Page A4
lanuaiy 25. 2006
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O pinion
/
k Promise Not Kept
BAb NEWS:
Quality education left behind
by U.S.
R ep . N ancy P elosi
Four years ago Democrats anti
Republicans joined together to make
a promise to our nation's children:
that we leave no child behind in our
educational system.
The No Child Left Behind law
was a promise to improve student
performance, increase school ac­
countability and provide students
with the resources they need to learn the skills crucial
to their future success.
Unfortunately, President Bush and Republicans in
Congress have failed to live up to their part of the
bargain. Over the last four years, they have short­
changed No Child Left Behind by $40 billion, leaving
states with new mandates, but not enough funding and
leaving children without the necessary resources.
Failing to provide a quality education undermines
our responsibility to protect our values of fairness and
opportunity for all.
Underfunding No Child Left Behind is one in a long
line of Republican attacks on our country's education
system. Proposed Republican budget cuts reduce op­
portunities for young people by cutting funding for
student aid by more than $ 12 billion and heaping more
debt on students. And for the fourth year in a row.
Republicans have refused to increase Pell Grants, pric­
ing hard-working students out of a college education.
Sadly, Republican policies continue to leave millions
of our children behind. Together, America can do better
for our children and for their future.
dep T.
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I
0 0 0 b NEWS:
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Nancy Pelosi serves as House Democratic Leader.
Progress on Mandatory Sentences
possession: under federal sentenc­
ing guidelines, a person arrested
with five grams of crack would be
sentenced to live years in prison; a
person would have to be caught
with l(X) times more powder co­
caine to receive the same sentence.
by J udge G reg M athis
Last year, the Supreme Court
There has been much debate ruled that federal sentencing guide­
over the disparity in sentencing for lines would no longer be manda­
crack cocaine and powder cocaine tory, only advisory. This decision
Treatment
better plan for
drug offenders
© K ie w it
was an important first step in elimi­ handed down are still long-judges
nating the racial disparity in drug are still bound by mandatory mini­
sentences.
mum laws - the study, which exam­
A study released by the Sen­ ined 24 cases in which the judges
tencing Project, a Washington, DC, explained their sentencing deci­
criminal-justice advocacy group, sion, shows crack offenders are
shows judges are sentencing de­ being given much less time than
fendants to less time than they they would have in the past.
would have received under the fed­
At the height of the ‘war on
eral guidelines.
drugs’ mandatory sentencing law s
W hile the sentences being were put in place to punish drug
dealers. The penalty for crack was
set higher because they believed
crack was a more dangerous drug,
B il f in c e r B erger
City of Portland
Subcontractor, Supplier, and Service Provider Meeting
January 25, 2006
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm
OAME
drug dealer boyfriend, a woman
would receive the same, stiff sen­
tence she would if she were actu­
ally selling the drug. It wouldn't
matter if she was forced to do it -
judges weren’t able to use their
own discretion in handing down
the sentence. As a result, the num­
ber of black women in prison has
sky rocketed over the last 10 years.
The SupremeCourt'sdecisionhas
finally put some of the sentencing
power back into the judge’s hands.
Doing away with mandatory mini-
While the sentences being handed
down are still long... crack offenders
are being given much less time than
they would have in the past.
EAST SIDE CSO PROJECT
Bureau of Environmental Services
drugs: because of its much lower
street price, crack is associated with
poor, minority and urban users,
while powder cocaine tends to be
favored by more affluent users. Over
80-percent of those convicted on
crack cocaine charges are black.
• Interestingly, there is data that in­
dicates that whites make up the
majority of crack users in this coun­
try, but are less than six percent of
those convicted.
Prior to the Supreme Court rul­
ing, the average sentence for crack
associated with more violent be­ possession was greater than the mum laws is the next step towards
havior, than powder Al cocaine.
average sentence for robbery, eliminating sentencing disparities.
In 1988, Congress made posses­ sexual abuse and manslaughter. With the power to hand down sen­
sion of crack punishable by a five- These nonviolent drug offenders tences based on past criminal his­
year sentence; it is the only drug to would have been better served by tory and other factors, judges can do
carry a federally mandated sentence a dnig treatment facility but were, a lot in the way of rehabilitating
for possession, guaranteeing that instead, sentenced to long sen­ offenders, easing prison overcrowd­
users, and dealers, would do time. tences - overcrowding prisons and ing and restoring communities.
Research shows that there is no running up a prison expense tab
Judge Greg Mathis is national
real difference in the potential dan­ that is now in the billions.
vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
gers of crack or powdered cocaine.
Black women were especially and a national board member o f
There is, however, a difference in vulnerable under the guidelines. If the Southern Christian Leadership
the type of user that favors the two caught acting as a courier for her Conference.
MMNNW
4134 N. Vancouver
Portland, OR 97217
Need A Reason To Vote Republican
Interested Firms are invited and encouraged to
attend this introductory meeting to discuss up­
coming bid opportunities
on the East Side CSO Tunnel Project.
Representatives of Kiewit - Bilfinger Berger
and Group AGB will be present to discuss the
Project's Subcontracting
Plan and KBB's commitment to maximizing the
use of M/W/ESB and local firms.
For questions regarding this meeting contact
Anthony Lincoln at (503) 736-2564.
1
G O P ’s neglect
o f the black
electorate
BY M ARC I I . M o K IA I,
For nearly 25 years,
the glib conventional
wisdom was that the
Republican Party was
poised to capture a
significant percent­
age of African-Ameri­
cans voters.
Unfortunately, it's
never been backed up with actual
accomplishment.
One measure o f the O O P 's ne­
glect of th e ‘black electorate is
that from President R eagan's vic­
tory to today, th e re 's never been
more than one black G OP repre­
sentative in C ongress. T here
haven't been any since 2002. In
contrast, there are 44 black Demo­
cratic members o f the C ongres­
sional Black Caucus
President G eorge W. B ush's 2
percent increase-to 11 percent-in
black votes in 2004 from 2000 was
confidently declared by some
pundits to be the start o f som e­
thing big.
Now, such predic­
tions have been very
quietly packed away,
in large measure be­
cause in the slow
gov ern m en tal re ­
sponse to the terrible
toll o f H urricane
K atrin a, A frican
A m erican s w ere
am ong the m ost
deeply victimized.
This pushed blacks' distrust of the
GOP and President Bush down to
never-before-seen levels.
One may say the silver lining
of that bad news is that the GOP
has no place to go but up. But
even that old saw has been called
into question by two articles in
the “ W a sh in g to n P o st" that
raised the question o f whether
adm inistration political appoin­
tees in the D epartment o f Justice
were trying to purge its famed
Civil Rights Division o f career
attorneys who don’t meet a con­
servative “litmus test."
The newspaper later reported
that high-ranking officials in the
department overruled a team of
veteran attorneys and analysts to
reject the controversial Georgia state
voter identification law. That law
seemed to discriminate against
black voters.
What can the Republican Party
do to regain black votes? We ask
the question not for the sake of the
GOP. but for the sake of black
America, and the larger American
society.
The GOP should try to be like
Mike. Michael Bloomberg, that is
— the newly re-elected Mayor of
New York City.
That's the key. Black voters sup­
port political candidates for the very
same reason other voters do: be­
cause they believe the candidate
has their interests in mind.
Is anyone in the national Grand
Old Party listening?
MarcH. Mortal is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na­
tional Urban League
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