PSA from the Drug Policy Alliance

5:36PM ON 02/12/2008
BY Ariel Werner

Are you planning a children’s party or some other event in which you need a magician? Consider hiring President Bush’s newly appointed Attorney General, Michael Mukasey. He is a master of sleight-of-hand tricks. Under fire because of his agency’s support of torture, Mukasey has launched a national campaign to change the subject.

Maybe you’ve seen his handiwork in your local newspaper: “The U.S. Sentencing Commission is letting violent criminals out of prison!” “20,000 crack dealers about to be released into your neighborhood!!” “And they’re all black!!!” “Crack!” “Black Men!!” “Scared yet, America?”

This (race) card trick is pathetic. And deceitful. Yes, the Sentencing Commission recently reduced prison sentences for certain crack offenses and applied the changes retroactively, but the reductions are small and will not apply to anyone convicted of a violent offense. Retroactivity will be staggered over several decades, and the largest one-year release (possibly 2,500 people) is a drop in the bucket compared to the average of 650,000 people who are released from jail or prison every year because they have served their time. Federal judges will also have the power to deny a sentencing reduction to anyone who poses a risk to society.

Even former DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, as pro-drug-war as you can get, has accused Attorney General Mukasey of distorting the truth on this issue.

Fortunately, Congress isn’t falling for Mukasey’s dirty tricks. The Senate Crime and Drugs Subcommittee is having a hearing today on the 100-to-1 crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity that is devastating black communities and undermining public safety. If you haven’t faxed Congress in support of eliminating the crack/powder disparity please consider doing so.

Senator Joseph Biden, the chair of the subcommittee, asked DPA to submit written testimony on the issue. He is the author of the Drug Sentencing Reform and Cocaine Kingpin Trafficking Act of 2007 (S.1711), which would completely eliminate the crack/powder disparity. I know what you’re thinking. The guy who wrote the RAVE Act is doing something good? Yep. Help us make his change of heart matter and take action now.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the bigotry and oppression behind the war on drugs manifests itself in different ways. That’s why the Drug Policy Alliance fights on multiple fronts. Whether it’s taking on racist sentencing laws, making sterile syringes more available to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, cutting drug war spending, or working to reform state and federal marijuana laws, we’re all in this together. There’s one drug war. And one movement against it. Thank you for being a part of it.

Bill Piper
Director, Office of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance