Early this morning, Congressional leaders released text of an agreed end-of-year "omnibus" spending bill to fund the federal government, and the EQUAL Act, one of the final issues on the table for inclusion, failed to make the cut. The Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law Act of 2021, or EQUAL Act, would have eliminated the 18:1 federal sentencing disparity between drug offenses involving crack cocaine and powder cocaine, a relic of the War on Drugs.

Today, leading Illinois civil rights and criminal justice organizations sent a letter to Chairman Durbin (D-IL) urging him to keep the EQUAL Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is now being negotiated. As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a lead sponsor of the EQUAL Act, the Senator is uniquely positioned to advocate for this legislation. The House of Representatives has already included the EQUAL Act in its version of the NDAA.

Today, leading New York civil rights and criminal justice organizations sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urging him to keep the EQUAL Act in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which is now being negotiated in the Senate. The House of Representatives has already included the EQUAL Act in its version of the NDAA, passed in July.