August 3, 2010, 12:55 pm

Obama Signs Law Narrowing Cocaine Sentencing Disparities

By PETER BAKER

Doug Mills/The New York Times

(photo) Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., left, joined Republican and Democratic lawmakers to watch President Obama sign the legislation.President Obama signed legislation on Tuesday reducing longstanding federal sentencing disparities between those caught with crack and those arrested with powder cocaine, finalizing a bipartisan consensus addressing a racially polarizing law enforcement debate.

Mr. Obama made no comments as he signed the bill, but during his 2008 presidential campaign, he said that the old law disproportionately affected young African-American and Hispanic drug users. In a speech last week, he said the new legislation would “help right a longstanding wrongâ€