WASHINGTON — In a letter issued Monday, lawmakers urged President Joe Biden to reduce the sentences of those impacted by the differences in punishments for crack and powder cocaine convictions.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, who spearheaded the initiative, stated, “I think that this president has definitely shown himself to be someone that is willing to listen and willing to learn and decide that he would do something within his power.”
The letter, initially obtained with NBC News, was signed by 20 Democratic members. Among them were Representatives Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee of California, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the representative to Congress from Washington, D.C., also signed it.
In the past, those found guilty of carrying crack cocaine have received significantly harsher sentences than those who had the same quantity of the drug in powder form.
“Caused disproportionate harm to communities of color,” the letter stated, referring to the sentence disparities.
According to the letter, the U.S. Sentencing Commission calculated that if crack cocaine received the same term as powder cocaine, over 3,000 persons would be eligible for immediate release. The letter stated that the commission believed that over 5,000 more people would be eligible for lower sentences.
Requests for response were not immediately answered by the Trump transition team or the White House.
Attorney General Merrick Garland provided recommendations in 2022 stating that federal prosecutors should support sentences that align with guidelines for powder cocaine rather than crack cocaine. The difference in federal sentence between the two types of the substance was essentially eliminated by the action.
Before Garland’s advice, however, lawmakers are pleading with Biden to utilize his clemency powers to commute the sentences of those impacted by the sentencing gap.
In an interview, Crockett expressed his hope that we could go back in time, recalculate, and obtain those sentences in order to assist others who were not the beneficiaries of, say, catching up a bit later and catching up during this administration.
Leading the letter’s efforts, Crockett gave an explanation of why she wanted to plan the letter for Biden’s final weeks in office, which is known as the “lame duck” era.
“This is a great kind of out-the-door type of thing,” Crockett said, “but I didn’t necessarily want to try to get her to do coming in, knowing that the transition had been made to Vice President Harris as the nominee.” She claimed that Garland indicated his support when they met to talk about her objectives.
A 1986 law that resulted in individuals convicted of crack cocaine possession receiving the same sentence as those found in possession of 100 times the same amount of powder cocaine is the cause of the sentencing discrepancy. In 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission claimed that the reduction of the ratio from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1 “reduced the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences, reduced the federal prison population, and appears to have resulted in fewer federal prosecutions for crack cocaine.”
Congress enacted legislation eight years later that permitted the 2010 ratio to be applied retroactively to those who had been condemned prior to its implementation. Donald Trump, who was president at the time, signed the 2018 law, which permitted thousands of nonviolent offenders to have their sentences expire earlier than they had planned.
With the introduction of the EQUAL Act in 2021, lawmakers have attempted to formalize the abolition of sentencing inequities, a move that the Biden administration has endorsed. The bill, which was re-introduced last year after the 2021 legislation stalled in the Senate, would end the cocaine disparity.
With widespread bipartisan support, the 2021 EQUAL Act passed the House. Of the 56 co-sponsors, 26 were Republicans, including Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Texas, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and Mara Elvira Salazar of Florida.
But the House hasn’t yet approved the 2023 bill.
The letter to Biden argued that as Congress continues working to pass the EQUAL Act, “we recognize the unique power vested to you that can right the wrongs of our criminal justice system and build on your legacy of ensuring equitable and restorative justice.”
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