Legal Commentary

LA Times: Crack Disparity is Unjust

By TChris

A Los Angeles Times editorial makes this dubious observation:

The distrust and anger toward the police felt by many African Americans, spotlighted by the recent controversy over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., is partly the result of blatantly discriminatory laws such as the crack disparity.

The crack disparity is the fault of Congress, not the police. Still, the editorial correctly observes that Congress enacted crack cocaine penalties that, in practice if not intent, are blatantly discriminatory. More to the point, federal crack penalties are nonsensical and just plain unfair. That's why TalkLeft has often made the point that Congress should remedy the problem -- and that's why TalkLeft agrees with the editorial that a bill working its way through Congress to do just that should be given a high priority.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 02, 2009 (boomark / email).