PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNS CRACK COCAINE SENTENCE NARROWING BILL INTO LAW...

On Tuesday, President Obama signed a historical bill into law: The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. This law specifically tackles the sentencing disparities between those who have been arrested for possession of powder cocaine versus crack (or rock) cocaine. Yup, those arrested for possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine received a mandatory 5 year sentence (possession of 10 grams got 10 years) while one caught with powder cocaine required possession of at least 500 grams to get the same type of sentencing. The 100-1 sentencing disparity has been lowered to 18-1 with The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 now in place. Now a crack defendant needs to have at least 28 grams in possession to get that same 5 years.

The difference in how the two  have been handled by law enforcement and court systems have long been the target of public outcry, as the reasons mainly point to racism. It is not unknown that powder cocaine is a much more expensive addiction, lending it's name to (mainly white) celebrities and upper society types. While crack cocaine is reportedly cheap and it's users are stereotypically lower income and, even homeless individuals. These are the people who can't afford attorneys, or bail. Remember when Whitney Houston declared that "crack is wack!" She didn't say a thing about that white powder though, did she?

Though, we feel there's more of an economic contrast, rather than a racial one; it's probably safe to say the two go hand-in-hand here. It must also be mentioned that 80% of crack offenders have been Black. Not something gone unnoticed when the original crack possession laws went into effect in 1986. At that time, the drug was surging in poor (mainly Black) neighborhoods.

Obama didn't speak as he signed the law, but he was quoted as saying, the new legislation would “help right a longstanding wrong” and was “the right thing to do.” Gotta love him! Hmph. Seems they should enforce this law retroactively, especially for the recently incarcerated. But we know that won't happen. Bet people who were convicted on the old law are pissedddd! [NY Times]