Crack Sentencing Miscarriage Reversed In Huge Victory For Common Sense and Racial Equality

News that the U.S. Sentencing Commission has voted unanimously to allow retroactive application of its decision to put crack cocaine and powdered cocaine on an even par with each other for purposes of computing jail time is a big victory for common sense and racial equality.

To re-cap: a few days ago the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets guidelines for prison terms for various federal crimes, FINALLY decided--way too late, we might add--to correct a gross miscarriage of justice that has gone on for years. The Commission reversed its prior position that crimes involving sale and use of crack cocaine should be punished far more heavily than similar crimes involving powdered cocaine.

Then, yesterday, the Supreme Court decided--7-2--that federal judges have leeway to ignore or modify the sentencing guidelines in criminal cases. The case involved a federal judge in Virginia who sentenced a black defendant in a crack cocaine case to less than the Sentencing Commission's guidelines.

Finally, today, the Sentencing Commission voted, unanimously--and over the mindless objections of the Bush administration--to allow existing prisoners to apply retroactively for reductions in their sentences if they were convicted of crimes involving crack cocaine.

Hallelujah! These decisions will allow thousands of mostly black men an opportunity to reduce their ridiculously long prison terms.

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. There's also pretty good data indicating that although roughly the same proportion of blacks and whites use illegal narcotics, blacks (and other ethnic minorities, including Hispanics) are far more likely to be arrested and prosecuted than whites. Indeed, white drug users (not dealers) are generally quite unlikely to face any significant jail time for their crime even if someone does bother to arrest and prosecute them. (Which may be one reason why illegal narcotic use is rampant--and often barely disguised--in many suburbs.)

We've got a long way to go to achieve eliminate racial disparity in treatment of drug crimes. But at least putting crack and powdered cocaine on an equal footing is a good step forward.