Crack Dealers Feel Bias Blacks Say Prosecutions Violate Equal Protection Laws

A federal court rejected appeals from three Spokane crack dealers who say they were victims of racially motivated prosecutions.

The case, or one like it, likely is headed for review by the U.S. Supreme Court, legal observers say.

The trio, Shawn Dumas, William Fraiser and Robert W. Barnes, allege that federal prosecutions for possessing crack cocaine unfairly target black Americans.

All are serving lengthy prison sentences for possession with intent to distribute crack.

Their attorneys argued that tough federal crack cocaine laws violate equal protection provisions of the Constitution.

White defendants who typically prefer powder cocaine get substantially lighter sentences. Possession or distribution of crack carries significantly longer sentences that those for powder cocaine.

Defense attorneys presented the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco with statistics showing that blacks comprise 12 percent of the nation’s population, but are involved in 92 percent of all federal crack prosecutions.

In the Eastern District of Washington, where less than 1 percent of the population is black, 91 percent of crack cocaine prosecutions are brought against African-Americans.

In an attempt to prove their selective prosecution argument, defense attorneys had to convince the appeals court that federal prosecutors were racially biased in filing crack cocaine cases.

A three-member panel of judges didn’t buy that argument in a written opinion just handed down.

“The appeals court found that the U.S. attorney’s office in this district does not prosecute people based on race, but rather on the facts and circumstances of the case,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rolf Tangvald said Wednesday.

In arguing the government’s case, Tangvald presented an affidavit from U.S. Attorney Jim Connelly.

Connelly said his office uses these criteria for crack prosecutions: There must be at least 5 grams of crack, with the presence of firearms, and the defendant must have a gang affiliation.

“We believe, and the court agreed, that these are neutral, nonracial bases for determining whether there is federal prosecution,” Tangvald said.

Defense attorney Phillip J. “Dutch” Wetzel and Assistant Federal Defender Gerald Smith want the court to review the case.

, DataTimes