December 10, 2007

Judges Get More Flexibility On Crack Sentencing

In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court said that federal sentencing guidelines for drug crimes were nonbinding, giving judges some breathing room on sentences for offenses involving crack cocaine. Writing for the majority [PDF], Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg drew on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's recommendations that the 100-to-1 cocaine-crack possession ratio established by Congress be revised.

In 1986, Congress set much harsher penalties for crack cocaine offenders out of fear that use of the drug was fast becoming an epidemic in urban areas. The disparity in penalties can be seen in U.S. prisons, where blacks are disproportionately represented while powder cocaine offenders, who are mostly white, get off relatively easily.

Some activists have called the lopsided U.S. drug policy blatantly racist, but that was not really a calculation in today's decision. "A district judge must include the Guidelines range in the array of factors warranting consideration, but the judge may determine that, in the particular case, a within-Guidelines sentence is 'greater than necessary' to serve the objectives of sentencing," Ginsburg wrote. "In making that determination, the judge may consider the disparity between the Guidelines' treatment of crack and powder offenses."

Continue reading "Judges Get More Flexibility On Crack Sentencing"

Posted at 1:55 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Campaigns, Congress, Constitution, Crime, Drugs, Mike Huckabee, Republicans, Supreme Court, WH 2008
Share via

August 27, 2007

Afghan Opium Production Booming

Opium production in Afghanistan has reached "frightening" new levels, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime announced today. The opium business there is up 17% from last year, and now comprises 93% of the drug's worldwide output.

"No other country in the world has ever had such a large amount of farmland used for illegal activity, besides China 100 years ago," UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa told AP.

The report did note one positive development: The drug trade in Afghanistan's northern provinces has significantly declined. The opium boom has taken place almost entirely in the troubled Helmand province in the south, where the presence of Taliban and other insurgent fighters is strongest.

Costa blamed not only insurgents in Helmand for the crisis but also the Hamid Karzai government's "benign tolerance of corruption."

See the full UNODC report here [PDF]. Reuters has a fact sheet on the Afghan poppy trade, and the New York Times reports on firefights in Helmand province over the weekend.

Posted at 2:40 PM
Posted to: Afghanistan, Asia, Crime, Drugs, Terrorism
Share via

August 08, 2007

Huge Anti-Drug Package Could Be On The Way For Mexico

In recent years, the war on terrorism has largely eclipsed (in dollars and attention) that other U.S.-led war on a non-state -- the war on drugs. But the recent immigration debate and Mexico's new president have renewed concerns about the influx of illegal substances and drug-fueled violence spilling into the United States from its southern border.

The Washington Post reported this morning that the Bush administration is "close to sealing a major, multiyear aid deal to combat drug cartels in Mexico." Lawmakers, congressional aides and Mexican officials involved in the negotiations are optimistic, with Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Tex., predicting that the package will commit "hundreds of millions of dollars" to the effort.

Continue reading "Huge Anti-Drug Package Could Be On The Way For Mexico"

Posted at 3:40 PM
Posted to: Drugs, Mexico
Share via