U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott scored a victory Wednesday in his bid to put an end to a law that imposes tougher penalties on people sent to prison for possessing crack cocaine than those who possess powder cocaine.
The House Judiciary Committee approved the 3rd District Democrat's bill, known as the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act, or HR3245.
The bill from Scott, whose district includes Portsmouth and parts of Norfolk and extends up to Richmond, would end a law that requires a mandatory five-year sentence for possession of at least 5 grams of crack cocaine. Someone must possess at least 500 grams of powder cocaine to face the same mandatory sentence.
The tougher penalty for crack was adopted in the 1980s.
If approved, Scott's bill would make no distinction between the two forms of the drug, requiring a mandatory five-year sentence for possessing 500 grams or more of either type.
The House panel voted 16-9 in support of the measure. Scott voted for it; the other local legislator on the committee, Republican Randy Forbes of the 4th District, opposed it.
The stiffer penalty for crack, which is a cheaper form of the drug, has been criticized because it has disproportionately affected poor and black drug users.
"For 20 years, the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing has been a blight on our justice system," Michael Macleod-Ball, leader of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office, said in a statement. "This historic legislation is long overdue."
The bill now moves to a full vote in the House. President Barack Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder also have called for an end to the sentencing disparity.
Bill Bartel, (757) 446-2398, bill.bartel@pilotonline.com
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Good Going !
Does he not have anything to do?? Why is he worried about making the system fair for Crack Heads?? Are they voting or paying taxes?? Make the system fair for me! Stop jacking up my taxes!
facts
The fact is that your taxes are being "jacked up" because of the number of people incarcerated in the federal system for $45000 a year. I will be the first to tell you that selling cocaine, crack, or any type of illegal drug does warrant prison time. The disproportionate amount of time that blacks and other minoritites are serving for the same drug doesn't speak highly for our country's judicial system or for our progress in the demise of racial inequalities. Besides the form of the drug, there are no differences between the effects of powder cocaine or crack. It hurts my heart to even admit that these inequalities still exist in this day and time. My uncle was a narcotics agent killed in the line of duty in 1983. His killer has more of a chance at a second chance than a low level drug dealer who chooses not to make up stories and have more people jailed for a charge of "conspiracy". So you want to make the system fair, do your homework and understand how hr 3245 will make things better for us all.
Wrong Direction
Obama, Scott and Holder need to seperate themseleves from the ACLU. All three all black and are not helping their race to eliminate the use and sale of drugs by not passing stiffer sentencing penalties. Scotts bill makes no sense at all. Increasing the possession limits from 5 grams to 500 grams for crack cocaine is heading in the wrong direction. Why not go in the other direction and make no distinction between crack cocaine and powder cocaine and require a mandatory five-year sentence for possessing 5 grams or more of either type. Chalk one up for the liberals who are just looking at this becasuse the present law for possessing crack cocaine in their view creates sentencing disparity by affecting poor and black drug users. What about the drug dealers who stand on the corners and push their drugs in the black neighborhoods. Talk about racial profiling and not helping your own race combat the use of drugs. Cocaine is cocaine and it is destroying this country and affects all races.
conversion
If my math is good 500g is equal to 1.1 lbs.
Please tell me why on earth anyone needs an ounce or any less than 500g
I need at least 500 grams
I need at least 500 grams before I start reading the news here, otherwise, it just doesn't hold my attention.
Drug Test
it is mny opinion that each and every congressperson and their staff need to be tested once a month.
Crack Users Holiday!!
This bill just gave crack users five hundred percent more freedom than before. They will now have to have five hundred percent more crack to get the tougher sentence than before. Way to go Bobby! Even if it's a federal law the state will soon follow suit and the state courts will follow the leader. Way to go Bobby! All the idiots did was make things worse. Way to go Bobby! Do you think these druggies really give a tinkers darn about a misdemeanor? Your going to see crack use go through the roof! Way to go Bobby!
Federal criminal code, not state
To be fair to some of you geniuses, the story doesn't make it clear - but, this bill would change a sentencing disparity for people facing *federal* criminal charges in *federal* court. Not a "states' rights" issue at all - unless you want to raise the question of how Congress purports to have the power to enact broad criminal statutes, in which case I will be happy to agree that the breadth of current federal criminal law represents a real overreach.
Anyone interested in the actual issue presented in this story - rather than tossing around veiled racism and ill-informed cliches about the (unwinnable) Drug War - could do worse than to read:
http://www.drugpolicy.org/drugwar/mandatorymin/crackpowder.cfm
Racist Drugs?
The stiffer penalty for crack, which is a cheaper form of the drug, has been criticized because it has disproportionately affected poor and black drug users.
Huh. Who’da thunk: Bobby Scott and the ACLU are now finding racism in cocaine. I guess if a white person uses crack and not powdered cocaine, he is in fact a racist druggie.
What’s worse, Bobby Scott’s “victory” is negating the effect of law by increasing the limit on what would result in the five-year prison term.
Legalize it NOW!
Legalize it NOW!
i suppose you could say that
"For 20 years, the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing has been a blight on our justice system."
-or-
"For 20 years, the use of crack cocaine has been a blight on our poor communities."
The irony is that this bill does nothing to end or even minimize the negative physical, psychological, and social impacts of crack cocaine use. But it gives politicians and special interest groups points for helping low income constituents without having to make a positive difference in their lives or communities.
This bill helps someone, but it's not the poor.
careful sounds almost "liberal"
You make a good point. This does go to create a sense of equal justice for some communities, though, even if does skim over the real problems of economic equality by the politicians, poor communities themselves and society in general. Sorry I called you a "liberal". Just kidding.
Beautifully put, sir!
Beautifully put, sir!
rock vs. powder
The differences in the sentencing laws goes back years because crack cocaine was cheaper to purchase than powdered cocaine. They both give the same high, the only difference is the powder is more refined. The more work involved, the higher the price on the drug. Crack was the more affordable for the lower income addicts, most of which were black. The disparity in the sentencing laws for essentially the same drug in different forms breaks down to racial differences. I agree that there should be the same number of years given for these substances gram for gram, I also agree that it should have increased the time for cocaine, but I am happy that at least there will be equality in sentencing when it comes to the sentence lengths for these two drugs.
Im all for it!
Blacks have gotten way more jail time for the same drug as someone else that has been caught with power cocaine. This is a true fact anyone that has a problem with it do your research.
This is just going to make
This is just going to make it harder for the police to get low level dealers off the streets. Take a look at violent crime in Bobby Scotts district compared to other districts in the area.
The question should be what is he doing to lower that rate?
opportunity
Please read Freakonomics!
more facts for you...
Although mandatory minimum sentencing was intended to target high-level drug traffickers, members of organized crime rings, and the violence associated with the crack cocaine market, the USSC’s report found that 2/3 of crack cocaine defendants had low-level involvement in 2005 and only 1.8% of all crack defendants were high-level suppliers. Reform is needed so that law enforcement can prioritize its efforts and resources to target kingpins, not merely low-level drug law offenders.
[US Sentencing Commission, Special Report to Congress: Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy. (Washington, DC: US Sentencing Commission, May 2007)]
This is actually scary
How many hundreds of pounds does it take to cook up 500g of crack? Surely 1g of powder doesn't cook up to 1g of crack?
This will flood the poorest communities, black, white, Hispanic....this transcends race. This is economics.
This allows for an absolute flood of coke before the consequences are detrimental enough to become a deterrent.
from what i found
it takes about .89g of cocaine to make a gram of crack. so that means that 500g of cocaine can make over 550g of crack. the flow of cocaine into this country will be the same regardless of this law.