Conyers, Scott Applaud Supreme Court Sentencing Rulings

Press Release

Conyers, Scott Applaud Supreme Court Sentencing Rulings

Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Crime, Homeland Security and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Robert "Bobby" Scott (D-VA) applauded the Supreme Court's 7-2 rulings in two important drug sentencing cases. In Gall v. U.S., Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority, delivered the opinion that sentencing judges can impose sentences that are shorter than the applicable guideline range, and that the reviewing court must review those decisions under an abuse of discretion standard. In U.S. v. Kimbrough, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ruled that sentencing judges may consider the unfair disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences, and may depart from the Guidelines range, when a Guidelines sentence is "greater than necessary" to serve the objectives of sentencing. The Kimbrough decision comes on the eve of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's public meeting to vote on whether its recent amendment lowering the crack sentencing guidelines should apply retroactively to the 19,500 crack offenders sentenced before November 1, 2007.

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Chairman Scott stated that "These opinions give additional authority to district court judges to give an appropriate sentence based on the circumstances in the case. The Judicial Council has been saying for years that the "one-size-fits-all" sentences required by mandatory sentencing laws are inherently unfair and often violate common sense. Each case should be judged by its own merits and this case allows that to happen."

In the Kimbrough case, the Court cited favorably the U.S. Sentencing Commission's research that the 100 to 1 ratio in crack cocaine versus powder cocaine sentencing guidelines is unwarranted because scientific research has shown that there is no appreciable difference between crack and powder sentencing; that the 100 to 1 ratio is inconsistent with the 1986 Sentencing Act's goal of punishing major drug dealers more severely than minor drug dealers because "retail crack dealers get longer sentences than wholesale drug distributors who supply them the powder cocaine from which the crack is produced"; and finally that the disparity fosters disrespect for the law because of the widely held perception that the disparity promotes racial discrimination.

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