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Biden administration vows to reverse course after years of racist sentencing for crack cocaine [1]
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Date: 2022-12-19
According to a 2022 report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, 77.6% of those convicted of crack trafficking since 2017 were Black, and the average sentence for was 69 months.
After the Anti-Drug Abuse Act became law in 1986, the rate of incarcerations of Black Americans went from 600 per 100,000 in 1970 to 1,808 per 100,000 in 2000. For white Americans, the rates went from 103 per 100,000 to 242 per 100.000
“This was not only a major prosecutorial and sentencing decision – it is a major civil rights decision,” Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement. “The racial disparities of this policy have ruined homes and futures for over a generation.”
The Associated Press reports that prior to changes made to federal laws in 2010, a single gram of crack cocaine was equivalent to 100 grams of powder cocaine.
Janos Marton, vice president of political strategy with the group Dream.org, said, “This has been one of the policies that has sent thousands and thousands of predominantly Black men to the federal prison system… And that’s been devastating for communities and for families.”
According to Mother Jones, Garland’s instructions can only be made permanent by an act of Congress. The Equal Act, which would end the sentencing disparity, passed in a bipartisan vote last year in the House but was hampered in the Senate. Additionally, Garland’s policy only applies to new cases and would not incorporate retroactive sentencing, which would apply to those now stuck in prisons on racist policies.
Maya Wiley, president and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, told The Washington Post, “This is an example of the Department of Justice doing exactly what it has the power to do without an active Congress — to say: ‘We as prosecutors are going to be fair and just and not treat Brown and Black people as if they are somehow worse than white people.’”
Rashad Robinson, president Color Of Change, says, "It is a recognition these laws were intended to target Black people and Black communities and were never intended to give communities the type of support and investments they need.”
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