River Bender: Durbin, Grassley, Booker, Lee Introduce Legislation to Clarify Retroactivity Of Crack Cocaine Sentencing Reform
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; and U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mike Lee (R-UT), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee; introduced the bipartisan Terry Technical Correction Act, which clarifies that all offenders who were sentenced for a crack cocaine offense before the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 can apply for its retroactive application under Section 404 of the First Step Act, including individuals convicted of the lowest level crack offenses. Section 404 of the First Step Act allows crack cocaine offenders to request a sentence reduction pursuant to the Fair Sentencing Act. The Fair Sentencing Act, authored by Durbin, reduced the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1. In 2018, Durbin, Grassley, Booker, and Lee were the lead sponsors of the First Step Act, which made the Fair Sentencing Actretroactive.
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The Terry Technical Correction Act is supported by the following organizations: American Civil Liberties Union, American Conservative Union, Americans for Prosperity, Dream Corps JUSTICE, Drug Policy Alliance, Due Process Institute, FAMM, Federal Public and Community Defenders, Justice Action Network, Justice Roundtable, Law Enforcement Leaders, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Major Cities Chiefs Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National District Attorneys Association, Niskanen Center, Prison Fellowship, R Street Institute, Right on Crime, and The Sentencing Project.