David Dayen on yesterday’s lowering of the crack/powder sentencing disparity from 100:1 to 18:1:
But you know what we don’t do a lot of in this country? Reduce sentences. Check out the makeup of the world’s largest prison population and you’ll see what I mean. “Law ‘n’ Order” and “Tough on Crime” remain shibboleths used by politicians to hammer away at criminal sentencing reformists. So ANY change in a positive direction takes a ridiculous amount of work and struggle. This is a small step, but it’s a step in the right direction.
It’s true, we don’t reduce sentences very much–in fact yesterday was the first time in forty years that Congress has reduced a mandatory minimum sentence. But that’s exactly what’s so frustrating, it’s not at all clear to me whether this reflects general movement in the direction of sanity or an isolated incident in which the injustice was so glaring, the prior consensus so refuted, and the ongoing existence of the disparity so unjustifiable that the usual tough on crime types like Jeff Sessions felt obligated to do something about it. Even then, we’re left with an 18:1 disparity that has no rational basis and a Congress too busy patting itself on the back to think about doing anything about it anytime soon.
So yeah, it’s definitely a good thing that the disparity has been narrowed. Maybe I’m being too pessimistic, but I can’t help but wonder, what if that was the last opportunity anyone will have to do something about it?
