Possibly the powder and crack forms of cocaine should incur equal punishment under the law. Maybe punishing possession and sale of the different forms with different sentences is unjust. But those aren't the arguments getting made in the Nutmeg State.
The bill approved by the General Assembly would equalize the thresholds for triggering mandatory minimum sentences for both types of cocaine at one ounce.They are altering public policy which directly affects the safety and general welfare of Connecticut citizens solely on the basis of a wished-for quantitative racial balance. If Connecticut decides that this didn't help bring the racial composition of their prison population more into line with their desires, will they just start arresting white people at random? Or maybe they'll just start letting minorities get a pass on a first offense? Maybe they'll just let everyone out?
Critics of the current law say its discrepancies have contributed to racial discrimination in sentencing, since crack is often called the drug of choice for inner-city minorities while powdered cocaine is favored by more affluent white drug abusers.
"That racial disparity (in the prisons) didn’t exist before we had these drug laws," said state Sen. Toni N. Harp, D-New Haven.
State Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, said that 50 percent of the people arrested in Connecticut on drug charges are white, but that only 10 percent of the them charged with drug offenses end up in prison.
