The Biden administration is reportedly set to endorse legislation on Tuesday that aims to eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses.
Regina LaBelle, the acting director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, is reportedly planning to announce the administration’s support of a bill that would remove the sentencing imbalance during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post, which obtained a copy of LaBelle’s prepared written testimony.
The bill, dubbed the “Eliminating a Quantifiable Unjust Application of the Law Act,” or the EQUAL Act, would put an end to the disparity in sentencing for crack and powder cocaine and allow individuals who were convicted or sentenced for a federal cocaine offense to be re-sentenced.
“The current disparity is not based on evidence yet has caused significant harm for decades, particularly to individuals, families, and communities of color,” LaBelle will reportedly say at the Senate hearing, according to the Post.
“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,’ ” she will continue.
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