Drug Sentencing in the U.S. Criminal Justice

Drug Sentencing in the U.S. Criminal Justice System

The objective of the research proposed in this document is to examine the issue of drug sentencing in the U.S. Criminal Justice System in order to determine if the sentencing used is effective in bringing about a reduction in drug offenses and the rehabilitation of prisoners in successful return to society following incarceration.

(1) Is drug sentencing in the U.S. Criminal Justice System effective in reducing repeat offenses?

(2) Are individuals successful returned to society following incarceration and rehabilitation programs?

(3) Is the U.S. Criminal Justice system succeeding or failing and are drug sentencing laws negatively or impacting the success of the U.S. Criminal Justice system in regards to drug sentencing laws?

Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is the additional knowledge that will be added to the already existing knowledge base in this area of study.

Methodology

The methodology proposed for the research in this study is qualitative in nature and will involve an extensive and exhaustive review of literature in this area of study.

Literature Review

The work of Clickman (2005) reports "Today's policies on crime and punishment in America can largely be attributed to sentencing guidelines -- a legal principle that takes away some of the discretion that judges have in sentencing those convicted of crimes. Known as presumptive minimums, mandatory minimums, or in some cases, voluntary guidelines and benchmarks, these structures are formal procedures for judges to use in determining a specific punishment for a criminal offense." Clickman additionally notes that while there are sentencing guidelines in place "…sentences for similar crimes can still be strikingly different. The most striking example is how federal courts dealt with drug possession crimes over the last 15 years. In 1986, Congress enacted the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 to combat the crack cocaine epidemic. A conviction for five grams of crack cocaine, more frequently used by African-American drug users, would yield the same five-year minimum sentence as 500 grams of powder cocaine, more frequently used by white drug users. Essentially, crack was deemed 100 times more dangerous than powder cocaine. This led to African-American men being convicted of much longer sentences than whites who had been convicted of a similar drug crime involving cocaine." (Clickman, 2005) There is increasingly public scrutiny of mandatory minimum due to failure of these laws in deterrence of crime and shortfalls in budgets which have change options for incarceration.