Pros And Cons Of The Sentencing Reform

It a ludacris ratio, but they stuck with it and stuck it to a lot of low level users and dealers. There was an even harsher punishment for those who carried 5 grams of crack cocaine or more. A first time offender who was in possession of 5 grams of crack would be given a mandatory 5 years in prison. That means that you would be given the same amount of prison time for having 500 grams of powdered cocaine in your possession. If an individual was caught we 50 grams of crack, it would be an automatic 10 years. There has never been a class of drug in the history of the United States that has been as racially skewed in regards to the number of offenses. According to the United States Sentencing Commission, which I might add came about as a product of the Anti-Drug-Abuse Act, 79% of the 5,669 sentenced crack offenders in 2015 were African American 10% where Hispanic, and the remaining 10% were white. When you contrast that with the 6,103 cases were cocaine was the charge, the numbers are a little more spread out along the playing field: 53% Hispanic, 27% Black, 18% white. Rightfully so, someone finally took care of the injustice that was created back in 1986. In 2010, President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act. What the Act did was it lowered the ratio of crack to cocaine from 100-1 to 18-1. That’s still a very high number for two almost identical drugs that have the same effects, has the same molecular structure, and is just as addictive. Bills are currently being presented in order to lower the sentencing ratio down to

In 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act was passed in effort to stop the drug crisis. The Act was aimed towards accountability and zero-tolerance towards addicts.. Critics accused the government of spending too much on enforcing rather than educating and treatment. Its effects were similar to those of Prohibition so in 1988 the act was redone (Bondi 395).

In 1950, 70 percent of whites were imprisoned and in 1990 it flipped to 70 percent of African Americans and Latinos imprisoned. In 2008 a study showed that 68 percent of those in prison were African Americans and among drug offenders who were released, 92 percent were black (Vogel, 2016). Nearly 14 million whites and approximately 2.6 million African Americans report using an illicit drug (Criminal, 2016). In 1980 whites were more likely to sell drugs than blacks by 45 percent. In 2012, 6.6 percent of whites sold drugs compared to just 5 percent of blacks. However, blacks are 3.6 times more likely than whites to be arrested for selling drugs and 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for possession of drugs. (Rothwell, 2014). Blacks make up 12 percent of the total population of drug users, but 38 percent are arrested for drug offenses. African Americans essentially serve as much time for drug offenses as whites do for violent offenses. Yet blacks are incarcerated at six times the rate of whites (Criminal, 2016). “Jerome Miller analyzed arrest statistics from several American cities to determine the impact of the War on Drugs on policing. He found striking racial disparities in how drug arrests were made. In many jurisdictions, African American men account for over eighty percent of total drug arrests. In

In 1982 the crack epidemic started, which shortly after Ronald Reagan expanded the war on drugs that Nixon started, one of his top aides admitted that the war on drugs was used to “target African Americans and hippies”. The number of incarcerations before the war on drugs was expanded in 1980 was four thousand seven hundred forty-nine for drug related crimes, in 1990 that number increased to twenty-four thousand two hundred ninety-seven, sixty percent of those incarcerations were African Americans (sentencingproject.org). If you were caught with one gram of crack you got the same sentencing as someone found with eighteen grams of cocaine, it was policies like these that targeted lower income black communities because crack was much cheaper than cocaine and was more likely for a white person to have cocaine.

Most of us would agree that drug abuse and addiction is no respecter of persons. Regardless of age, race, gender, or economic status drug addiction can rear its ugly head in any situation. Like most Americans, I have personally been affected by the pitfalls of drug addiction from relatives and friends. Therefore, I have witnessed firsthand the devastation that it leaves on family members, friends, and the communities, in which they reside. Since its inception in 1986 the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, as caused more harm than good. At the start of this Act, Congress implemented maximum drug quantities initially targeted at “serious” and “major” drug traffickers. Congress concluded that 500 grams of powder cocaine would trigger a five-year mandatory minimum, and five kilograms would trigger a ten-year mandatory minimum. However, for crack cocaine the triggering quantities were significantly less. Only five grams of crack cocaine would prompt five-years and just fifty grams to prompt a ten-year sentence. This massive gap became known as the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity. Soon after several states began to legislate sentencing disparities between powder cocaine and crack cocaine into their criminal codes. The original targets of

