This should surprise no one, but when the info’s laid out this way, it’s pretty stark.
Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office, called the law a “tragic mistake.”
It set much stiffer mandatory minimum sentences for specific quantities of crack cocaine than for the powder form, according to the report — five years for distribution of five grams of crack compared to 500 grams of powder cocaine.
Because crack is cheaper than powder, the report says, the law ends up discriminating against people who can’t afford powder cocaine. The average sentence for African Americans convicted on drug charges has gone from 11 percent higher than the average for whites to 49 percent higher since 1986, according to the report.
ACLU battles disparity in cocaine sentences (San Francisco Chronicle)
You can download the ACLU report as a PDF.