http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2009/02/22/seventh-circuit-week-in-review-terrible-tragedymaximum-sentence/ Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:44:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2009/02/22/seventh-circuit-week-in-review-terrible-tragedymaximum-sentence/comment-page-1/#comment-8931 Michael M. O'Hear Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:50:07 +0000 http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/?p=3886#comment-8931 Interesting point, David. The legislative history of the federal crack laws from the 1980's indicates that Congress was not really targeting a particular chemical compound per se, but rather particular social networks, that is, the urban, minority-dominated drug distribution networks, which were felt to be exhibiting increasingly violent tendencies. In that sense, the Seventh Circuit's approach to defining "crack" seems quite consistent with the spirit of the law. Of course, as you suggest, there is an awful lot of overlap between the targeted social networks and the impoverished underclass. Interesting point, David. The legislative history of the federal crack laws from the 1980′s indicates that Congress was not really targeting a particular chemical compound per se, but rather particular social networks, that is, the urban, minority-dominated drug distribution networks, which were felt to be exhibiting increasingly violent tendencies. In that sense, the Seventh Circuit’s approach to defining “crack” seems quite consistent with the spirit of the law. Of course, as you suggest, there is an awful lot of overlap between the targeted social networks and the impoverished underclass.

]]> http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2009/02/22/seventh-circuit-week-in-review-terrible-tragedymaximum-sentence/comment-page-1/#comment-8517 David Papke Tue, 24 Feb 2009 21:32:01 +0000 http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/?p=3886#comment-8517 I'm intrigued by the Court's admission in U.S. v. Stephenson that for sentencing purposes you cannot rely on chemistry to determine if a drug is "crack." We should, the Court tells us, look instead to how a cocaine-based drug is bought and sold in order to determine if it is in fact "crack." This comes very close to saying a drug is defined by the people who use it and the way they they conduct themselves. Is "crack" for sentencing purposes simply cocaine used by the impoverished underclass? I’m intrigued by the Court’s admission in U.S. v. Stephenson that for sentencing purposes you cannot rely on chemistry to determine if a drug is “crack.” We should, the Court tells us, look instead to how a cocaine-based drug is bought and sold in order to determine if it is in fact “crack.” This comes very close to saying a drug is defined by the people who use it and the way they they conduct themselves. Is “crack” for sentencing purposes simply cocaine used by the impoverished underclass?

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