Clinton Oks Plan To Reduce Disparity In Cocaine Sentences

President Clinton Tuesday approved a plan aimed at reducing the dramatic disparity in the amounts of crack and powder cocaine it takes to draw a five-year federal sentence.

But some legal experts said the plan would have little impact because the number of federal cocaine cases is relatively small. They called it a political ploy to appease the black community, which has criticized the harsher crack penalties because African Americans are more likely than whites to be arrested for smoking crack.

“It is racial politics and crime politics coming together,” said Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project, which studies alternatives to incarceration.

“The administration is trying to steer a narrow course between responding to the concerns of the black community about perceived injustices, while being fearful of being accused of being soft on crime,” Mauer said.

But some members of the black community said the proposal doesn’t go far enough and that the administration should eliminate the disparity between the two forms of cocaine.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said: “Crack cocaine is powder cocaine cooked. It’s one and the same. The law that exists now is just patently and blatantly unfair and needs to be changed.”

Currently, possession or sale of 5 or more grams of crack carries a mandatory five-year sentence, while possession of 500 or more grams of powder cocaine carries that penalty.

Five grams of crack, which equals about one-fifth of an ounce, is worth a few hundred dollars; 500 grams of powder weigh just over a pound, and are worth about $30,000.

Ten years in prison is the sentence for 50 grams of crack and 5,000 grams of powder.

Attorney General Janet Reno and White House drug control director Barry McCaffrey sent Clinton a letter on July 3 recommending that getting caught with either 25 grams of crack or 250 grams of powder cocaine would carry a five-year sentence. Their letter does not address larger amounts of cocaine.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission, a federal judicial agency, estimates that the proposed changes would decrease the average sentence for all crack offenders by about 25 percent and would increase the average powder sentence by about 30 percent.

Last year, 1,034 people got five-year federal sentences for crack, while 1,426 people got that penalty for powder.

Those numbers are small compared to offenders sentenced under state laws. States are free to set their own penalties.

The current law, passed by Congress in 1986, has been sharply criticized as being unfair to blacks, who are more likely to be arrested for smoking crack. Those critics say crack is no more powerful than powder cocaine. More than 90 percent of defendants in the more heavily penalized crack cases are black, compared with only 25 percent of powder cases.

In 1995, the Sentencing Commission recommended equalizing the penalties, partly because of the racial bias charge. But Congress and Clinton rejected that.

In April, the commission recommended a change in the amount to a ratio of 5 to 1: 25 to 75 grams of crack would carry a five-year penalty and 125 to 375 grams of powder would carry the same prison sentence.

Clinton’s announcement Tuesday set off a debate between liberals who don’t think there should be any disparity and conservatives who don’t want to ease tough crack penalties.

White House adviser Rahm Emanuel said he was optimistic that Congress will adopt the administration’s plan. “There is consensus that we need to make a change,” he said. “There is not consensus about how to make that change.”

Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., chairman of the House panel that will consider the sentencing recommendations, said he doubted Congress would accept the president’s proposal as it now stands. He said the emphasis should be on toughening the powder cocaine penalties, not easing the crack cocaine penalties.

McCollum flatly rejected criticism that the current system is racist. “There’s never been any evidence whatsoever that there was any racial disparity or discrimination or racial intent in setting these guidelines,” he said. “The mandatory sentences are the same for black and white people.”