In the U.S., federal sentencing guidelines for drug-related offenses operate based on drug type and quantity. The most common category of federal drug offenders found with large quantities of powder cocaine are ‘boat defendants’—poor, unarmed foreign nationals detained at sea. When professors Kendra McSweeney and Mat Coleman dug into the sentencing data for this rare type of drug courier, they uncovered a profound justice policy story. In this episode, Host Hannah Miller and co-host Douglas Berman speak with Ohio State Geography Professors McSweeney and Coleman about what we can learn from this remarkable set of drug defendants.

McSweeney is a professor and distinguished scholar, and Coleman is a professor and department chair, both in the Department of Geography at The Ohio State University.

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