Source: United States Senator for New Jersey Cory Booker
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and lead sponsor of the EQUAL Act that would eliminate the federal crack-powder cocaine sentencing disparity, issued the following statement:
“It is fundamentally unjust that, for decades, baseless and unscientific sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine have contributed to the explosion of mass incarceration in the United States. Today’s announcement recognizes this injustice and takes steps to finally strike parity between powder and crack cocaine sentences when there is no pharmacological differences in the substances.
“But this is not a permanent answer and won’t help those already serving an unjust sentence. I have worked tirelessly to secure a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate for the EQUAL Act and build a bipartisan coalition including 11 Republican senators who support a 1:1 sentencing ratio. We must pass the EQUAL Act now to write this policy change into law, following the lead of 41 states that have already done so.”