Bill reduces gap in cocaine sentences

ConnPolitics TV ^ | 8/04/2010 | Puppage

[Puppage]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed a bill to reduce the disparity between federal mandatory sentences for convictions for crack cocaine and the powder form of the drug.

Obama’s signing of the bill in the Oval Office was open only to news photographers but not the rest of the media. He made no remarks.

But as a longtime thorn for the black community, the matter is important to a key Obama constituency. The quarter-century-old law that Congress changed with the new bill has subjected tens of thousands of blacks to long prison terms for crack cocaine convictions while giving far more lenient sentences to those, mainly whites, caught with powder.

[Puppage]

But as a longtime thorn for the black community, the matter is important to a key Obama constituency. The quarter-century-old law that Congress changed with the new bill has subjected tens of thousands of blacks to long prison terms for crack cocaine convictions while giving far more lenient sentences to those, mainly whites, caught with powder.

I hardly know where to begin with this statement.

[walford]

So, will the sentences for crack be reduced or those for powder be increased? Let me guess....

[cardinal4]

That is because the sentences are determined by weight. Crack weighs more. The point? Don’t sell crack..

[pnh102]

As a disclaimer, I think there should be no anti-drug laws, but I still have to wonder, why is there such a disparity to begin with? Drugs are drugs.

[umgud]

If you can’t do the time, don’t sell the dime.

[LadyBuck]

It’s about time.

Barry finally worked on something he has first-hand experience with.

[southernnorthcarolina]

So, are coked-up stimulus monkeys in charge now?

[dfwgator]

I think this Frank Zappa song is very appropriate, considering the current occupant of the White House:

Chop a line now. . .
Cocaine decisions . . .
You are a person with a snow-job
You got a fancy gotta go job
Where the cocaine decision that you make today
Will mean that millions somewhere else
Will do it your way
Cocaine decisions . . .
You are a person who is high class
You are a person not in my class
And the cocaine decision that you make today
Will mean nothing later on
When you get nose decay
I don’t wanna know
‘Bout the things that you pull
Outta your nose
Or where they goes
But if you are wasted
From the stuff you’re stickin’ in it
I get madder every day
‘Cause what you do ‘n’ what you say
Affects my life in such a way
I learn to hate it every minute!
Cocaine decisions . . .
You are a doctor or a lawyer
You got an office with a foyer
And the cocaine decisions that you make today
Will not be discovered till it’s over ‘n’ done
By the customers you hold at bay
Cocaine decisions . . .
You are a movie business guy
You got accountants who supply
The necessary figures
To determine when you fly
To Acapulco
Where all your friends go
Cocaine decisions . . .
We must watch the stuff you make
You have let us eat the cake
While your accountants tell you Yes Yes Yes
You make EXPENSIVE UGLINESS
(How do you do it? - let me guess . . .)
Cocaine decisions . . .
Cocaine decisions . . .

[Atlas Sneezed]

A sop to his core constituency?

[worst-case scenario]

Here’s one way to begin.

Remember that that line is *ConnTVs interpretation* of the bill. Is it accurate? Well, it’s not like Obama did this by Executive Order. It’s a bill - it had to pass the House and the Senate. The GOP could have blocked it if they wanted to - or made it an issue if they agreed that it was a payoff to a black constituency. It had bipartisan support

The former sentencing disparity was 100-to-1. Now it’s 18-to-1. It’s still no bargain. It’s not retroactive. It applies only to *Federal* convictions.

The crack cocaine menace which terrified people in the 1980s had pretty much dissipated. People are apparently shooting H again, since the Afghanistan War has made it so available - not to mention meth.

[worst-case scenario]

That’s smoking meth, of course, not shooting meth.

Cost savings are estimated to be $42 million a year. It’s a spit in the ocean of the Federal deficit, but it’s at least 42 mil we don’t have to borrow from the Chinese.

[Steely Tom]

...why is there such a disparity to begin with? Drugs are drugs.

I believe it has to do with the way crack cocaine was targeted at urban minority communities back in the mid-80's. The drug was absolutely devastating in those communities, and was not taken up by the traditional "white" user base of young people, people in the entertainment business, and high rollers.

Maybe you don't remember the terms "crack whore" and "crack baby." They were frightening problems back then (and for all I know still are).

Penalties were enhanced for dealing the crack form of cocaine in response. Since most of the customers were black, most of the dealers were black too. The sentencing disparity became a racial disparity.

[Eagles6]

The same people that are whining about the harsh sentences were the same people demanding that the gubmint "do something" about the violence associated with the original crack "epidemic".