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Yukio
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 2412
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - 09:17 pm: | 
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by Shavar Jeffries
The Supreme Court decided this week to consider the legality of distinctions in federal law concerning the punishment for drug offenses involving the possession or distribution of powder cocaine and those involving crack. Federal law punishes the possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine at the same level as it does the distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine. So not only does the law codify a 100:1 distinction concerning the amount of drugs at issue, it punishes the possession of crack at the same level as the distribution of powder. Distribution of course is generally a much more serious crime than possession. To the extent socially cognizable harms are associated with drug use, those harms are multiplied in the context of distributive drug offenses. As such, federal and state law consistently penalize distribution offenses more severely than possession offenses.
The disparity in federal punishment between crack and powder cocaine is thus breathtaking both in quantity and quality. Even assuming that crack is more addictive -- and thus more harmful -- than powder, there isn't an empirical justification for a 100:1 differential. And the disparity is even more faulty given that it equates crack possession with powder distribution. Taken together, the disparity suggests that the sale of large quantities of powder to untold numbers of buyers cause equivalent social harms as the possession, by one person, of crack. This discrimination cannot be justified -- even if one cannot definitively establish a racial motivation for it -- and it should therefore be found unconstitutional.
That said, I wouldn't hold my breath for a favorable decision from this Supreme Court. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 4960
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 - 09:41 pm: |
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We have a very fair and reasonable panel of judges on the SC and I believe that once they consider this case law, there will be changes effected in sentencing laws.
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Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 4678
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 14, 2007 - 10:25 am: |
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Negroes ought to quit using the stuff. It ain't no good for you in any way.
Once Negroes stop using the stuff they will legalize it and you won't have to worry. |
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