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New release of Kagan papers includes a crack/powder memo

By Douglas A. Berman

This new AP article discussing the "roughly 40,000-page trove of documents released by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library on Friday" includes this sentencing-related tid-bit: In a July 1997 memo to Clinton on drug sentencing guidelines, Kagan and [her boss Bruce] Reed counseled a middle-ground policy to sharply reduce ? but not eliminate ? the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences. They said Clinton could expect criticism both from Republicans, who would call the position soft on drug users, and the Congressional Black Caucus, which would accuse the administration of "failing to go far enough to remove a racial injustice." I do not think kind of memo should be viewed as providing a window into SG Kagan's sentencing soul, though it does show she has understood the basic politics of the long-standing debate over crack sentencing.continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 12, 2010 (boomark / email).