Washington – The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review whether judges are required to impose sharply longer sentences for crack cocaine than for cocaine powder, stepping into a long-running dispute with racial overtones.
Most crack cocaine offenders in federal courts are black.
The justices said they would hear the case of Derrick Kimbrough in the fall. Kimbrough, who is black and a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, received a 15-year prison term for dealing crack and powder cocaine as well as possessing a firearm in Norfolk, Va.
Federal sentencing guidelines called for a range of 19 to 22 years in prison.
At Kimbrough’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson said the higher range was “ridiculous.”
The judge said the 15-year sentence “is clearly long enough under the circumstances. As a matter of fact, it’s the court’s view that it’s too long, but the court is bound by the mandatory minimums of 10 years on three of these counts.”
The government appealed the sentence. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said judges are not free to impose sentences shorter than the guidelines.
The Bush administration urged the high court to reject Kimbrough’s appeal. The administration also has opposed changes in crack sentencing laws, saying any changes should be part of a comprehensive look at sentencing issues.
Advocates for reducing the disparity point to crime statistics that show crack is more of an urban and minority drug while cocaine powder is used more often by the affluent.
