Federal Sentencing Guidelines End Cocaine Disparities

By Alison Gonzalez

Published on November 08, 2007

The new law, which took effect November 1, reduces the average sentence for crack dealers by 15 months, changing the sentence from 10 years and one month to eight years and 10 months.

Reformers altered the sentences in response to criticism about what was long considered unfair mandatory minimum drug sentencing penalties established by Congress in the 1980s. The laws made penalties for crack stiffer than its powdered-cocaine derivative by 100:1.

According to the 1980 guidelines, individuals guilty of possessing five grams of crack carried a mandatory prison term of five years, the same for those found guilty of possessing 500 grams of powdered cocaine. Similarly, possession of 50 grams of crack resulted in a mandatory 10 year sentence, the same sentence for possession of 5,000 grams of powdered cocaine.

The penalties were especially denounced for its seemingly racial overtones. Prison data from 2006 suggested that crack guidelines were more targeted toward the black community. More than 80 percent of crack offenders were black, while more than 70 percent of powdered cocaine users were Hispanic or white.

Congress will now decide whether the new law should become retroactive, which would shorten prison terms for approximately 19,500 inmates by an average of 27 months.

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