During his campaign for the Oval Office, President Joe Biden promised to reassess current drug laws that have historically disproportionately impacted the Black community if he was elected. Making true of those promises, a bill to decriminalize marijuana nationally was re-introduced to Congress in May.
Another testament to the shifting attitudes towards drug policies in the county, the Biden administration endorsed a bill on Tuesday (June 22) that would effectively end sentencing disparities for crack versus powder cocaine offenses. A complete shift from Biden's previous stance on drug use and efforts to pass legislation that implemented the rules to begin with, the EQUAL Act was endorsed by acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Regina LaBelle during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today.
The previous sentencing disparity, which has come to be known as the "100 to 1 rule," had disproportionately impacted the Black community. It enforced a five-year minimum sentence for tracking in 500 grams of cocaine powder, or just five grams of crack.
“The current disparity is not based on evidence, yet has caused significant harm for decades, particularly to individuals, families and communities of color,” LaBelle testified during the hearing. “The continuation of this sentencing disparity is a significant injustice in our legal system, and it is past time for it to end. Therefore, the administration urges the swift passage of the ‘Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act.’ “
“The sentencing disparity is unfair,” testified Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, “and undermines confidence in our criminal justice system.”
There are notably no chemical differences between powder cocaine and crack cocaine, despite what the sentencing disparity approach would make you believe. The 100 to 1 law was altered in 2020, although only to the lower and still harmful disparity of 18 to 1.
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