What’s the jail sentence for cocaine possession? In a very real sense, it depends on the color of your skin. Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois wants to change that – and we say “amen.”

Durbin is the sponsor of S.1789, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2009, which aims to level the playing field when it comes to punishing cocaine possession. Click here to ask your U.S. Senators to support the bill.

The bill, introduced Oct. 15, has 10 co-sponsors and has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Cocaine is generally available for sale in two forms: powder and in rocks of “crack.” Since 1986, the mandatory minimum sentence for possessing five grams of crack is the same as 500 grams of powder (five years). In practice, the disparity impacts African-Americans at an astonishing rate. It’s estimated that African Americans comprise less than 30 percent of crack users, but more than 80 percent of federal crack convictions.

The disparity was written into federal law in the 1980s to address the belief that crack was inherently more dangerous, and its patrons more prone to violence, than the powder form of cocaine. That belief was reasonable at the time, but studies have since suggested that there is no link between the form of cocaine and the user’s propensity to violence. What’s remained is that possession of crack, the cheaper form of cocaine, carries a much harsher sentence than possession of powdered cocaine, by a factor of 100.

This isn’t an issue of whether our drug laws are too harsh or too lenient; it’s an issue of simple fairness. More than half of federal inmates are incarcerated on cocaine possession charges. Whether that number is too high or too low, it makes sense that finite federal resources be used for the most serious drug offenders.

CMC supports efforts to make sure criminal sentences are just, including the Fair Sentencing Act. Click here to ask your U.S. Senators to support the bill.