Coming out of summer 2020 (when we thought nothing could get worse –– ah, gotta love the good ol’ pandemic), the name George Floyd became a common topic, anywhere from political discourse and BLM protests to even household dinner conversation. With racially biased incidents with police unfortunately riddled throughout our recent history, it’s important to note that racial injustice within our criminal justice system goes beyond just police-citizen interactions. From the police, to the courts, to the prisons, and even in policy, the criminal justice system sometimes only serves to widen the divide between American citizens.
As it seems we do often in my civic issues blogs, we are going back to the 1970s-80s and talking about that wonderful War on Drugs/Tough on Crime era in our history. So, journey back in time with me … it’s the early 1970s and apparently, there’s cocaine everywhere. During the dubbed “cocaine boom” in the 1970s, the United States was receiving such a large quantity of this disgustingly addictive drug that its price dropped almost 80%. Drug dealers, carrying the high moral standard required of their professions, decided that only earning 20% of what they had earned prior was unacceptable. So, they all found legal jobs and lived the American dream and had great lives. Just kidding –– they learned how to solidify their cocaine into a solid form of it that could be smoked. Welcome to the birth of crack cocaine: a drug dealer’s dream and every other person who even looks at it’s nightmare. Producing an instant high and carrying a short grace period of addiction, this form of the drug was easy and cheap to make. Unfortunately catching on fast, first reported cases of crack came from LA, San Diego, and Houston in 1980, but by 1987, crack was available in all but 4 US states. Considering the cheap nature and start within cities, the typical user population was (in comparison to the user population of cocaine) poor and underprivileged. Adding on the knowledge that America is just the best country ever, the crack epidemic specifically targeted people of color. Cocaine, however, apparently stayed classy amongst the upper class (typically white) businessmen (if you aren’t picturing Wolf of Wall Street you have the wrong idea).
Prior to 1990, African Americans had an average federal drug sentence that was 11% higher than their white counter parts. However, in 1990, the government created mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine charges, NOT cocaine charges. Only 4 years later, the average federal drug sentence for African Americans increased to 49% higher than their white counterparts, all due to the differing sentencing on crack cocaine vs. normal cocaine. To break it down a bit more clearly and to give a quantity to the bullshit –– cocaine and crack were charged at a 100:1 ratio, despite being the same drug with the same health effects. Let’s do a hypothetical: there are two individuals were caught dealing –– one with crack and one with cocaine. The person with crack had 5 grams of crack and gets the minimum mandatory sentence of 5 years in prison. The person dealing cocaine would have to have 500 grams of cocaine to get that same sentence –– see the issue? Crack users and dealers (statistically made up of a large population of people of color) are getting punished 100 times more severally than cocaine users and dealers (again, statistically white, wealthy men). That’s some racial injustice if I’ve ever seen it and history agrees; by 2002 there were more African American men in prisons/jails then there were enrolled at institutions of higher education. This shows how drastically the crack epidemic whipped through the minority populations, ripping family systems apart. To fix the injustice at hand with sentencing disparities, President Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act in 2010 (you know, only 20 years after the problem). This reduced the sentencing disparity to an 18:1 ratio and abolished mandatory minimum sentences on crack possession charges. In 2011, it was ruled that the Fair Sentencing Act could be imposed retroactively, meaning that 12,000 people –– 85% African Americans –– had the chance to appeal their sentences and likely get reduced charges. Yay America! We did it! … or did we?
While the Fair Sentencing Act was an amazing contribution to righting the wrongs of prior criminal justice policies, it could still go farther. The FSA still operates under the guise that there should be some disparity between sentencing of crack and cocaine charges. Done as a compromise, the 18:1 ratio has no real scientific basis –– it is, after all, just different forms of the same drug. The only truly fair ratio would be 1:1. Also, the whole retroactive application doesn’t go as far as you’d think; it only applies to those charged right before the act, who’s sentencing fell after the act was passed. So, if you got a mandatory minimum sentence before the act was passed (even by a day), the 5-year mandatory minimum sentence still applies.
There is also still vast racial disparity within our prison systems. Looking to residents born in 2001, 1 in 9 men will be incarcerated. However, this statistic changes drastically when looking at race, changing to 1 in 17 white men, 1 in 3 African American men, and 1 in 6 Latino men. When looking to all women, 1 in 56 will be incarcerated. Mirroring the male statistics, countering in race changes rates to 1 in 111 white women, 1 in 18 African American women, and 1 in 45 Latina women. Still today, people of color make up 37% of the total population while making up 67% of the prison population.
With names such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, and devastatingly many more on your mind, it is our generation’s time to undo the racial injustices of the past and helping heal the damage they have done to our communities. It is time America truly offers equality and justice for ALL.
Sources:
https://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/crackcocaine/a-short-history.html
https://www.aclu.org/other/cracks-system-20-years-unjust-federal-crack-cocaine-law
https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/drug-law-reform/fair-sentencing-act
This was a really great blog post for the week. Each week your posts are filled with really thought-out evidence and research so I really appreciate that because it makes the engagement with the audience much more apparent.
Boy this country sure has a disgusting track record. It’s appalling that there are people able to convince themselves otherwise. I feel this was a great blog post – I feel like it flowed well and I liked the use of ratios and statistics. It always is crazy to me the image difference between crack and cocaine, and the information you provided just solidified that feeling. Also, I loved the phrase “it’s the early 1970s and apparently, there’s cocaine everywhere.” Just throwing that in; for whatever reason I found it to be funny. Again, loved the blog!
I really enjoyed reading this blog given that it is such a relevant and important topic. Something I found really interesting was when you said people of color make 67% of the prison population. That is a crazy statistic. I think its good that at least we have the FSA in place. Hopefully our country can do more to bring equality