Some of the estimated 20,000 crack-cocaine offenders eligible for sentence reductions under a new federal policy may have to argue their cases without the aid of a lawyer, the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer reported April 21.

Some judges have appointed federal defenders to represent convicted offenders appealing for a sentence reduction, but others say that offenders don't need a lawyer to appeal. A number of court rulings have stated that convicted offenders don't have a constitutional right to an attorney when appealing their sentences.

But federal defenders who are reviewing the resentencing cases -- the product of a policy shift from the U.S. Sentencing Commission to equalize penalties for offenses involving crack and powdered cocaine -- say that offenders who don't have lawyers may be less likely to win their appeals.

"We're being left to fend for ourselves," said Eyvonne Garrett, a prisoner in Fort Worth, Texas, who was denied an attorney and lost an appeal for a lower sentence. "Without an attorney, we don't have a voice."