Congress has relaxed overly harsh and discriminatory
penalties for crack, as opposed to powder cocaine. But federal prisons
are still full of blacks and whites serving different sentences for the
same crimes. Should sentencing guidelines be made retroactive? Would
that lead to the sudden release of 20,000 prisoners, crowding the
courts and increasing crime? Also, a transit strike in France, and some big decisions for Michael Mukasey, the new Attorney General. Were Blackwater guards unjustified in killing Iraqi civilians? Can they be prosecuted?
Photo: Metropolitan Drug Commission