Topic: Sentencing Commission

1 chapters across the catalog

38: You Ain't Binary
• 53:18 - 56:43

38: You Ain't Binary

Michael Coyle, Race and Class in Cocaine Sentencing

The hosts review a paper by Michael Coyle regarding the disparate impact of cocaine sentencing. Data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission shows that 66% of federal crack defendants were street-level dealers, while importers made up only 0.5%. The average sentence for crack was 65 months compared to 14 months for powder cocaine, even for quantities under 25 grams.