Ep. 2: 100:1

[Contains explicit content] It is the mid-1980s, and America is alarmed by the dawn of crack cocaine. We go to Capitol Hill for the little-known story of behind the “tough-on-crime” era, when lawmakers played fast and loose with mandatory minimum sentencing, literally “ picking numbers out of [their] asses” according to one insider. The harsh anti-drug legislation - cobbled together in weeks - included the now notorious 100 to 1 sentencing ratio for crack vs. powder cocaine, which disproportionately affected black communities and led to mass incarceration.

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