Sentencing Disparities

Paper Summary:

This paper evaluates several issues that may affect sentencing disparities for abusing crack as opposed to powder cocaine. Among these issues examined is race and its impact on sentencing. Gender issues are also considered, as are the pre-natal effects of these drugs. The writer clarifies the difference between crack and powder cocaine and how this may also influence sentencing.

Outline:
Sentencing Disparities
Cocaine and 'Crack Babies'
Past Research
Moral and Legal Issues
Development
Bibliography

From the Paper:

"There are more African-American individuals on death row than white individuals and most of these individuals awaiting execution have committed drug crimes, many of which involved crack, and less that involved powder cocaine (Pope, 1976). Even the Attorney General of the United States is willing to admit that drug laws are the main reason that there are so many African-Americans on death row today and that African-Americans are arrested at a higher rate for these types of crimes than Caucasian individuals (Pope, 1976). While this may seem irrelevant to a discussion of crack vs. powder cocaine specifically, the issue of minority status is actually somewhat important in sentencing guidelines for all crimes, although it is not an issue that judges are legally allowed to use."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Banks, C. (2004). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
• Blumstein, A. et. al. (1983). Research on sentencing: The Search For Reform.
• Drug Use Trends. (1997, September-October). Slow development in "crack babies" may be caused by conditions of urban poverty, says new study. Retrieved from http://www. ndsn.org/sepoct97/poverty.html
• Education Reforms and Students at Risk: A review of the current state of the art. (1994, January). Chapter 2: Student Background. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/pubs /edreformstudies/edreforms/chap2a.html
• Flaherty, MP & Biskupic, J. (1996, October 9). Rules Often Impose Toughest Penalties on Poor, Minorities, WASHINGTON POST, A26.

More papers on Sentencing Disparities:

• Comparison Essay # 59424 : "Cocaine Crime Sentencing"
• Analytical Essay # 122197 : "Racial Disparity in Sentencing"
• Essay # 72067 : "Bias in Sentencing"

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