10-2261 U.S. v. Moore

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Sentencing
Crack cocaine; due process

The 100:1 crack to powder cocaine ratio does not violate due process.

“[T]he Sentencing Commission reports also contain findings indicating that crack is at least somewhat more dangerous than powder cocaine. For example, in 2002, the Sentencing Commission reported that ‘crack is more addictive than powder, crack offenses are more likely to involve weapons or bodily injury, and crack distribution is associated with higher levels of crime.’ Id. Similarly, the Commission’s 2007 report states that while ‘weapon involvement . . . is present in only a minority of both powder cocaine and crack cocaine offenses[,] . . . crack cocaine offenses continue to involve this conduct more often than powder cocaine offenses.’ The 2007 report further notes that violence is more prevalent in crack cocaine cases than in powder cocaine cases, and that ‘the risk of addiction and personal deterioration may be greater for crack cocaine than for powder cocaine because of their different methods of usual administration (typically crack cocaine is smoked whereas powder cocaine typically is snorted).’ Thus, the Sentencing Commission reports on which Moore relies demonstrate a rational basis for punishing crack offenses more harshly than powder cocaine offenses.”

Affirmed.

10-2261 U.S. v. Moore

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Castillo, J., Flaum, J.

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