Atlanta men apologize to Biden over 1994 crime bill

ATLANTA — Some men in metro Atlanta are leading a movement to right the wrongs of a controversial 1994 federal crime law that is blamed for the mass incarceration of many members of the black community.

Now, 10 men from metro Atlanta who served time under the now-infamous law are asking President Joe Biden, who sponsored the bill as a U.S. senator 30 years ago, for a pardon, hoping the stain of their convictions will be erased.

“We are asking the federal government for an official act of pardon,” said Eric Girault, who spent 13 years behind bars after being convicted of conspiracy to traffic marijuana under a policy created by the 1994 crime bill.

“They call it phantom drugs, with historical value. So ‘phantom drugs’ means they don’t have to have the drugs, and the historical value is they can get people to say you brought them a certain amount over a period of time, and they extrapolate from that,” Girault said in describing how his sentence was calculated.

Atlanta resident Ricky Brown had a similar experience.

“I was charged with conspiracy, and you have to understand that in the Crimes Act of 1994, there was no drugs. I was never found in possession of drugs. It was all based on hearsay. At the time, two or three people could say, ‘Hey, I sold drugs to this guy, or we did a drug deal together,’” Brown explained.

He was sentenced to 13 years in prison for conspiracy to sell crack cocaine, and he said those caught with the drug faced an even worse fate.

“I even had a roommate at one time. He had ten dollars worth of crack and he got 30 years in prison. If you were caught with a gram of crack, the 1994 crime law now said that a gram, because you put baking soda in it, was now 100 grams,” Brown explained.

Brown said the harsh sentences were unfair, and he and Girault join eight other Atlanta residents who are asking Biden for clemency.

“It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now. We need to go back and look at these laws and see how many lives they destroyed,” Brown said.

“We believe, and the federal government has admitted and accepted, that the 1994 Crime Act… was too harsh. It provided for draconian penalties. It was unnecessary and it was discriminatory.”

The men said they submitted their paperwork on July 3 and are now awaiting a response from the Biden administration. They also said the Trump campaign has contacted them about their clemency requests.