The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted a case centering on mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine -- controversial because they are stiffer than penalties for regular cocaine sales -- the Baltimore Sun reported June 12.

Critics have long charged that the sentencing disparity between crack and powdered cocaine is racially biased because crack users tend to be people of color while users of powdered cocaine are more likely to be white. The same penalty applies for selling 5 grams of crack as selling 500 grams of powdered cocaine. Current U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has called the sentencing disparity "unwise and unjust."

In taking the case, the Supreme Court focused on the issue of judicial discretion over sentencing rather than the question of the law's constitutionality. The case involves a Norfolk, Va., man handed a 15-year mandatory prison term for selling both crack and powdered cocaine.