The 100-to-1 ratio produced absurdly disproportionate sentences for the same conduct
Evidence
A dealer charged with trafficking 400 grams of powder, worth approximately
40,000, could receive a shorter sentence than a user he supplied with crack valued at500. Crack is also the only drug that carries a mandatory prison sentence for first offense possession. A person convicted in federal court of possession of 5 grams of crack automatically receives a 5 year prison term. A person convicted of possessing 5 grams of powder cocaine will probably receive a probation sentence. The maximum sentence for simple possession of any other drug, including powder cocaine, is 1 year in jail. — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 412
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- SEED: The 400-grams-of-powder vs 500-dollars-of-crack illustration is the sharpest single example in the chapter for the absurdity of the ratio — usable as a standalone anecdote in any reparations or sentencing reform piece.
Related
- Crack possession triggered far harsher federal sentences than equal powder cocaine amounts (similarity 0.89)
- The 1986 Act codified a 100-to-1 crack versus powder sentencing ratio (similarity 0.86)
- The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act encoded a 100-to-1 crack-powder sentencing disparity (similarity 0.82)
- Congress legislated a deliberate 100-to-1 crack-to-powder sentencing disparity in the 1980s (similarity 0.81)
- Crack-cocaine sentencing laws deliberately criminalized black drug behavior more than white (similarity 0.81)