Just How Broken is Congress?
By Kevin Ring
The EQUAL Act is a bipartisan bill that would eliminate the disparity in sentences between crack and powder cocaine-related crimes. Congress almost eliminated it in 2010, but instead compromised at 18:1. The compromise, struck by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — remember those names — was better than the infamous 100:1 disparity, of course, but to defend it now is like saying, “I am against very racist laws, but I am okay with mildly racist ones.”
The good news is that the EQUAL Act has overwhelming bipartisan support. It passed the notoriously partisan House Judiciary Committee last July by a vote of 36 to 5. Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas), the conservative former state judge, spoke in favor of the bill and thanked sponsor, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), for bringing it forward.
The lovefest continued in the full House. In September, the House approved the EQUAL Act, 361 to 66. Nearly 70 percent of the Republican caucus, including Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, joined every Democrat in voting for the bill. In today’s hyperpolarized political environment, you rarely get that level of support for anything more substantive than renaming a post office.
On to the Senate where … well, I don’t know, really. As a former Hill staffer and lobbyist, I know what’s going on, but it’s hard to explain to — how shall I put this? — non-politicos. People like Sagan Soto-Stanton, whose husband could come home years earlier if Congress eliminates this unjustified disparity.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission found that up to 7,600 people like Soto-Stanton’s husband would see their excessive crack prison sentences reduced by an average of six years. Future defendants would get more reasonable sentences, too.
All told, the EQUAL Act would reduce unnecessary prison time by 67,800 years for people — 91 percent of whom are Black. Think about that: 67,800 years of excessive and expensive incarceration could be eliminated tomorrow, and thousands of families could be reunited if the Senate would just act.
What’s maddening about Senate inaction is that the EQUAL Act is not like the other bills the Senate has failed to pass. I am confident it would pass with more than 60 votes if it were put on the Senate floor tomorrow. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) already has seven Republican cosponsors. It is supported by Sens. Durbin and Graham, the two who brokered the 2010 compromise.
So, why hasn’t the Senate passed the bill yet? There is no easy answer, but here’s one thing we know: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who co-authored the First Step Act, opposes the EQUAL Act. He is joined by a small but committed group of members, including Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who oppose all reform. Cotton falsely calls Grassley’s First Step Act a prison break for violent criminals and he opposes Grassley’s pending bill to extend the First Step Act retroactively. Yet on EQUAL, they are on the same side. Go figure.
The EQUAL Act has enough support to pass. But the Senate is something of an old boys’ network and there are lots of unwritten rules that promote consensus before legislation is advanced. I have no problem with that, but I do object to these rules being used to kill bills that already have achieved consensus! At some point in the very near future, Senate and House leaders must decide whether they would rather force thousands of Americans to suffer in prison for an extra 67,800 years than ruffle some of their colleagues’ feathers.
There are no criminal justice reform bills currently pending in Congress that have the breadth and depth of support from law enforcement organizations, civil rights groups, and justice reform advocates that the EQUAL Act enjoys. Considering this support, it would be foolish not to move the bill. Considering the consequences, it would be immoral not to.
Kevin Ring is FAMM’s president.
