Opinion ID: 721979
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Penalty Structure For Cocaine Base

Text: 19 Finally, Looney challenges the penalty structure for cocaine base as violative of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment. He asserts that by providing equal penalties for crimes involving 100 times more powder than crack cocaine, the United States Sentencing Guidelines racially discriminate because blacks 2 account for a high percentage of federal convictions for crack and a low percentage of convictions for powder cocaine. We review this pure question of law de novo. 20 Looney's constitutional challenge is barred by controlling Seventh Circuit precedent. United States v. Booker, 73 F.3d 706, 710 (7th Cir.1996) (collecting cases); United States v. Shorter, 54 F.3d 1248, 1253 n. 11 (7th Cir.1995) (collecting cases), cert. denied, 116 S.Ct. 250 (1995); United States v. Chandler, 996 F.2d 917, 918-19 (7th Cir.1993). Looney has not provided a good reason to reconsider these decisions, and we do not do so. 21 AFFIRMED.