PDF A Racist Disparity, the EQUAL Act, and One Man’s Redemption
The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the disparity in sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses from 100:1 to 18:1. But true justice won’t come until the ratio is 1:1. Until then, thousands of people, more than 80 percent of them Black, remain behind bars serving harsh and unfair sentences. Now, legislation before Congress, the EQUAL Act, would finally end the disparity once and for all, bringing the ratio down to 1:1. For Terrance and Sagan Stanton and their children, the fight for this reform is very personal.