WASHINGTON, DC — Today, following the announcement that President Biden commuted the sentences of people impacted by crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparities, Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, issued the following statement:
“We applaud President Biden’s decision to commute the sentences of people impacted by unfair crack cocaine sentencing disparities. This is yet another example of the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to racial justice.
“It’s no secret that racism is deeply entrenched in our laws, and efforts to rectify these injustices have been insufficient to secure true equal justice under the law. False, racially motivated narratives about the dangers of crack cocaine compared to powder cocaine fueled the failed war on drugs that led to the militarization of the police, the rise of mass incarceration, and the decimation of Black communities and families across the country who have been selectively targeted by law enforcement.
“Advocates have long called out how these laws disproportionately affect Black and other people of color while never successfully stopping the trafficking of these dangerous substances. However, Congress failed to atone for the suffering the war on drugs inflicted on Black Americans with the stalling of common sense bipartisan legislation such as the EQUAL Act.
“At the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, we championed the EQUAL Act to end these sentencing disparities and free thousands still serving absurdly long sentences for crack cocaine. Fortunately, with these commutations, President Biden has accomplished for many what Congress could not. We thank him for using one of his final acts as president to address the racist legacy of the war on drugs.”
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