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Via Global Investment Watch<\/a>, a letter from Color of Change, asking for folks to contact their congresscritters.\u00a0<\/p>\n This bill, if it passes, is a good example of how the marginal difference between Democrats and Republicans, marginal though it is, matters. \u00a0(But even if this bill passes, eliminating one devastating sentencing disparity, other, more subtle sentencing disparities will remain<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The remainder of this post is the letter from Color of Change.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n The so-called \u201cwar on drugs\u201d has created a national disaster: 1 in 15 Black adults in America are behind bars. It\u2019s not because we commit more crime but largely because of unfair sentencing rules that treat 5 grams of crack cocaine\u2013the kind found in poor Black communities\u2013the same as 500 grams of powder cocaine, which is the kind found in White and wealthier communities. These sentencing laws are destroying communities across the country and have done almost nothing to reduce the level of drug use and crime.<\/p>\n We now have an opportunity to end this disaster once and for all. A bill is moving through Congress right now that would end the sentencing disparity. It\u2019s critical that members of Congress see support from everyday folks.\u00a0 Join us in asking our representatives in the House and Senate to push for its passage, and please ask your friends and family to do the same. It only takes a moment:<\/p>\n http:\/\/colorofchange.org\/crack\/?id=2206-426821<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n At every step in the criminal justice system, Black people are at a disadvantage \u2014 we are more likely to be arrested, charged, and convicted, but less likely to have access to good legal representation, and get out of prison on parole. While there\u2019s no denying that the presence of crack has a hugely negative impact in Black communities across the country, it\u2019s clear that the overly harsh crack sentencing laws have done more to feed the broken system than improve our communities.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n You have to be convicted of moving roughly $75,000 worth of cocaine to trigger a 5-year sentence. For crack? About $500 worth. These laws punish the lowest-level dealers, while providing a loophole that helps those running the trade escape harsh sentences.<\/p>\n Recently, attention has turned to these ill-conceived policies as prisons burst at the seams with non-violent drug offenders. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which provides sentencing guidelines for judges, has petitioned Congress numerous times to change the sentencing laws.<\/p>\n Last year, we reached out to you when Senator Joe Biden\u2013 one of the original architects of the disparity\u2013 introduced a bill that would have finally eliminated it and ended the mandatory minimum for crack possession, while increasing funding for drug treatment programs and providing additional resources for going after major cocaine kingpins.<\/p>\n His proposal stalled, but that same legislation is moving through Congress again with new support, and it looks like there\u2019s a real chance it could pass. The White House is a clear ally. President Obama has said many times that punishment for crack and powder cocaine should be the same, and Biden is now Vice President and still an ardent advocate for getting rid of the disparity.<\/p>\n But there are foes of this plan. Others want to see the disparity reduced to 20-to-1 or 10-to-1, but not eliminated. As Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance has said, that \u201cwould be like amending the Constitution\u2019s three-fifths clause to make African-Americans fourth-fifths citizens or desegregating 60 percent of public establishments instead of all of them.\u201d Members of Congress need to hear that there is strong support for a full elimination of the disparity, and that now\u2019s the time to support such legislation.<\/p>\n We can take this opportunity to join the Sentencing Commission and countless other advocates in calling on Congress to change this unjust law. Please join us:<\/p>\n http:\/\/colorofchange.org\/crack\/?id=2206-426821<\/a><\/p>\n Thank You and Peace,<\/p>\n \u2013 James, Gabriel, William, Dani, and the rest of the ColorOfChange team \u00a0 Via Global Investment Watch, a letter from Color of Change, asking for folks to contact their congresscritters.\u00a0 This bill, if it passes, is a good example of how the marginal difference between Democrats and Republicans, marginal though it is, … Continue reading
\nApril 20th, 2009<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"