That proposal comes at a moment of opportunity and progress in advancing greater fairness in the justice system. For over 20 years, the excessive mandatory penalties for federal crack cocaine offenses have been the key flashpoint in discussions of racial disparity. African-Americans constitute 80 percent of the population serving time in federal prison for crack cocaine offenses, despite the fact that two-thirds of users of crack cocaine are white or Hispanic. In 2007, the U.S. Sentencing Commission lowered its sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses in part because of concern that the significant racial disparity created by the sentences was unjustified.
At the state level, there is increasing momentum to address issues of fairness as well. Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut and Democratic Gov. Chet Culver of Iowa signed bills this year requiring the preparation of racial impact statements for proposed new sentencing legislation. Similar to fiscal or environmental impact statements, these measures would allow policymakers to assess any unwarranted disparities in proposed sentencing law prior to adoption of the new policy. In contrast to the experience with the crack cocaine penalties adopted in the mid-1980s, this would encourage an early discussion of the dynamics of race and justice, rather than waiting until after the legislation has been put into effect.
