War on drugs policies: disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine

War on drugs policies: disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine

During one of the most significant drug arrests in US records, the US government confiscated 16500 kilograms of cocaine valued over $1bn from a container in Philadelphia (US Dept. of Justice, September 2019). The fight on crack and powder cocaine is far from over.  This war against drugs has contributed to divisive laws and regulations, like mandatory minimum sentences (Gelman, Fagan, & Kiss 2007). Mandatory minimum sentencing implies that an individual guilty of a crime must be sentenced for a fixed time instead of leaving the duration of the sentencing to the judiciary. Mandatory punishment has resulted to overcrowding of jails and has led to racial inequalities of sentences (Wallace, 2014). The fine for having 500 g of powdered cocaine was historically equivalent to having just 5 g of crack (Kleiman et al., 2011). The Fair Sentencing Act (2010) narrowed the gaps in sentences to 18:1, but the inequalities in punishment still exist, and the legislation is not retroactive. The sharp disparity in statutory drug laws has a disproportionate impact on blacks, and the policy is still ineffective in decongesting prisons; thus, it should be revised anew.

The 2010 FSA disproportionately impacted the African-Americans. The lower price, ease of processing and supply of crack cocaine in rural, impoverished communities are more abundant than powder cocaine (Beaver, 2010). Sterk et al., (2013) in their literature, suggest that young black males are more likely to purchase crack than powdered cocaine. It became evident that the unnecessarily draconian prosecution of the Act overwhelmingly targeted an ethnic minority (Sterk et al., 2013). Several of the writers expressed disappointment that black males were the vast majority prosecuted of crack cocaine possession (Kleiman et al., 2011). In his literature, Scott, 2013 notes the lack of reliable medical evidence that supports the radically different treatment of the two types of the same substance.

The introduction of the Fair Sentencing Act was to decrease the state prison populations by hundreds of inmates and save an additional $42 million over the first few years, as per the Sentencing Commission. The FSA abolished the mandatory minimum penalty for crack cocaine abuse and boosted statutory penalties. Nevertheless, the increase in the crack-to-powder proportion of cocaine continues to present a disproportionate impact on black suspects, and the American prisons are still overcrowded. The Bureau of Prisons operated at 38 per cent above capacity in 2012 and is expected to reach 45 per cent by 2018, with nearly half (48 per cent) of prisoners convicted for drug-related crimes in 2011 (Wallace, 2014).

The fair sentencing act of 2010 should be retroactive to depopulate the American jails, and those convicted prior to the enactment should be reconsidered. Also, The Smarter Sentencing Act (2014) should be enacted. Recently, the bill was introduced to provide less punitive minimum sentences for non-violent drug offences that to require the 8,800 federal inmates (85% are mostly African American) to be convicted for crack crimes under the Fair Sentencing Act (Wallace, 2014). As such, it will reduce the number of Black people in prisons in particular.

The sharp disparity in federal sentencing legislation still has a disproportionate impact on minorities, the strategy is still unsuccessful in depopulating jails, and it should be revised anew. The unnecessarily strict enforcement of the Act overwhelmingly affected a minority of races. The policy remains unsuccessful, as the number of prisoners convicted of cocaine continues to be high. The legislation should render 2010 retroactive and enact the revised 2014 Smarter Sentencing Act to curb this issue. Reluctance to do so would worsen overcrowding in prison. Overcrowding adversely impacts jail personnel as well as prisoners and their families, with 14,000 kids placed in the foster system having at least one imprisoned parent.

References

Beaver, A.L. (2010). Getting a fix on cocaine sentencing policy: reforming the sentencing scheme of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Fordham Law Rev;78:2530–2574

Gelman, A., Fagan, J., and Kiss, A. (2007). “An Analysis of the New York City Police Department’s “Stop-and-Frisk” Policy in the Context of Claims of Racial Bias”. Journal of the American Statistical Association. 102 (479): 813–823.

Kleiman, M.A.R., Caulkins, J.P., Hawken, A. (2011). Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press; New York.

Scott, R. (2013): Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2013. 113th Congress, 1rst Session. United States House of Representatives; Washington, DC.

Sterk, C.E., Elifson, K.W., DePadilla, L. (2013). Neighbourhood structural characteristics and crack cocaine use: exploring the impact of perceived neighbourhood disorder on use among African Americans. Int J Drug Policy;25:616–623.

US Dept. of Justice, September. 2019. “Crime in the United States 2018 – Arrests,” FBI Uniform Crime Report, p. 2, https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018

Wallace, B. C. (2014). Crack, policy, and advocacy: a case analysis illustrating the need to monitor new public health-related policy and engage in persistent evidence-based advocacy. J Equity Health;3:139–160