Crack cocaine offenders on the loose

Posted on April 25, 2008 by The Apprentice
Turns out the government is finally trying to level the playing field between races when it comes to the court systems...though they're using a questionable method to go about doing so.

According to the P.I., the U.S. Sentencing Commission apparently voted in December to reduce the sentences of thousands of criminals in prison for crack cocaine offenses, including 29 in Washington state:

In December, over the objections of the Justice Department, the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to ease the way courts meted out penalties for drug crimes to rectify disparities in the way judges have treated crack crimes versus those involving powder cocaine.

It seems 80% of crack cocaine offenders are black, while most powder cocaine offenders are white. And the penalties weren't adding up. I'm not quite sure how giving special treatment to both races helps solve the problem of sentencing disparities, but apparently the government thinks it is worth a shot.

But rest easy, drug fearing citizens....marijuana offenders are still getting the maximum sentence in cities across the country. And everyone knows that's the "gateway" drug. 

Right?

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