100 Iowa L. Rev. 431 (2014)

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Abstract

In 2013, the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) published a report revealing stark racial disparities in the national enforcement of marijuana laws. The report suggested that police officers often use their law enforcement discretion to selectively patrol predominantly African American communities. This Note examines this and other methods by which police officers—and prosecutors—can, and frequently do, use their discretionary powers in a racially selective manner. Because the criminal justice system currently provides little institutional protection against discriminatory exercise of police and prosecutorial discretion, this Note proposes a two-step revision to federal sentencing practices to empower federal judges to combat racially biased law enforcement. By removing a provision from the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and adding a component to presentence reports, sentencing judges will gain the discretion necessary to issue lighter sentences to offenders subjected to racially biased law enforcement, which will effectively limit and deter racial bias in the future.