ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society

The American Bar Association is urging the U.S. Sentencing Commission to "modestly reduce offense levels across the board for crack cocaine " as an "interim measure to alleviate the 'urgent and compelling' problems associated with the 100-to-1 crack-to-powder ratio," reports the Sentencing Law and Policy blog.

Since 1995, the Sentencing Commission has consistently taken the position that the 100:1 ratio was unwarranted from its inception, and has a racially disparate impact.  The Reason for the May 11, 2007 Amendment notes that the Commission set drug quantity thresholds to produce base offense levels corresponding to guideline ranges above the statutory mandatory minimum penalties.

The amendments to the drug guidelines related to LSD, marijuana, and oxycodone and made retroactive have generally benefited caucasian defendants. Given the racially disparate impact of the 100:1 ratio and the public perception that our drug laws are racially discriminatory, making this amendment retroactive is the only fair and principled course.

The recommendations are available here (.doc file to download).