Washington Courts: Judicial News Report Detail

Drug Sentencing in Washington State: Unveiling the Racial Inequity

By Judge Jim Murphy, Spokane County Superior Court

As a district and superior court judge for the past 24 years, I’ve sentenced thousands of men and women to prison for drug possession or delivery.      Like many other judges throughout Washington state, I’ve become troubled by the disproportionate effect drug laws have on minorities throughout our community. 

This basic unfairness, coupled with the oppressive criminal justice costs to our local and state budgets, makes it imperative to institute reforms that emphasize treatment over incarceration.

The racial divide

The current ‘tough on drugs’ sentencing structure in Washington State is particularly devastating to our African American population.  While comprising only 3% of the state’s population, African Americans make up nearly one-third of all drug offenders in confinement. 

Judges are often confronted with the following scenario: A young, African American appears for sentencing on a conviction of delivery for two tenths of a gram of crack cocaine (an easy comparison is to two tenths of a packet of Nutrasweet, which weighs one gram) within 1000 feet of a school bus stop.   The defendant exchanges services as a middle man for a small quantity for his own use, and although he made no significant economic gain by facilitating the sale, his standard range sentence for this first-time drug offense is 45-51 months. 

Contrast this with the case of a Caucasian robber who takes property by threat of force, a “strike” offense under our “three strikes law.”  Even though this defendant has an identical prior offense, he would face only a sentence of 12 months and a day to 14 months.

With such a disparity in the sentences given to those who commit drug offenses, the effect on our state’s African American population is staggering.  Statewide, African American males are sentenced for drug offenses at a ratio that is 7.8 times greater than for Caucasian males.   In King County, African American males are sentenced for drug offenses at a ratio that is 25 times greater than for Caucasian males. In Spokane County the ratio is 13 times greater.  In Snohomish County, the ratio is 5.9 times greater, and in Pierce County, the ratio is 3.9 times greater.  This is clearly a statewide problem. 

The disturbing cost

In addition to the equal justice issues facing minority populations, we must also ask whether, in such difficult fiscal times, it makes sense for our criminal justice system to continue on this path.

Based on our experience in sentencing drug offenders, many judges believe that the majority of those imprisoned for violating drug laws are drug users whose crimes involved very small quantities. With cocaine and heroin, the amount is usually only a fraction of a gram with a street value of $10 to $20.

The average cost of incarceration of someone convicted of a drug offense, however, is almost $25,000 per year.  By comparison, it costs approximately $2,500 per year in most areas of the state to provide treatment through Drug Courts. 

The estimated cost of incarcerating people convicted of drug crimes in 2001 was about $80 million.  It will cost Washington taxpayers $54.82 million just to house the 2,180 individuals imprisoned in 2001 for drug delivery crimes, while the estimated cost for housing the 5,043 individuals convicted of drug possession is pegged at $25.18 million.  These figures do not include the costs to incarcerate addicts who committed other crimes in 2001 such as burglaries, car thefts and forgeries to obtain money for drugs.  

Are there any solutions?

We believe there are. 

In 2002, the Legislature took a step in the right direction by reducing prison sentences for drug offenses and, most importantly, by capturing some of the prison savings for treatment.   Despite this legislation, racial disproportionality will continue to exist in the prison population as well as in the arrest, jail and prosecution population unless further changes are made. 

In 2003, the State’s Superior Court Judges’ Association will suggest statutory changes that we believe will provide adequate punishment for low-level drug crimes while directing a fraction of the current expenditures on incarceration to effective drug treatment as part of the court’s sentence.  

We will also work with police agencies, elected prosecuting attorneys, mayors and county executives, as well as city and county council members and commissioners to develop solutions to these current racial inequities. 

While there is no easy answer to the drug problems that affect our youth and adult population, there are a number of things we must do to ensure equal treatment under the law.

Anything less is an injustice to all.

Judge Murphy is a Spokane County Superior Court Judge.  As a 24-year veteran of the bench, Judge Murphy served as president of the Superior Court Judges Association in 2000.  Judge Murphy helped develop Spokane County’s Drug Court and served as judge for that court from 1995 to 2000.  He was honored as the “2002 Outstanding Judge of the Year” by the Washington State Bar Association. He is heading the SCJA’s Race and Justice Initiative. 

You may provide your input to this guest editorial by contacting the Superior Court Judges’ Association at scja@courts.wa.gov.