End this outdated drug sentencing law that unjustly impacts Black people
Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina recently became the tenth Republican in the U.S. Senate to support ending an unjust and unjustified disparity in our criminal legal system.
More than 35 years ago, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act created unequal — and more harsh — penalties for criminal offenses involving the same drug. The law mandated the same mandatory prison sentence for 5 grams of crack cocaine as 500 grams of powder cocaine, resulting in a 100-to-1 disparity.
The law was enacted while the country was still reeling from the tragic death of Len Bias, a University of Maryland basketball star who, just days after being drafted by the Boston Celtics, died from a drug overdose. Many across the country were under the mistaken impression that the drug that killed Bias was crack. Even after it became known that the drug that killed him was powder cocaine, the narrative had taken off that crack is more dangerous than powder.
Over the years, this sentencing disparity has become emblematic of both the dangers of reactionary criminal justice policy and the racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system.
After years of work by advocates across the political spectrum, in 2010, Congress decreased the sentencing disparity from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1 through the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA). In 2018, President Trump signed into law the First Step Act, which provided relief to people sentenced under the original disparity.
These reforms were motivated by what we know now — this disparity between two chemically identical substances has done nothing to improve public safety or reduce drug use, but it does disproportionately harm communities of color.
But even after these bipartisan reforms, the disparate racial impact persists. In 2021, 78% of individuals convicted of crack cocaine offenses were Black, while historical data tells us that 66% of crack cocaine users have been white or Hispanic.
This disparity has devastated communities of color and Black families in particular and has failed to provide any public safety or public health benefit. Americans for Prosperity and the American Civil Liberties Union might not always see eye to eye on every political issue, but our organizations agree it is time to end this unjust sentencing framework.
The EQUAL Act is a common-sense policy change. It has bipartisan support in both the U.S. House and Senate. By eliminating the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, we can make strides towards reducing unnecessary incarceration in our federal prisons and free up resources that can be better spent on critical reentry services for those exiting federal prisons and recovery resources for individuals struggling with a substance use disorder.
The EQUAL Act passed the U.S. House with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 361 to 66. This alliance speaks to the bipartisan consensus around the need to rethink our outdated federal sentencing laws.
With the support of North Carolina’s own U.S. senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, who helped lead this effort by cosponsoring the bill early last summer, the Senate is now poised to pass this long-overdue legislation and send the EQUAL Act to President Biden’s desk for his signature. A Senate vote on the EQUAL Act could come as soon as this week.
Senators Burr and Tillis are joined by a diverse group of Republican and Democratic senators who support the effort to finally eliminate this disparity, including Sens. Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul.
The time is now for the Senate to act and rectify this long-standing injustice in our criminal legal system.