U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey is asking Congress to reverse a decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to apply reduced sentences for crack-cocaine offenses retroactively, Reuters reported Feb. 6.

The commission recently voted unanimously to reduce the crack penalties to bring them more into line with those for powdered-cocaine offenses and to apply the reduced penalties to individuals already in prison. The policy takes effect next month.

But Mukasey has been making dire warnings about the consequences of early release of convicted crack offenders. "We think it is imperative for Congress to pass legislation to address the sentencing commission's decision," Mukasey told the House Judiciary Committee. "Unless Congress acts by the March 3 deadline, nearly 1,600 convicted crack dealers, many of them violent gang members, will be eligible for immediate release into communities nationwide."

Congress previously assented to the commission's decision, which was spurred in part by charges that the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine was unfair and racist.

Mukasey said that he would support the release of first-time, nonviolent offenders, but that would not include most of those who would be affected by the commission's decision. Critics charge that Mukasey is resorting to scare tactics, noting that every proposed prisoner release would have to be approved by a judge.