Sentencing Commission Levels Playing Field for Drug Offenses

The U.S. Sentencing Commission, in a monumental decision, has ruled that penalties for crack cocaine use are out of line.

By Brandon Bryn, NCPC Staff

In the 1980s, Congress created the Commission in order to ensure the just administration of punishment for all offenders.

 
After being challenged in the Supreme Court, the U.S. Sentencing Commission was deemed a constitutional, independent agency of the judicial branch, and its sentencing guidelines went into effect nationwide in 1989.  Since then, federal judges have sentenced about 950,000 defendants under the guidelines (PDF).  Today, judges must consult the guidelines and take them into consideration when deciding a case.  However, judges may decide to rule outside the guidelines if they provide an explanation for their reasoning.

 
Recently, in a decision that made headlines across the country, the Commission voted to change the sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses.  Citing the wide disparity between sentences for the use of crack cocaine and powder cocaine, its new guidelines call for reduced mandatory sentences for crack offenders.  This amendment to the guidelines is designed to narrow the gap between the way the two forms of cocaine are treated in the U.S. court system.  Until November 2007, a sentence handed down for a certain amount of crack cocaine, a cheaper version of the drug, was equivalent to a sentence for 100 times the amount of powder cocaine.  That came to be known as the “100-to-1 quantity ratio.”   After much debate, the Commission decided to allow its new guidelines to apply retroactively starting on March 3, 2008.

 
The Sentencing Commission asserts that the overall impact on society will remain rather modest.  Under its new sentencing guidelines, the average sentence for crack cocaine offenses will change from a little more than ten years in prison, to a little less than nine years.  About 37,000 inmates are currently serving time for crack cocaine offenses nationwide, and about 19,500 of them will be eligible to apply for reduced sentences.  Of those eligible, about 3,800 will be able to apply for early release within the next year.  Decisions about whether or when to allow the early release of prisoners will remain with the courts.  Reduced sentences will only be permitted following the consideration of many factors, most important of which is the offender’s perceived risk to society.

 
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) opposed the recent amendment to the sentencing guidelines, citing the potential negative impact on communities from the release of dangerous criminals.  DOJ officials expressed concern that a high volume of petitions from crack offenders will create a backlog within the court system, possibly resulting in the release of violent criminals without sufficient services in place in order to ensure their successful reentry into the community.

 
The effects of the changes in sentencing guidelines will evolve as petitions are filed.  Meanwhile, criminal justice officials at all levels of government are examining opportunities to test and strengthen prisoner reentry initiatives.

 
Resources
The U.S. Sentencing Commission, www.ussc.gov

 
Remarks Prepared for Delivery by Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey Before the House Committee on the Judiciary, http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2008/ag_speech_080207.html

 
The Sentencing Project, www.sentencingproject.org

 
“For Crack Offenders, Earlier Shot At Release,” The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/11/AR2007121101655.html