The EQUAL (Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law) Act would eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine entirely.
The Senate version was introduced on January 28 as S. 79, by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). The House version was introduced a month and a half later on March 9 as H.R. 1693, by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY8).
Cocaine is federally classified as a Schedule II drug, the category with the second-highest potential for dependence and abuse, alongside the likes of Vicodin, Adderall, and meth.
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 created a 100:1 ratio for sentencing people who were caught with crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, black people are more likely to use crack cocaine, so the law had a disproportionate effect on nonwhites.
The law was partially crafted and advocated by then-Sen. Joe Biden, though he has subsequently walked back his support. “We were told by the experts that ‘crack, you never go back,’ that the two were somehow fundamentally different. It’s not,” Biden said in 2019. “But it’s trapped an entire generation.”
The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the crack/powder sentencing disparity from 100:1 to 18:1.
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H.R.1693 – To eliminate the disparity in sentencing for cocaine offenses, and for other purposes.
2021-04-29 EQUAL Act would eliminate sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine
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