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Politics

19,500 inmates may get a break

The disparity in sentencing for crack and powder cocaine is addressed by board.

By COLLEEN JENKINS, Times Staff Writer
Published December 12, 2007

An estimated 19,500 federal prison inmates, most of them black males, got the green light Tuesday to petition judges for reduced crack cocaine sentences.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to make retroactive new guidelines that reduce the disparity between sentences for crack and powder cocaine. The decision affects 1,456 offenders in Florida.

More than half of them were sentenced in the Middle District of Florida, which includes the Tampa Bay region, ranking the area second in the country - behind eastern Virginia - for the number of offenders eligible for resentencing.

"We're definitely going to be one of the busiest districts," said interim U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill.

The decision by the bipartisan body takes effect March 3, allowing federal judges, attorneys and prison officials some time to prepare. Area attorneys will gather in Tampa on Friday to discuss retroactivity at a seminar organized by the federal public defender's office.

The Bush administration opposed retroactive changes, saying crime-riddled communities weren't prepared for the potential early release of crack offenders.

But local defense attorneys predicted communities will feel little impact, as offenders are expected to gain only modest cuts to their prison terms.

"People won't be overrunning their communities any more than they would be if they got out when initially scheduled to be released," said Tampa lawyer David Weisbrod.

According to the sentencing commission, the average sentence reduction will be 27 months. The commission estimated that 3,804 inmates could be released within a year of the decision's effective date.

"Two years, three months means a lot to some people," Weisbrod said. "But it's not a flood gates opening at the prisons."

On Nov. 1, the sentencing commission eased its federal sentencing guidelines to reduce the disparity between sentences for crack and powder cocaine offenses.

Its decision to apply the changes retroactively was widely anticipated after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that federal judges were not required to apply harsher penalties to those who sell crack cocaine, rather than powder.

The disparity is viewed as racially discriminatory; crack is predominantly used by blacks and powder by whites.

According to the sentencing commission's analysis of crack offenders considered eligible for resentencing, nearly 86 percent are black, 94 percent are male and their average age is 35. By contrast, just over a quarter of those convicted of powder cocaine crimes last year were black.

Even after the Nov. 1 change, prison terms for crack cocaine still are two to five times longer on average than sentences for powder cocaine, the result of a 20-year-old decision by Congress to treat crack more harshly. The commission first said in 1995 that there was no evidence to support such disparate treatment.

Relatives of prison inmates filled the sentencing commission's meeting room in Washington, D.C., and applauded loudly after the 7-0 vote. But several family members and commissioners called on Congress to overhaul cocaine sentencing laws.

"The debate needs to shift from the Sentencing Commission to Congress," said Julie Stewart, president and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums. "That disparity between crack and powder and all of its injustices continues."

Several bills have been introduced to further reduce or eliminate the disparity. The Senate is expected to hold hearings on the legislation next year.

Tampa lawyer Stephen Crawford said at least three of his clients have a shot at getting their sentences reduced.

"It's ridiculous to be locking up young, generally African-American males for many years for small amounts of crack cocaine," he said. "The pendulum had swung a little too far. This is kind of a self-correcting thing."

He added that all crack offenders must submit to three to five years of supervised release after prison, so an early release wouldn't leave them untethered to the justice system. And minimum-mandatory sentences for drug cases mean offenders still will serve substantial prison terms.

Federal judges will have the final say on whether to reduce sentences. Attorneys admitted they are not quite sure how the process will work or how much leeway they will have in arguing for lighter sentences.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Colleen Jenkins can be reached at cjenkins@sptimes.com or 813 226-3337.

Fast Facts:

19,500 federal inmates in the United States who are eligible to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences.

1,456 federal inmates in Florida who are eligible to seek reductions in their sentences.

772 of those are in the Middle District, which includes the Tampa Bay area.

Source: U.S. Sentencing Commission

According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, 588 Florida inmates could be eligible for release from prison within three years after the March 3 effective date of Tuesday's decision. Federal judges will have the final say whether to reduce sentences.

For information, the USSC's Web site is www.ussc.gov.

[Last modified December 12, 2007, 01:03:33]