The mandatory minimum sentencing is about a fixed ruling of a crime that a judge is expected to deliver. Congress has enacted mandatory minimum sentencing laws. It was to impose the mandatory sentencing an offender would receive for crimes that were committed. The mandatory minimum punishment guidelines would require for judges to hand down judgement for a certain length of time. This would mean that for crimes that are committed there are criminal sentencing guidelines, this would give judges a certain discretion on how to proceed in sentencing an offender. These minimum sentencing apply to many of the crimes committed on society, such as violent, drug-related crimes and for those habitual offenders. In cases where the offender commits a crime and is a repeat offender then it should be left up the presiding judge to serve out justice. People who commit low level crimes should be punished but not to the extent of going to prison for a long period of time. Congress has enacted these guidelines so that the criminal justice system would not be burden with smaller crimes or be overwhelmed. Lengthy sentencing hearings seldom are necessary, the disputes about sentencing elements must be resolved with sensitivity concern and carefulness. A dispute exists about any factor important to the sentencing determination then a judge will use his discretion to hand down equal and fair judgement. Legislator statements during debates on mandatory

First off, parole is “the conditional release of a prisoner, prior to completition of the

1. Mandatory minimum sentencing is a protocol made to provide accurate sentencing for a crime. The purpose is to provide a standard where judges cannot reduce sentences, in order to encourage a fairer judicial system.

Since the inception of mandatory minimum cocaine laws in 1986 to the advent of the Armstrong case, not a single white offender had been convicted of a crack cocaine offense in federal courts serving Los Angeles and its six surrounding counties. Rather, virtually all white offenders were prosecuted in state court, where they were not subject to that drug’s lengthy mandatory minimum sentences. The impact of the decision to prosecute the black defendants in federal court was significant. In federal court they faced a mandatory minimum sentence of at least 10 years and a maximum of life without parole if convicted of selling more than 50 grams of crack. By contrast, if prosecuted in California state court, the defendants would have received a minimum sentence of three years and a maximum of five years (United States v. Armstrong, 1996).

Alexander argument is the War on Drugs was purposely started to mass incarcerate African Americans. With the new Drug War, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was passed. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act punished crack cocaine a hundred times harder than powder cocaine. Crack and powder cocaine are the same drug, however different effects on the human body. According to the US Department of Justice, crake cocaine has a more psychological effect than powder, which leads to more people becoming addicted to the drug and heavier usage of the drug. Crack cocaine caused a great deal of violence, family deterioration, abuse, and neglect. Powder cocaine did cause abuse and violence, however powder cocaine make people want to go to the club, dance, drink, and have

Prison reform is the policy in which conditions in prisons are improved. Prisons have been a part of our government since the Americas were first colonized. Conditions in the prisons were completely different than they are now. For instance, our current prison system calls for regulations and check ups on the facilities to make sure that they are habitable for prisoners. Many prisons are very costly to keep up and running.Even though, there are some privately owned prisons but many are funded by the U.S.’s taxpaying citizens.Additionally, prisons make it hard to come back to society. Once you have something on your record a lot of opportunities are thrown out the window.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported 6.7 million people were supervised by adult correctional systems in the United States at year end 2015. President Obama has conveyed tax payer pay $80 billion dollars to house incarcerate individuals yearly. The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 limited federal judge sentencing discretions. In 1980 the USA had 500k people incarcerated, the population of prisoners has more than doubled the last two decades. The United States Mandatory sentencing requires offenders receive a predetermined minimum sentencing for some offenses. Since the implementation of mandatory sentencing, prison populations have risen sharply with sky rocking costs. On certain offenses, Federal judges no longer have discretion on the sentence length. Mandatory sentencing laws have shifted the power of punishment to the prosecutor as they have the discretion of charges brought against offenders. According to Peter Wagner and Bernadette Rabuy in their article “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2017,” the United State criminal justice leads the world in the percentage of its citizens incarcerated. Mandatory minimum sentencing has led to large prison populations, skyrocketing costs and social family challenges.

Mandatory minimum sentences are court decisions where judicial discretion is limited by law. Usually when people are convicted of certain crimes they must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison. The article I picked to review is an article on mandatory minimum sentences. The article reviews the pros and cons of mandatory sentencing. I will go over the pros and cons described in the article and give my opinion on how I feel about them.

The United States is home to five percent of the world population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoner. There must be a change to the current prison system which is doing more harm than good in American society and must be reformed. Reasons for this claim are that American prisons are too overcrowded with inmates, which creates a dangerous and unhuman environment. The cost to run a prison has gotten too expensive for tax payer pockets, and lastly the prison system is more as a punishment instead of rehabilitation with about sixteen percent of inmates most serious offence being drug charges. Prisons fall short of reforming criminals and the government is obligated to completely reform the prison systems in the United States.

While the death penalty laws have changed a lot over the years since the 18th century. “Who, exactly, gives us the right to kill? If killing is wrong, then why are we allowed to kill? (John Grisham)”. After the death penalty they moved to the electric chair is that any better? If you don't get the death penalty what will your sentence be or do you get a plea- bargain and is it fair that the government gets a say in who gets the death penalty or not.