Opinion ID: 710295
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Disparate Impact on African-Americans

Text: 4 Burch argues that the sentencing provisions for crack cocaine have a disparate impact on African-Americans. She contends that this disparate impact gives the district court the authority to depart downward from her guideline range. The district court held that it had no authority to grant a departure. Although we have no jurisdiction to review a district court's discretionary refusal to depart from the guidelines, United States v. Reynolds, 64 F.3d 292, 298 (7th Cir.1995), we may review the question of whether the district court had the authority to grant a departure. Id. 5 Burch correctly notes that African-Americans comprise the majority of those who have been convicted of crack cocaine offenses. For example, in 1993, 88.3 percent of the convictions in federal court for the distribution of crack cocaine were obtained against African-American defendants. U.S. Sentencing Commission: Executive Summary of Special Report on Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy, 56 Crim.L.Rep. 2159, 2167 (Mar. 1, 1995). However, the fact that a guidelines provision may have a disparate impact on a particular racial group is not sufficient to justify a departure from the guidelines. Although we have not previously addressed this question, every other circuit to consider it has concluded that this disparate impact on African-Americans does not justify a downward departure from the guidelines. See United States v. Alton, 60 F.3d 1065, 1071 (3d Cir.1995), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 576, 133 L.Ed.2d 500 (1995); United States v. Lewis, 40 F.3d 1325, 1345-46 (1st Cir.1994); United States v. Thompson, 27 F.3d 671, 679 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 650, 130 L.Ed.2d 554 (1994); United States v. Maxwell, 25 F.3d 1389, 1400-01 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 115 S.Ct. 610, 130 L.Ed.2d 519 (1994); United States v. Haynes, 985 F.2d 65, 70 (2d Cir.1993); United States v. Pickett, 941 F.2d 411, 418 (6th Cir.1991). 1 Rather, departures are reserved for special cases with unusual circumstances that render unjust an otherwise just sentence under the guidelines. Thompson, 27 F.3d at 679. The fact that defendants convicted of offenses involving crack cocaine receive enhanced penalties is not a sufficiently atypical or unusual circumstance to warrant a downward departure. Id.; see also Alton, 60 F.3d at 1071; Pickett, 941 F.2d at 418. In addition, the guidelines explicitly state that race is not relevant in the determination of a sentence. U.S.S.G. Sec. 5H1.10. 2 Therefore, the impact of the enhanced penalties for crack on African-Americans does not give the district court the authority to depart downward. Thompson, 27 F.3d at 679; Maxwell, 25 F.3d at 1401. 6