U.S. House passes EQUAL Act 361-66 to end crack-powder cocaine disparity (2021)
On September 28, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the EQUAL Act (Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of Law Act) by a bipartisan 361-66 vote. In the causal graph this event strengthens Supranational rule-of-law accountability pressure, a driver that strengthens Judicial constraints on the executive (V-Dem, global country mean) — an improving welfare path.
Read the full account
On September 28, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the EQUAL Act (Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of Law Act) by a bipartisan 361-66 vote. The bill would eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between offenses involving crack and powder cocaine, a gap created by the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act that for decades treated crack offenses far more harshly and disproportionately affected Black defendants. Senators Dick Durbin and Cory Booker led the Senate companion bill with a bipartisan group of cosponsors, but the measure subsequently stalled in the Senate and had not become law as of 2025.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Cory Booker
PersonDirect responsibility
verified
Booker co-led the Senate EQUAL Act, an effort to remove a long-criticized racial disparity in federal cocaine sentencing; a documented push for fairer sentencing law.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactU.S. House passes EQUAL Act 361-66 to end crack-powder cocaine disparity (2021)
- strengthensDriverSupranational rule-of-law accountability pressure
- strengthensIndicators (5)Judicial constraints on the executive (V-Dem, global country mean)
impact weight 0.3 · Effect from 28 September 2021 · verified
Legislative effort to correct a discriminatory sentencing rule reflects accountability pressure toward a fairer justice system; modest weight because the bill did not become law.
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.17 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.55)
Observed
0.57 index score (0-1) · 0.23 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.5 index score (0-1) to 0.57 index score (0-1).
Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.47)
Observed
0.62 score from 0 to 1 · 0.25 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.37 score from 0 to 1 to 0.62 score from 0 to 1.
Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.14 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
All indicators on this path (5)
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.1 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.33)
Observed
56.1 Score · 13.7 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal26 readings, 1996–2024: fell from 57 Score to 56.1 Score.
Above normal = better
- Better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.07 (weight 0.3 × strength 0.25)
Observed
42.5 index score (0-100) · 7.53 below the normal line (2025)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorCory Booker
- contributed toFactU.S. House passes EQUAL Act 361-66 to end crack-powder cocaine disparity (2021)
- strengthensDriverSupranational rule-of-law accountability pressure
- strengthensIndicatorJudicial constraints on the executive (V-Dem, global country mean)
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). U.S. House passes EQUAL Act 361-66 to end crack-powder cocaine disparity (2021). Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/justice-fact-equal-act-house-passage-2021
https://factrail.ai/facts/justice-fact-equal-act-house-passage-2021
Accessed 15 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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