September 16, 2021–Due Process Institute led a coalition of organizations from across the political spectrum urging House Leaders Hoyer and McCarthy to support the EQUAL Act. This legislation would end the federal prison sentence disparity between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine offenses—that is not grounded in evidence and contributes to overincarceration, particularly within communities of color. The EQUAL Act was already passed by the House Judiciary Committee in a strong, bipartisan vote of 36-5, with Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Ranking Member Jim Jordan (R-OH) voting in support of the legislation. Now is the time for Congress to end the unwarranted disparity between crack and powder cocaine by passing the legislation on the House floor.
In 1986, Congress created a 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between the treatment of crack cocaine offenses and powdered cocaine offenses—despite the fact that these substances are two forms of the same drug, and one is no more harmful than the other. As a result of that law, five grams of crack cocaine carried the same mandatory minimum prison sentence as 500 grams of powdered cocaine. This unjust disparity, which has failed to keep communities safe, has, in turn, created obvious and harmful racial disparities. According to United States Sentencing Commission data, 83.0 percent of those who were sentenced for federal crack cocaine offenses were Black in FY2010. Four years after enactment of the disparity, the average federal drug sentence for Black defendants was 49 percent higher than the average for White defendants.
By passing the EQUAL Act and reducing overincarceration in federal prisons, Congress would also free up resources better directed to violence reduction strategies, support for crime survivors, and other proven public safety interventions for underserved communities. Importantly, the bill also makes this relief potentially retroactive following individualized case review by federal courts in order to ensure the law has the ameliorative effect Congress intends. This critical bicameral bill corrects misguided policymaking from 35 years ago and would continue the important bipartisan progress Congress is making on creating more effective, more efficient, and more fair federal sentencing laws. We urge Members to support the EQUAL Act and #EndTheDisparity when it comes to the House floor for consideration.