Date: 11/02/07
Reducing sentences for criminals? Should that be allow? A criminal will always be a criminal. A new effect went in yesterday and the government is looking into if they should decrease the sentences for crack cocaine offenders. Instead of 10 years and 1 month, it might go down to 8 years and 10 months. Since the prison are becoming overcrowded, the United States Sentencing Commission are figuring out a way to apply this new guideline. I don't think they should reduce any sentence for anyone. The famous quote, "If you do the crime, you pay the time." If crack cocaine offenders are able to get less time, what happens to other drug offenders? Shouldn't the same rule apply?
The commission stated in a letter that if this guideline is passed, our communities would be put in danger and have a major affect on the judicial system. The American Bar Association this will result to "cleaner and more uniform decisions". I'm not sure why or how the commission came about this. If a criminal was in prison for marajuana and that particular found out about this guideline, he should've just been charged with crack cocaine if that will help him or her get out earlier.
I thought the article was detailed enough but I wanted to hear more from the commission office. Maybe the writer could've interviewed a few crack cocaine offenders. I wanted to have a better understanding of the whole prcoess and who came about this decision.
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My understanding is that the system discriminates against Crack users who are disproportionately poor and black. Powder Cocaine is more common among the white middle class where punishments are lighter. This is an attempt to remedy that disparity.
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