UPDATE, 6PM 10/27/21 - MARKING 35TH ANNIVERSARY OF INFAMOUS “WAR ON DRUGS” BILL, SEN LISA MURKOWSKI IS FIRST WOMAN IN SENATE TO SIGN ONTO EQUAL ACT
Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 CREATED 100:1 SENTENCING DISPARITY BETWEEN CRACK/POWDER COCAINE; MURKOWSKI NOD GIVES LEGISLATION MAJOR MOMENTUM
EQUAL Act Would End the Disparity, the Worst Example of Racial Injustice in America’s Drug Policy
(Washington, DC) – Today, on the 35th Anniversary of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) became the first woman to co-sponsor the EQUAL Act in the Senate. The bill would fully and finally eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, which now sits at 18:1.
Senator Murkowski joins Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Rob Portman (R-OH), Rand Paul (R-KY),Thom Tillis (R-NC), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Jon Ossoff (D-GA). Murkowski’s nod is seen as confirming major momentum for the bipartisan bill, as key metrics continue to converge favorably for the sentencing reform legislation.
This major endorsement come as bipartisan criminal justice reform continues to surge on the Hill, following the overwhelming 361-66 vote for the EQUAL Act in the House of Representatives. Spearheaded by the unlikely bipartisan duo of Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), and shepherded by Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX) on the House floor, the bill earned support from members of the Freedom Caucus to the Progressive Caucus. In the House, the bill was co-sponsored by 26 Republicans, including Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Nancy Mace (R-SC).
The sponsorship of Senator Graham - who helped broker the bipartisan First Step Act signed into law by President Trump in 2018 - is a clear indication that EQUAL Act has key Republican support on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill has also been endorsed by leading conservative advocacy groups, including ALEC Action, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, FreedomWorks, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, and R Street Institute.
Please credit the followings statement to Holly Harris, President and Executive Director of Justice Action Network, the country’s largest organization focused on criminal justice reform legislation and advocacy at the federal and state levels:
“For thirty-five years, the War on Drugs has devastated families, and created a crisis in America’s prisons and a racial injustice that sowed deep distrust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. The EQUAL Act will finally and fully end the sentencing disparity initially created by the failed ‘Drug Abuse Act of 1986,’ and we are grateful to Senators Murkowski, Graham and Ossoff for joining this landmark bipartisan legislation, which builds on the reforms signed into law by President Trump in 2018.
“The EQUAL Act has strong conservative support, from Senators Murkowski, Graham, Paul, Portman, and Tillis, and from more than 150 Republicans in the House. It has the backing of law enforcement, prosecutors, civil rights groups, and advocates from the far left to the far right and everywhere in between. The EQUAL Act may be Congress’ last chance to pass bipartisan legislation squarely focused on racial injustice, and it’s time for a vote in the Senate.”
The EQUAL Act is also supported by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the National District Attorneys Association, the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, and a wide array of groups including: ALEC Action, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Faith & Freedom Coalition, FreedomWorks, Prison Fellowship, R Street Institute, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Addiction Policy Forum, Catholic Mobilizing Network, Catholic Prison Ministries Coalition, Center for Shared Justice, Dream Corps JUSTICE, Due Process Institute, Episcopal Church Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, FAMM, Fair Trials, Federal Public and Community Defenders, Innocence Project, Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology, Justice Action Network, National Association for Public Defense, National Association of Evangelicals, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, The Sentencing Project, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, and Tzedek Association.