Break the Chains is actively involved in the campaign to equalize federal sentences for cocaine offenses. The disparity in sentencing for federal crack vs powder cocaine offenses has been a major reason for the dramatic increase in the federal prison population and the over representation of African American men. Break the Chains is urging all those who care about this injustice to sign on to a letter urging federal policymakers to change this law.

1. Sign-on Sheet
2. Equalization Letter
3. 10 Point Document

Twenty years ago Congress enacted mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Among other things, the sentencing scheme singled out crack cocaine offenses for especially harsh punishment, establishing a five year mandatory sentence for simple possession of five grams of crack cocaine and a 100:1 ratio in the threshold amounts triggering mandatory sentences for crack cocaine vs powder cocaine offense. A person convicted of selling 5 grams of crack cocaine receives a minimum sentence of five years- it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to trigger the same mandatory sentence. The impact of these sentences has fallen disproportionately on African-Americans convicted of low level drug offenses.

Between 1995 and 2000 the percentage of federal crack cocaine convictions of street-level dealers rose from almost half (48.4%) to more than two thirds (66.5%) and in 2005 more than 82% of federal crack cocaine defendants were African-American. The United States Sentencing Commission has repeatedly called on Congress to eliminate the federal cocaine sentencing disparity and the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine.

The time is ripe to mobilize leaders and advocates in affected communities to advocate for meaningful reform of this law which has exacerbated racial disparities in sentencing and incarceration for low level drug offenses, particularly of African-American defendants. We request that you join us in moving this issue to the forefront of the agenda for achieving significant drug policy reform during the coming federal legislative session.

In 2005 we collaborated with the Brennan Center for Justice and the Women’s Rights Division of the ACLU to produce a major report on the impact of drug policies on women and their families, the report entitled:

Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families

(Fair Laws 4 Families)

The report was released in conjunction with a conference held at New York University Law School that brought together activists, formerly incarcerated women, judges, lawyers, treatment providers and other criminal justice professionals to examine the role drug laws and sentencing policies play in the increasing incarceration rate of women and propose alternatives that are both humane and effective.

Over the past year, Break the Chains has collaborated with Harry G. Levine, a sociology professor at Queens College on a project examining the reasons for and impact of the disproportionately high numbers of marijuana possession arrests in New York City.

Over the past decade members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) have made more arrests of people for possessing small amounts of marijuana than police in any other city in the United States. These arrests have fallen disproportionately on youth of color, especially Black and Latino youth living in the poorest communities.

On average NYPD officers have arrested about 100 Whites, 200 Latinos, and 400 Blacks every week for the last ten years. Break the Chains plans to release a report summarizing our findings and recommendations soon.