John,

My name is Ruby Welch, I am an organizer here at Dream Corps Justice and I want to tell you my story. 

I served 7 years, 5 months, and 6 days of a 30-year sentence for possession of fewer than 12 grams of crack cocaine — less than half an ounce. If I had been sentenced for possessing the same amount of powder cocaine, my sentence would have been much less severe. 

There is no reason to treat these two drugs differently. Crack is just powdered cocaine with baking soda and heat applied. It is the same drug but mixed—like a cocktail mixed with coke. Where is the justice in taking one person’s life away and throwing them behind bars for decades, while letting another serve a far shorter sentence, over baking soda? 

One of the reasons is racism. In 1986, Congress passed a bill that treated crack cocaine as far worse than powder cocaine, mostly because of hype, hysteria, and the assumption that crack was a “Black,” “urban” drug, while powder cocaine was for the affluent white upper class. It created mandatory minimum sentences for crack that were up to 100 times worse than those for powder. Mandatory minimums were racist and unfair, leaving millions of people of color, like me, locked up behind bars.

But right now, there is momentum to change all that. A bipartisan majority in the House passed the EQUAL Act, which would eliminate the crack/powder sentencing disparity. And just a few weeks ago, prominent Republican senator Lindsey Graham announced he would co-sponsor the bill after his staff met with myself and my colleagues here at Dream Corps JUSTICE.

I will tell you what I told the senators on the Hill: “We have a real chance to end the crack/powder sentencing disparity and change the lives of millions of our comrades behind bars. Will you help support the EQUAL Act?” Now, I am asking YOU the same question.

Will you support fairness in the criminal justice system by signing this petition in support of the EQUAL ACT?

SIGN NOW

Today, President Biden — who helped draft the 1986 bill — admits it was a mistake. Republicans agree with him too, even though elected officials in our two parties can barely agree on anything these days.

We cannot afford to let this rare moment of bipartisan momentum slip away from us. Will you help by helping me tell the Senate to pass the EQUAL Act right away?

Add your name: Tell the Senate to pass the EQUAL Act.

Thank you for standing with us,

— Ruby Annette Carter-Welch
Dream Corps JUSTICE