Bill to Equalize Crack and Powder Cocaine Sentences Dies in the Senate, Leaving Advocates Frustrated

A bill that would have erased the gap in punishment between crack and powder cocaine offenses has died in the Senate, disappointing advocates and people who had hoped it would shorten prison terms for thousands of people, many of them Black men.

For decades, the war on drugs meant that crimes involving crack cocaine drew harsher penalties than those involving powder cocaine. The Equal Act would have set the same punishment for certain offenses involving either form of the drug. The measure passed the U.S. House by an overwhelming margin, but it expired in the Senate last month.

Orrin Jackson, who now lives and works in Charlotte, North Carolina, understands what congressional action can mean for people behind bars. He was separated from his daughter for 31 years and two months; she was 6 months old when he went to prison. Jackson once expected to die in custody. A 2018 law gave him the chance to ask a judge for release on his drug convictions, and he is now free. He described hugging his daughter as a free man as an "amazing experience."

Jackson is among many people who have traveled to Washington over the past two years to urge lawmakers to approve the Equal Act. He said the bill's failure felt like a slap in the face, a signal that people like him are not seen as an important issue.

Janos Marton, national director of the dream.org justice program, which lobbied for the bill, said the cost is human. By his account, 8,000 families will not be reunited as a result of the bill's failure. He said the legislation was meant to be an easy, commonsense proposal that everyone could support.

Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, made that argument last month while pressing the Senate to hold a vote. He said Republicans and Democrats across the political spectrum had come together to say it was wrong to punish pharmacologically identical substances differently. Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, countered that it was the wrong time to ease drug laws. He said the bill would go easier on crack cocaine traffickers, including gang and cartel members, and would "only exacerbate our problems."

Kevin Ring, who leads FAMM, a nonprofit that advocates for incarcerated people and their families, said both parties share responsibility. Republican opposition in the Senate blocked the bill from passing by unanimous consent, he said, but Democrats held the House, the Senate and the White House at the time. Ring called it a failure of leadership not to give supporters a vote and a chance to win. He said families had been calculating release dates for their loved ones and had the relief taken away at the last moment.

While the Senate did not act, Attorney General Merrick Garland did. Last month he directed federal prosecutors to charge crack and powder cocaine offenses the same way going forward, beginning this month. Advocates welcomed the step, but it has limits: it does not apply to people already in prison, and a future attorney general could reverse it.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said in a statement to NPR that he strongly believes in the Equal Act and will not give up on getting it done. Jackson said he will be watching, adding that anyone in a position to change something unfair has a responsibility and a duty to do so.