Make crack sentencing retroactive

To the editor:Equal justice under the law still remains elusive for 20,000 people serving federal sentences for crack cocaine, despite the U.S. Sentencing Commission's long-awaited reform of federal sentencing guidelines for crack, effective Nov. 1.

These prisoners are currently serving sentences so harsh that they will no longer be imposed on future defendants, but they are ineligible for relief because the new guideline is not yet retroactive. People serving mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine under the very laws that created the 100:1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine are also not affected by the new guideline. Only Congress can change mandatory minimum laws.

The Sentencing Commission's latest report to Congress confirms that punishing people more severely for crack cocaine overstates the harmfulness of the drug and has a devastating impact on low-level offenders and minorities. The time is ripe for reform, especially given the bipartisan support for sentencing reform that has emerged in recent years.

The Sentencing Commission should make the new guideline retroactive, and Congress must act decisively and now to reform mandatory sentencing laws.

KATHRYNE SMITH, Cape Girardeau