Let's Do That 'Crack Cocaine Thing'
Written by Brian Garst, Posted in General/Misc.
Are members of Congress on crack? Reading the garbage routinely passed off as “law,” one would think so. Alas, it was only one Senator, not the entire chamber, that seemed to confess on Thursday.
The top Republican at Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court hearing was talking about trying to schedule a Judiciary Committee hearing on the disparity between the sentencing of powder cocaine abusers and crack cocaine users.
Sessions said he and Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., had been talking about it. “Sen. Leahy and I were talking during these hearings, we’re going to do that crack cocaine thing you and I have talked about before,” Sessions said.
The hearing room cracked up.
Funny.
As to the substance, the disparity between sentencing for crack and powder cocaine (the former sometimes resulting in sentences 100 times greater than the latter) is gross. It also has the appearance of being racially motivated, which certainly doesn’t help racial tensions in America.
I serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.