New letter from House CBC members urges EQUAL Act Senate floor vote ASAP

As detailed in this press release, all House Members of the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter this week "calling on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin to bring H.R. 1693, the Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law (EQUAL) Act to the Senate floor for a vote."  Here is part of the text of the letter:

As you know, in 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which established a 100:1 sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine.  Over the years, this policy has been widely criticized for lacking scientific and penological justification.  Accordingly, Congress has taken steps to address this problem through the passage of the bipartisan Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the disparity from 100:1 to 18:1, and the bipartisan First Step Act of 2018, which made those changes retroactive.  Both efforts made our drug sentencing laws fairer, but the work is not done as long as a significant and harmful disparity remains.

The impacts of these policies on communities of color across the country have been devastating.  According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in Fiscal Year 2020, 77.1% of crack cocaine trafficking offenders were Black, whereas most powder cocaine trafficking offenders were either white or Hispanic.  Put simply, this law is unjust, unconscionable and unacceptable.  It is time to eliminate this disparity once and for all.  

That is why we write in support of bringing the EQUAL Act (H.R. 1693/S. 79) to the Senate Floor for consideration as soon as possible.  It would eliminate the crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparity and ensure that those who were convicted or sentenced for a federal offense involving cocaine can receive a re-sentencing under the new law.  According to a recent analysis from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, approximately 827 individuals would benefit from the prospective section of the bill each year, and 7,787 offenders in BOP custody would be eligible to seek a modification of their sentence based on the retroactive section.  In total, the EQUAL Act will reduce excessive prison time by 67,800 years, and 91 percent of the individuals who will get this critical relief are Black.

A few of many prior posts on the EQUAL Act:

• An initial list of federal sentencing reforms to advance greater equity and justice for congressional consideration
• New efforts to fix the ugly old problem of sentencing disparity for federal crack and powder cocaine offenses 
• GOP Gov and former DEA chief calls for Congress to "finally and fully end the disparity between crack and cocaine offenses" 
• Depressing (and abridged) FSR reminder of just how long we have known crack sentences are especially whack 
• US House votes 361-66 to pass today the EQUAL Act to end disparity between powder and crack cocaine sentences
• After an overwhelming majority of GOP House delegation voted for EQUAL Act, can the Senate move quickly to finally right a 35-year wrong? 
• Shouldn't federal prosecutors already be doing what they can to minimize the unjust crack-powder sentencing disparity? 
• Is it foolish to hope, after now 35 years, that Congress will soon fix the crack-powder federal sentencing disparity? 
• How about passing the EQUAL Act so we can be "free at last" from the crack/powder sentencing disparity?
• Why is getting the EQUAL Act through the US Senate proving so challenging? 
• Is Congress finally on the verge of equalizing crack and powder cocaine sentences?