mike...I know Marion Barry...and Tony (the Tiger) Williams was no Marion Barry.
But on the issue of crack, it was good to see the Supreme Court recognize last year that sentencing guidelines for crack vs powder offenses could present unreasonable disparities.
Quote:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal judges have the discretion to give "reasonably" shorter prison terms for crack-cocaine crimes to reduce the disparity with crimes involving cocaine powder.
The 7-2 ruling represents a victory for lawyers who argued that crack-cocaine offenders were unfairly targeted under U.S. sentencing guidelines.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/10...crack.cocaine/
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While not directly "race based", those old sentencing guidelines are one of those institutional policies that adversely affected blacks more than whites.
While not excusing the action of any coke dealers....can you understand why a black mom (or black pastor) in the inner city might be resentful of the "system" when her son (parishioner) gets 20 years for selling crack while a suburban white kid gets maybe 1 year for selling powder coke?