For more information, contact:
Eric E. Sterling, President
The Criminal Justice Policy Foundation
Tel. (301) 301-589-6020

WASHINGTON – A bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Charles B. Rangel "will refocus Federal law enforcement efforts on high-level cocaine traffickers," said Eric E. Sterling, President of The Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. H.R. 939, the "Crack Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act," repeals separate low-quantity triggers for mandatory minimum sentences in Federal crack cocaine cases. "The Federal crack law is being improperly used by the U.S. Department of Justice. Only 5.5% of Federal crack defendants are high-level dealers. That is not what Congress intended when it wrote the mandatory minimum sentences in 1986," said Sterling, who was then counsel to the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, who drafted the law. "65% of Federal crack defendants are street dealers, bodyguards, couriers and mules. Less than $600 worth of crack cocaine gets a mandatory five year sentence. Those low-level cases are a waste of Federal tax dollars," he added. (Data from U.S. Sentencing Commission Report to Congress, Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy, Feb. 1995).

"The Rangel bill will correct a mistake Congress made in 1986, when it set excessively low quantities of 5 and 50 grams to trigger mandatory sentences designed for high-level drug traffickers. The low-level crack dealers covered by this amendment will face up to 20 years imprisonment for a first offense, up to 30 years imprisonment for a second offense if they need to be prosecuted by Federal authorities

"Only the Federal government has the resources to attack national and international drug traffickers. Since 20% of their drug cases are unimportant street dealers of crack, they are wasting precious resources. Only 11% of all Federal drug cases are made against high-level offenders. If prosecutions are ever going to stamp out the drug trade, then 50% or 75% of the Federal drug cases must be high-level defendants. This bill sends a message to the Justice Department to stop wasting time and money on small cases.

"The states have greater capacity to prosecute low-level drug cases than does the Justice Department. While there are less than 4000 DEA agents, there are over 600,000 state and local police officers who can arrest drug sellers.

"In 1995, legislation like this was wrongly criticized as 'sending the wrong message.' The defenders of the 5 and 50 gram sentencing-triggers say this bill would send a message to crack dealers that their crimes are not serious or that we are not serious about fighting them. That is a cute soundbite, but it is just plain wrong. There is nothing trivial about a potential 20 year Federal sentence, where parole has been abolished. It is more important to send a credible message that the U.S. is seriously targeting high-level cocaine traffickers.

"U.S. Attorneys around the nation, and the Attorney General, should heed Rep. Rangel and his co-sponsors. If the Justice Department were properly overseeing the selection of cases and targeting high-level offenders, the many cases of injustice that this bill would prevent would not arise."

"Powder cocaine is what is trafficked until one gets to the streets. Almost no big dealers are involved in crack. However, crack cocaine sentences are, on average, 32% longer than powder cocaine sentences because of the law's flaws. There is no good reason why 96% of the defendants in Federal crack cocaine cases are African-American or Hispanic," said Sterling.