendation, the five-year mandatory prison sentence would apply to those possessing 25 grams of crack or 250 grams of powder cocaine.

“Those who sell crack ought to be punished more,” Reno told black police executives meeting in Miami on Monday. “I want the [sentencing policy] to be one that is fair, and one that the community thinks is fair. I want it to be one that also imposes a fair, stiff penalty that fits the crime.”

Reno did not discuss the specific sentencing recommendations at the meeting and had no further comment to reporters.

When the mandatory-sentencing provisions became law, the rationale for the disparity was based on crack’s greater potency and the belief that it played a larger role in causing violent street crime.

Since taking effect, the stiffer sentences for crack have been cited as a major reason for the sharp increase in the imprisonment rates for young blacks and Latinos.

The Reno-McCaffrey recommendation, if approved by Clinton, would require congressional legislation. Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has indicated he favors reducing the present 100-to-1 disparity.

“This approach will enable law enforcement to devote its resources to big and mid-level drug dealers and, at the same time, make the sentencing structure fairer,” an administration official familiar with the thinking of Reno and McCaffrey said.

Last year, the U.S. Sentencing Commission--set up by Congress--called for eliminating the possession disparity in mandatory sentencing. But Reno rejected that recommendation, noting the heavy impact crack has had on the predominantly minority inner-city populations.

About 96% of those prosecuted for crack possession are black or Latino, according to federal statistics.

Last April 29, the commission softened its recommendations, calling for the five-year sentences to apply to those convicted of possessing between 125 and 375 grams of powder cocaine or between 25 and 75 grams of crack. The Reno-McCaffrey proposal would fall between the commission’s recommended ranges.

Reacting to the commission’s recommendations, Clinton directed Reno and McCaffrey to study the matter and give him their assessment in 60 days.