ARKANSAS GOVERNOR AND FORMER DEA ADMINISTRATOR ASA HUTCHINSON TESTIFIES IN U.S. SENATE HEARING IN FAVOR OF EQUAL ACT
Governor, Law Enforcement Authorities Testify in Support of Landmark Bipartisan Legislation to Eliminate Powdered vs. Crack Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
Governor Hutchinson: “The strength of our justice system is dependent on the perception of fundamental fairness.”
(Washington, DC) – In an extraordinary show of bipartisanship and law enforcement support, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Democratic Chairman, Dick Durbin of Illinois, welcomed a GOP Governor from a ruby red state, Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, and a former U.S. Attorney appointed by President Donald Trump, Russell Coleman, to testify in support of the EQUAL Act, landmark, bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation that will finally and fully eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Hutchinson and Coleman were engaged on the legislation by the Justice Action Network, the country’s largest bipartisan organization working to reform justice systems at the state and federal levels.
Governor Hutchinson, a former Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration under President George W. Bush, has been a vocal supporter of eliminating the disparity, which advocates on the right and left have called one of the clearest and most egregious vestiges of racial injustice in America’s drug policy.
Testifying alongside Governor Hutchinson in support of the legislation was Regina LaBelle, Acting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy; Russell Coleman, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, who also served as counsel to Republican Leader Mitch McConnell; and Matthew Charles, one of the first people released from prison as a result of the First Step Act. The Department of Justice also submitted a statement for the record endorsing the EQUAL Act.
Excerpts from today’s hearing are included below, video of the hearing and submitted statements are available HERE.
“Although Congress has taken steps to reduce the disparity and provide some retroactive relief, any sentencing disparity between two substances that are chemically the same weakens the foundation of our system of justice. Congress now has the opportunity to build on the bipartisan success of the Fair Sentencing Act and the First Step Act by eliminating the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine once and for all. The strength of our justice system is dependent on the perception of fundamental fairness.”
“During my time as the head of America’s Drug Enforcement Administration, I saw firsthand how this current unjust drug sentencing disparity undermined our law enforcement agents’ ability to be effective in their anti-drug operations. The efficacy of law enforcement is dependent upon the community’s trust and confidence that our justice system is fair and equitable. Yet under the current disparity, the credibility of our entire drug enforcement system is weakened. Especially considering today’s climate, we should be taking active steps to strengthen trust between law enforcement and our many communities across this country. The EQUAL Act is a rational and much-needed step in that direction.”
Former U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman:
“During my outreach to career federal prosecutors, state and federal narcotics officers at the senior levels, local and state law enforcement leaders, and judges (those on the front lines of battling drug abuse and violence in our communities), I was met with a near unanimous belief that this is the right legislation at the right time. Had their counsel been different, I would take pause in supporting this legislation, as I would never support a bill that did not maintain the necessary tools and safeguards prosecutors need to ensure public safety is paramount, and punishment fits the crime.”
ONDCP Acting Director Regina LaBelle:
“The current disparity is not based on evidence yet has caused significant harm for decades, particularly to individuals, families, and communities of color. The continuation of this sentencing disparity is a significant injustice in our legal system, and it is past time for it to end.”
“For far too long, our Nation’s approach to addressing substance use has led to disproportionate consequences for communities of color. If we follow the evidence and advance equity, as President Biden has directed our agency to do, we need to eliminate the sentencing disparity.”
“The Fair Sentencing Act might have been the best political compromise Congress could have reached 11 years ago, but the unfairness it sought to address remains. The U.S. Sentencing Commission recently found that Black people made up 77 percent of all federal crack convictions in 2020, a percentage nearly as high as it was in the years before Congress reduced the disparity to 18:1. In other words, we used to see a tremendous amount of racial discrimination, now we see a little less. But even a little discrimination is too much. Please reject any new political compromises. It’s time for Congress to eliminate racial discrimination in sentencing by ending the disparity once and for all.”
“Proverbs 11:1 says, ‘Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.’ The difference in crack and powder drug weights wasn’t just in 1986. It wasn’t just in 2010. It isn’t just now.”
“The proposed EQUAL Act would be an effective means of eliminating the persisting, unjust sentencing disparity that is still baked into federal law. Department prosecutors have applied the laws as passed by Congress to address serious crime problems in communities across the nation. But the Department—along with numerous other law enforcement leaders who have spoken out against the powder-crack disparity—believes that the most effective drug enforcement strategy is to deploy federal resources to disrupt and dismantle major drug trafficking organizations, especially when they use violence to terrorize neighborhoods. That is our objective, and the crack-powder sentencing disparity does not help us achieve it.”
The EQUAL Act is sponsored by Chairman Durbin, Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), all key players in the passage of the First Step Act, bipartisan prison and sentencing reform legislation signed into law by President Trump in 2018, and the bipartisan Second Chance Act, which passed a decade prior. Advocacy groups supporting the legislation include law enforcement leaders such as the National District Attorneys Association, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, and Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, as well as groups from the right, left, and center including: ALEC Action, American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform , Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition, Dream Corps JUSTICE, Due Process Institute, FAMM, Faith & Freedom Coalition, FreedomWorks, Justice Action Network, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Prison Fellowship, R Street Institute, The Sentencing Project, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and the Tzedek Association.
Last week, the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security held a hearing on the EQUAL Act, which received supportive testimony from leaders as varied as the Heritage Foundation and R Street Institute on the right, to the Vera Institute, Drug Policy Alliance and The Sentencing Project on the left. The House companion bill also has powerful bipartisan sponsorship in New York Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a member of his party’s leadership, and Rep. Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, a rising Republican star from a deeply conservative, rural state. The bill’s 30 additional bipartisan co-sponsors in the House represent the fullest, most varied assemblage imaginable in contemporary politics.