Social Issues

Federal Crack Vs. Powder Cocaine Sentencing Guidelines: Why low-down and minority populations are being denied their 14th amendment rights.















Introduction to the Problem, Overview and explanation of the Crack Cocaine Epidemic
With the explosion of checker cocaine during the too soon 1980s came a whirlwind of complications for society as a integral and the African American community in personaicular. This bare-ass, inexpensive reading of cocaine, made the drug readily available to an entirely new social class. In doing so it received massive media assistance labeling the drug as hyper-addictive and violence inducing. Due in part to the media propaganda, congress was forced into action early on in the epidemic. In 1986 as well as 1988 congress passed federal official sentencing legislation creating quantity guidelines to be used when sentencing federal crack and powder cocaine defendants. That ratio was set at ascorbic acid to 1 respectively and is still in effect today, substance that in order to receive an equal sentence in terms of time served for cocaine as opposed to crack, you would rent 100 times the amount of drugs. Furthermore, crack is the only drug with a mandatory prison term for first rudeness simple possession.



Because the two drugs are pharmacologically identical, the assumption is that the original ratio is unconstitutional on the grounds that it violates the equal security department as well as the due process clauses on a lower floor the 14th amendment. However, being a desperate impact case, it has been heavy to have the courts rule in favor of a lessening of the ratio because of the difficulty of proving that a discriminatory intent exists on behalf of lawmakers (Coyle, 2002).
The controversy however lies much deeper than one set of federal sentencing guidelines. Due mainly to the social classification of people into groups which we indeed call race, it exists within a larger context, within a system that is already tacitly biased towards minorities. Bias exists not...If you motivation to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



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