Judges Get More Power

The Supreme Court has given lower court judges
more latitude in sentencing people caught with
crack cocaine. The issue was that people caught with
crack cocaine(mainly minorities) got more time
than those caught with powder cocaine (mainly
whites). This should bring an end to this issue
that has nagged minorities for years. What do you
think? Let us hear your thoughts.


The Supreme Court today gave federal judges more leeway to set lower prison terms for drug dealers, ruling they need not follow strict sentencing guidelines if they want to reduce the disparity between sentences for crack and cocaine powder.

In one ruling, the court upheld probation, not prison time, for an Arizona man who admitted to selling Ecstasy while he was in college in Iowa. The federal guidelines called for a three-year prison term for this crime.

In a second ruling, the justices upheld a 15-year prison term for a Gulf War veteran from Norfolk, Va., who was arrested with a gun and crack cocaine in his car. Federal guidelines called for a prison term of 19 to 22 years.

Bush administration prosecutors had defended the longer prison terms and said sentencing judges must generally follow the federal rules.

Both decisions came on 7-2 votes, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissenting.

In the Virginia man's case, the high court voiced its skepticism of the so-called 100-to-1 ratio for crack and powder cocaine offenses. But the justices added that they are not in a position to strike it down entirely, since the formula is written into federal laws.

For example, a person who is convicted of having 5 grams of crack cocaine, or 500 grams of powder cocaine, receives a mandatory five-year prison term. This sentence is set in law and is not subject to the decision of the trial judge.




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