Amid broader talks on criminal justice reform, lawmakers moved one step closer to eliminating the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses. In September, the House passed the Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law (EQUAL) Act (H.R. 1693), which would make the penalties for federal crack cocaine offenses equal to those of powder cocaine offenses. The bill would also apply those changes retroactively, so individuals currently serving prison sentences for crack cocaine offenses could be eligible to have their sentence times reduced. The bill passed in the House by a bipartisan vote of 361-66, receiving unanimous support…

A movement in the U.S. that suggests that race is a social construct used to oppress minority groups is emerging as a fierce point of division among Americans. Many Republicans are pushing new policies to bar public schools from teaching critical race theory (CRT) and the issue has made its way into political campaigns. Originally developed through legal scholarship in the late 20th century, CRT is a concept that aims to explain how discrimination and inequity are woven into laws, policies and systems. Thus, the doctrine states, racism is perpetuated in American culture. The theory argues that racism goes beyond…