In Western District of North Carolina, sentences are being changed

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

1

WCNC has a helluva story here. Somebody needs to follow up on this:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Western District of North Carolina ranks third in the country on the list of most people sent to prison on crack cocaine offenses. But some say the discrepancy in sentencing for crack versus powder is unfair.

Those sentences are being changed, and for some, it could reduce their sentence by as much as a third.

Cocaine in all its forms has been blight on our community.

“Powder cocaine destroys an individual, but crack cocaine destroys a community,” said U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert.

That’s the conventional wisdom. Historically the sentences for crack have been much longer than for powder.

“About 90 percent of the persons sentenced for cocaine base were African-Americans, so you had a racial disparity issue,” said defense attorney Lyle Yurko.

Yurko is an adviser to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The commission decided to reduce the sentences for some crack dealers by a third.

Here in the Western District of North Carolina — which includes Charlotte, Asheville, Statesville, and other cities — it’s estimated that some 700 to 800 prisoners would be eligible for the reduction.

So far, 250 have applied. A judge would review all applications and decide who goes home and who doesn’t.

“We associate crack cocaine with more violent crime and more damage to neighborhoods,” said Shappert.

Shappert represented the Justice Department before the commission to oppose early release. She does not believe race should play a role.

“We do not prosecute based on race; we prosecute based on conduct, and the easiest way to avoid that disparity is not to sell drugs,” Shappert said.

Yurko says that study after study has shown that crack is not worse than power in terms of crack babies, violence and the threat to the community. He says some dealers should never get out of jail, but he doesn’t think it’s fair for the suppliers to get a break.

“The idea that an importer of thousands of kilos would get a smaller sentence than a street dealer is insane,” Yurko said.

Shappert thinks that those dealers who come back early will bring the same problems back to their communities.

“My real concern is the communities that are going to be impacted and many of these are African-American communities,” Shappert said.

So far there have been no hearings, but look for that to change in the next 30 days.

“Very responsible judges are going to make the decision; I believe that nobody who shouldn’t be released from prison will get a reduction in their sentence,” Yurko said.