“Give them McDeath, not McLiberty”

Though there will surely be lots of different political reactions to the US Sentencing Commission’s crack retroactivity decision, I found this news item reporting on one reaction especially notable:

Yesterday, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s decision to give retroactive leniency to convicted crack cocaine abusers and dealers…..

“The bottom line is this decision will let over 500 convicted criminals loose on the streets of Western North Carolina, and, frankly, that is unacceptable,” said Congressman McHenry. “The Commission’s decision defies basic common sense, and poses a serious threat to public safety.”

I suppose, were this congressman to get a guest spot on Grey’s Anatomy, he might get the moniker “McMeany.” 

In all seriousness, Congressman McHenry’s concerns are understandable, but my “basic common sense” tells me that the federal judges in North Carolina and nationwide will, as the USSC urges, give special attention to public safety issues before letting too many dangerous criminals loose on the streets.   

More broadly, this visceral reaction to crack retroactivity spotlights the serious possibility that some members of Congress might make a serious effort to undo the USSC’s work yesterday before it becomes effective in March 2008.