The Justice Roundtable Asks Congress to Address the Disparity in Crack and Powder Cocaine Mandatory Minimums

On February 16, 2006, as part of a panel presented by the Justice Roundtable, Eric E. Sterling spoke to congressional staff and the public at the Rayburn House Office Building at the U.S. House of Representatives, joined by U.S. Representatives Charles Rangel (D-NY), Robert Scott (D-VA), and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX). It has been almost twenty years since Congress enacted the cocaine mandatory minimum sentences he helped write as part of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. He discussed the ineffectiveness of  enforcement of the cocaine and crack cocaine laws by the U.S. Department of Justice in the context of the injustice of the prosecutions. Cocaine prices have fallen fairly steadily since 1986, and the average purity has risen. In 2002 and 2003 the number of crack users substantially exceeded the number in 1988, but declined somewhat in 2004.

 In 2000, the average sentence for crack offenders was 104 months, involved in cases with an average quantity of 52 grams.  The average sentence for powder cocaine offenders was 101 months, involved in cases with an average quantity of 16,000 grams of cocaine. This is a ratio of more than 300 to 1. Only 7% of all federal cocaine cases were brought against high level traffickers, but 70% were brought against low level offenders. Over 80% of the crack cocaine cases were brought against African Americans.

Currently crack use is predominantly a white phenomenon. The federal data for 2004 report there were 278,000 white crack users (current users) and only 141,000 black crack users (current users).

On February 22, 2006, the panel presentation was covered in the Washington Afro American which highlighted the fact that mandatory minimums for crack disproportionally affect the African-American population. The Justice Roundtable also released a letter that was submitted to all members of Congress, asking them to equalize penalties for crack and powder cocaine.