re: Obama wants to let low-level drug offenders out of prison

In my opinion, nobody who is caught with drugs should be in prison.

BUT, low-level drug offenders constitute possession only charges, usually with crack and almost always a minority.

quote:

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Composition of the Federal Prison Population – Mostly Non-Violent
· More than half (55%) of federal prisoners are serving time for a drug offense, and 13% for a
violent offense.
· Nearly three-fourths (72.1%) of the population are non-violent offenders with no history of
violence.
· One-third (34.4%) are first-time, non-violent offenders.
· More than half (55.7%) of persons sentenced for a drug offense in 2002 fell into the lowest
criminal history category (Category 1) of the sentencing guidelines, and in 87% of cases no
weapon was involved.

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quote:

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Between 1994 and 2002, the average time served by African Americans for a drug offense
increased by 73%, compared to an increase of 28% for white drug offenders.
· In 1994, African Americans served an average of 33.1 months for a drug offense; this grew
to 57.2 months by 2002.
· Time served for drug offenses for whites increased from 29.1 months in 1994 to 37.2 months
in 2002.
· African Americans now serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (57.2
months) as whites do for a violent offense (58.8 months).
Proportion of Low-Level Crack and Cocaine Offenders Increasing
· The majority of persons sentenced for both crack and powder cocaine offenses in 2000 were
convicted of low-level functions in the drug trade. More than half (59.9%) of powder
cocaine offenders were either street-level dealers or couriers/mules, while two-thirds (66.5%)
of crack cocaine offenders fell into these categories.
· The proportion of low-level offenders has been increasing in recent years. Low-level powder
cocaine offenders rose from 38.1% in 1995 to 59.9% in 2000, while low-level crack cocaine
offenders increased from 48.4% to 66.5% in this period.
Crack/Cocaine Sentencing Policy Key to Drug Disparities
· 81.4% of crack cocaine defendants in 2002 were African American, while about two-thirds
of crack cocaine users in the general population are white or Hispanic.
· The average sentence for a crack cocaine offense in 2002 (119 months) was more than three
years greater than for powder cocaine (78 months).
· Recent reform proposals of the crack/cocaine mandatory sentencing laws would cut in half
the difference (from 34.2 months to 16.4 months) in time served in prison for drug trafficking
between African Americans and whites.

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The sentencing project