March 7, 2023–Due Process Institute supported the recent re-introduction of bipartisan bills in both the House and Senate that would finally end the sentencing disparity between crack and powdered cocaine, one of the most unjust aspects of federal sentencing law. Re-introduced by Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Thomas Tillis (R-NC), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Rand Paul (R-KY) and Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Bobby Scott (D-VA), and Don Bacon (R-NE), the Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law (EQUAL) Act, S. 524 and H.R. 1062, would equalize the treatment in sentencing between crack cocaine and powdered cocaine, reducing the ratio from 18:1 to 1:1—finally, equal treatment under the law. Importantly, the EQUAL Act would make these changes retroactive upon a motion from the defendant, the Bureau of Prisons, or a prosecutor so that justice may be served to all who are still impacted.
There is overwhelming evidence that the disproportionately higher penalties for crack cocaine have had a racially disparate outcome. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, 77.6 percent of individuals sentenced for crack cocaine offenses in FY 2021 were Black while another 15.2 percent were Hispanic and 87.5 percent of the people in federal prison for drug trafficking offenses involving crack cocaine were Black. To further highlight the law’s racially disparate outcomes, 91.4 percent of those who received sentencing reductions as a result of the First Step Act’s retroactivity provision were Black. Despite these disproportionate outcomes in incarceration, a 2006 study published by the American Civil Liberties Union showed that Whites are actually more likely to use crack cocaine. As the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality reported in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 80 percent of respondents who reported usage of crack cocaine in their lifetime were White.
The EQUAL Act received significant bipartisan support last Congress. The House version of the bill passed by a vote of 361-66 in September 2021. The Senate version had over 35 cosponsors, including 23 Democrats and 11 Republicans, but did not receive a committee or floor vote. The EQUAL Act has been widely endorsed by local and national law enforcement groups as well as civil and human rights organizations across the political spectrum. Congress must address indisputable racial disparities in federal sentencing. It is vital that Republicans and Democrats work together to remedy this longstanding injustice and send the EQUAL Act to President Biden’s desk this year.