And somewhere Malice and Pusha-T are smiling.

crack_cocaine6

The Supreme Court said that federal judges can reduce sentences from the “mandatory guidelines” given for crack-cocaine sentences. The decision gives sentencing judges more room in criminal cases. [CNN]


The 7-2 ruling represents a victory for lawyers who argued that crack-cocaine offenders were unfairly targeted under U.S. sentencing guidelines.
Current federal penalties for selling 5 grams of crack cocaine can warrant the same prison sentence as dealing 500 grams of the powdered variety…
African-Americans were nearly 82 percent of defendants sentenced in federal court for dealing crack, but only 27 percent of those sentenced for dealing powder cocaine, according to 2006 federal statistics. Each year, federal courts handle about 11,000 cocaine sentences, which are roughly evenly divided between crack and cocaine cases.

Thomas and Alito dissented, in case you were wondering. (Thomas thought issues regarding statutes were legislative in nature ; Alito thought the guidelines should be binding.)

G.D.

G.D.

Gene "G.D." Demby is the founder and editor of PostBourgie. In his day job, he blogs and reports on race and ethnicity for NPR's Code Switch team.
G.D.